With Halloween activities and fall sports in full swing, October can be a particularly fun month for children of all ages. However, kids often forget about their own safety and October can be a particularly dangerous month for children.
Daylight is becoming quite scarce in New York this time of year. The increased hours of darkness puts pedestrians and cyclists at increased risk of being hit by a motorist. Drivers’ visibility decreases during early-morning and evening commutes, yet many motorists fail to adjust accordingly. Even if NYC commuters are able to avoid driving during darkness, the setting or rising sun can create dangerous glare issues.
Please warn your children that motorists are struggling to make the seasonal adjustments. It is a good idea for New York children to wear a brightly-colored jacket or sweatshirt when traveling around the city.
Safety in youth sports
October is also a good time to remind youth athletes about head safety. Concussions are a hot-button issue in all sports, especially football and hockey, but scientists are just starting to understand the harmful implications of sub-concussive impacts.
Sub-concussive impacts are brain injuries that don’t necessarily result in the symptoms that a concussion causes. An example of a sub-concussive impact is when a soccer player hits the ball with his or her head. Their symptoms may be minimal or go unnoticed, but each sub-concussive hit adds up and may cause serious brain damage resulting in adult-onset chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
There are no current diagnostic tests for CTE and can only be detected post-mortem. Boxers and mixed-martial art (MMA) fighters are particularly vulnerable to this horrible condition.