Nonurban parental beliefs about childhood injury and bicycle safety

Objective: To understand non urban parents' attitudes toward injury prevention in general and bicycle safety in particular. Methods: Telephone interviews were conducted with 116 predominantly Hispanic and Angle parents from three small communities designated as medically underserved. Results: Parents were most concerned about harm from a stranger and motor vehicle crashes. They cited helmet cost and lack of traffic where their children ride as the predominant reasons they had not purchased bicycle helmets for their children. Conclusions: Implications for developing effective safety interventions, such as convincing parents about injury risks in non urban areas and considering contextual factors when designing programs, are discussed.