Wheelyshooz

I'm not about to get all cranked up about this, but the topic perked my ears a few days back when a news program I look at as I exercise in the morning did a brief segment on it. It concerns those wheeled sneakers you see kids wearing. Little rollerskate wheels embedded in the heels of the shooz, so a kid rocks back and glides along.

Injuries from trendy roller shoes are far more numerous than previously thought, contributing to about 1,600 emergency room visits last year, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Wednesday. [...] The update follows new safety advice posted online Tuesday by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, which recommends helmets, wrist protectors and knee and elbow pads for kids who wear wheeled shoes. [...] Heelys, the most popular brand, are sold in 70 countries. They're made by Carrollton, Texas-based Heelys Inc. The shoes feature removable wheels in each heel that pop out when wearers shift their weight to their heels. [...] "The injury rate of using wheeled footwear has not increased in the past 15 months. More wheeled shoes are being sold and so, as you would expect, more incidents are being reported," said [Edward Heiden, president of Heiden Associates, a product safety consulting firm that Heelys hired to study the shoes].

Heelys reported in April that a Heiden Associates analysis of data from the government's product safety commission showed the shoes have a lower injury rate than many other sports, including skateboarding, inline skating and even swimming.

Heiden said the new numbers confirm that previous analysis, "which tells us using wheeled footwear is 42 times safer than basketball, 29 times safer than bicycling, and 18 times safer than skateboarding."

The news program I was watching mentioned that the bulk of the e-room visits were from novices.

You and I grew up with roller skates. Probably clip-ons that you'd snap to your shoes. No helmets. No wrist guards. Some injuries, mostly skinned knees, probably. Usually when we were just figuring out how to use them, occasionally from hitting a crack in the sidewalk, or a piece of gravel.

My kids grew up with blades -- we made 'em wear helmets and wrist guards at first because you can build up such a high speed that when you DO fall, you're more likely to break something.

But these things? I've seen kids in them. They don't go all that fast. Yes, they are more prone to falling, and if they wear these daily, use them as wheelies often, then they increase their chances of falling down. And some of them will be worth a trip to the emergency room.

My brother broke his wrists while playing. My neighbor's daughter chipped her teeth and required oral surgery, while playing. They were running, jumping, skipping. One kid was slammed into his lockers and suffered a broken collar bone when some other kids ran past and accidentally shoved him aside. Injuries happen.

If I were the parent of a tween with a desire for a pair of these, I think I'd just train the kid -- break 'em in in a safe environment, then teach the child the usual cautions of watching out for broken pavement, being cautious around sidewalks near gravelled yards, etc. Because I know that kid isn't gonna be wearing a helmet and wrist braces just because I say they should.