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Original poster

What age did you let your Dc stop wearing helmets?

90 replies

AndAnotherOneJoinsTheQueue · 16/09/2022 10:56

Whilst scooting to school?
Or cycling?

Kneepads/arm/elbow when in skateboards?

DD's friends all scoot to school without helmets and yesterday saw a classmate on a bike without one.

OP posts:
Tessasanderson · 16/09/2022 11:00

There is no particular age whereby someone becomes safer or more able to withstand a head injury.

Its a life choice. If you are a parent who doesnt consider it important then you will allow your children to ignore a helmet. If you do consider it important then you will insist on a helmet.

A major head injury can happen at very slow speeds on a bike. 99% will be no issue. 1% it could easily kill you whether a 6/10/15/20yr old person.

I am not preaching. I allow my children to ride without helmets. But i am thoroughly aware that there can be dire consequences.

Cats23 · 16/09/2022 11:05

Mine are not allowed out without one!
Ds is 15 ,Doesnt Scooter or bike as much now but when does, he would'nt ever not put one on,same for his older sibling at same age and his younger siblings still.
At the local skate park, the older ones tend not to wear helmets ect, you ger do but are with parents.
The children on our street of all ages, don't wear one either.
I find it shocking that parents don't make their Dc wear helmets tbh!

Pixiedust1234 · 16/09/2022 11:13

Why would you let them stop? Its for safety. You don't know if or when a car or a running dog/child could knock them off and then they hit their head on the kerb?

Adults wear helmets too, have you not noticed that?

abovedecknotbelow · 16/09/2022 11:14

They don't stop. I wear a helmet to ski, cycle and horse ride. So do they.

Original poster
AndAnotherOneJoinsTheQueue · 16/09/2022 11:17

@Pixiedust1234 I've never seen an adult wear a helmet on a scooter - not even on those irksome e-scooters on roads.

OP posts:
Parky04 · 16/09/2022 11:19

Never. Eldest DC who is now an adult still wears one now when he cycles to work. Youngest refused to wear one because it was not 'cool' , so I sold his bike! I used to work in Insurance claims for a large transport company, and dealt with lots of injury/death claims involving cyclists, whose injuries may have been less severe if they were wearing a helmet.

SushiGo · 16/09/2022 11:19

They always have to wear helmets. Now tweens/teens. We also wear helmets.

They know a relatives life was saved by wearing one.

MayMoveMayNot · 16/09/2022 11:20

Mine always, as do I, wear a helmet when on a bike, no exceptions.

If I caught mine not wearing a hat, there'd be instant repercussions for it. I'm lax in a lot of areas but not wearing a helmet is not one of them.

BiddyPop · 16/09/2022 11:21

Pads on skateboards - roughly 9/10.

Helmet on bike - no limit. Still a requirement at 16. She has been wearing it since 11 months old and going on the back of DH's bike 12 miles into the city centre to creche on a daily basis. And while she now mostly walks to school, she does cycle on occasion and cycles locally for a good few other things.

DH wears his religiously as well. (As do I, but I do least cycling in the household).

DH works in the area and knows far too much about the dangers and stupidity of drivers from a professional perspective, as well as having really welcomed his helmet the day he was knocked flying over a car and, while he broke his wrist, his head was intact but helmet had big scrapes and a large dent in it...

It's like the requirement to wear a seatbelt in the car, in our house. Simply non-negotiable.

BiddyPop · 16/09/2022 11:22

(It was a stupid driver breaking the rules who hit DH, there was CCTV at the time. And he did get a new helmet).

SilverGlassHare · 16/09/2022 11:22

A family member worked as a carer for a young man who was severely brain damaged aged 15 after being knocked off his bike by milk truck. He had no helmet on, and hit his head on the curb. We all wear helmets to cycle/scoot in our family, adults, teens, children.

Doggydarling · 16/09/2022 11:23

Please don't stand by and let your child, no matter the age, cycle without a helmet. My friend cycled regularly, at least three times a week she would meet with a friend or her husband and go out for a few hours exercise, last year she was knocked into a ditch by a car (the mirror struck her as the car passed, the car wasn't speeding, the driver was being careful but it still happened), she was bruised and still has neck problems but her helmet saved her from major head injuries, I've seen the helmet and it is battered, I dread to think how she would have been if she wasn't wearing it, also helmet vary in fit and quality so do a little research, if you can afford it there are fabulous ones with lights and even Bluetooth speakers and microphone so teenagers might be more inclined to wear these

gymbummy · 16/09/2022 11:25

Absolutely not negotiable. My kids would probably be fine not wearing a seat belt in the car too, until the day they're not.

WhitePhantom · 16/09/2022 11:25

I'd suggest that you let them stop wearing a helmet on a bike at the same age that you let them stop wearing a seat belt in a car.

Fex · 16/09/2022 11:26

When mine were teens they pushed back against helmets. I stood my ground and said no helmet no bike. I stuck to it even though they never went on their bikes again for years until they grew out of being more concerned with appearances than safety.

Penguinfeather781 · 16/09/2022 11:26

There will never be a time I tell my children they don’t need to wear a helmet on a bike, scooter, or skateboard. Far as I’m concerned they are equivalent to a seatbelt in a car - every journey, for everyone. I accept that I can’t physically make them wear one as a teenager when they’re out of my sight, but I’ll never “let them” not wear a helmet.

girlmom21 · 16/09/2022 11:27

AndAnotherOneJoinsTheQueue · 16/09/2022 11:17

@Pixiedust1234 I've never seen an adult wear a helmet on a scooter - not even on those irksome e-scooters on roads.

That's because they never think it'll happen to them. Until it does.

Don't let them stop wearing helmets.

Donotgogentle · 16/09/2022 11:29

Never - I know of a number of teens and adults who’ve suffered head injuries when cycling without a helmet. Most have recovered fine eventually but one has permanent hearing loss (age 17).

LunaAndHerMoonDragons · 16/09/2022 11:30

I wear one when cycling. If my DC wouldn't wear one they wouldn't get to cycle or skate or scoot.

NotLactoseFree · 16/09/2022 11:30

I would no more allow my child to ride his bicycle without a helmet than I would agree to him being in the car without a seat belt. I looked up the statistics just yesterday and it's something like half of cyclists in an accident without a helmet suffer significant head injuries vs just 20% or so of those wearing a helmet.

I am fairly confident he sometimes takes it off when I am not around but I also know he's terrified of being spotted by my "army of spies" and reports getting back to me so for now at least, I suspect that he mostly keeps it on.

I was a bit more relaxed when he was little on a scooter if we were at the park or something as he generally didn't go very fast and was close to me and not on the road or whatever.

Pixiedust1234 · 16/09/2022 11:33

AndAnotherOneJoinsTheQueue · 16/09/2022 11:17

@Pixiedust1234 I've never seen an adult wear a helmet on a scooter - not even on those irksome e-scooters on roads.

You mentioned cycling 🙄

But you are obviously going to be argumentative about this so I'm out.

clary · 16/09/2022 11:34

At no point. I mean mine no longer scoot anywhere but if they ride a bike, they wear a helmet. They are all adults now but I would still reinforce that. I haven't ridden a bike without wearing a helmet for about 35 years.

illiterato · 16/09/2022 11:35

Mine are 12&10. Cycling- always wear one. Skiing - always wear one. Scooting- have never worn one but they don’t scoot in the road.

feckoffbrian · 16/09/2022 11:38

Why would you NOT wear a helmet? We always do. The important people around us do too.

Everyone else... well, they obviously care more about other things than their heads.

But, you never need it until you need it and by the time you realise that, it's often too late to go and out on your helmet.

CMOTDibbler · 16/09/2022 11:39

Would you like to see my sons cycle helmet from when he had an accident less than 150m from our door? The front is squashed in 5 cm, and it is cracked right round to the back. He walked out of hospital that night, but was concussed for a week.
As adults, we wear helmets every cycle trip, and at 16 he wears his every day to school with no complaints or resistance because he knows that helmet saved his life