NONURBAN PARENTAL BELIEFS ABOUT CHILDHOOD INJURY AND BICYCLE SAFETY

Objective: To understand non urban parents' attitudes toward injury pr evention in general and bicycle safety in particular. Methods: Telepho ne interviews were conducted with 116 predominantly Hispanic and Angle parents from three small communities designated as medically underser ved. Results: Parents were most concerned about harm from a stranger a nd motor vehicle crashes. They cited helmet cost and lack of traffic w here their children ride as the predominant reasons they had not purch ased 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 fact ors when designing programs, are discussed.