Doc wants increased bike helmet use

About 25 teenagers and younger children from Lake County will be part of a panel discussion on why they stopped using bicycle helmets and what can be done to reverse the trend.

Dr. Deborah Gulson, pediatrics department chair at Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital, will lead the focus group at a Lake Bluff restaurant Saturday. She said the panelists will range from 11 to 18 years old, coming from Libertyville, Lake Forest and Lake Bluff.

Her goal is to gather information that can lead to realistic steps toward achieving greater bicycle helmet use by teenagers and adults.

“We're really excited about this initiative,” said Gulson, an avid cyclist.

Gulson recently culled data from elementary, middle and high schools in Lake Forest and Lake Bluff regarding bicycle helmet use.

Helmet use by elementary students was at 87 percent, with 60 percent in middle and 6 percent in high school, Gulson said Thursday. She said teens and adults need the most encouragement to use bike helmets.

Each year, more than 500,000 people in the United States are treated in emergency departments for bicycle-related injuries, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There are roughly 700 annual deaths.

Gulson intends to develop a plan to combat bicycle injuries next spring in collaboration with Northwestern Lake Forest's nurses and doctors. She also plans to include local police, school officials and bike shop owners.

An Illinois senate bill introduced in January would make it illegal for anyone younger than 16 to not wear a helmet while biking. A warning would be issued to violators.

Gulson said she believes it's better to increase voluntary bike helmet use.

“I would hate to think that teens would think that once you turn 16, you whip your helmet off,” she said.