To the Editor,

          I am writing as a deeply concerned community member and as someone who has spent years witnessing the real consequences of preventable head injuries.  My professional background includes work as a paramedic, a sergeant with the Sheriff's Department, and a detective sergeant with the Coroner's bureau.  I have personally provided emergency care and investigated fatal incidents involving bicycles, electric bikes, and motorized scooters, many of them involving young riders and many occurring at low speeds.

          What I am seeing more frequently in our neighborhoods is alarming: children and teens riding high-speed electric bikes and scooters without helmets, with helmets unstrapped, or wearing them incorrectly.  These devices are often treated like toys, yet many are capable of speeds comparable to moving traffic and carry serious injury potential.

            Parents and guardians must understand that a fatal brain injury does not require a dramatic crash or high speed.  I have seen deaths occur from simple falls, low-speed impacts, or brief loss of balance when a rider's head strikes pavement, a curb or a fixed object.  The brain cannot tolerate sudden deceleration or blunt impact without consequences.

           Helmet use is essential, but helmets alone are not enough.  Parents and guardians must ensure age-appropriate equipment, responsible speed limits, proper helmet fit and use, and meaningful rider education.  Adults must actively supervise and enforce safe behavior rather than assuming these machines are harmless. 

          Parents and guardians must take responsibility for protecting their children.

Be safe, Sandra Brown, Orcutt