AIBU to think they should not be letting child out like this

[Mrbojangles1]

Walking along this morning and saw the bike-ability people

School cycle training for people who don't know and I was surprised to see that sevral of the children were not wearing helmets
My son did his last year and the school would not allow the children to take part unless they had helmets

I just think that the bike ability people should not be allowing children to take part unless they have helmets BTW they sell helmets in wilko for as little as £5

Seeing as it cycle training they should be encouring children to be safe of the roads which includes helmets gurrr and the worst thing is the trainers were wearing helmets so they must think its important

At Cub Scouts we have a Cyclists Badge and we are not allowed to take them unless they are wearing helmets. I have turned kids away before now.

My DS has recently acquired a road worthy bike, he's 15 now and I have insisted that he wears a helmet at all times or he doesn't ride his bike. I also signed up for the excellent £5 2 hour one to one training session. My DS said that he didn't have time to cover roundabouts etc. so I paid for an extra 2 hours privately with the instructor.

It was so worth it and DS wouldn't dream of even getting on his bike now without his helmet. He saw first hand how how vunerable cyclist are on our busy roads.

We live in London by the way.

Is it better they get trained to ride without a helmet or don't get the training?

training reduces accidents, helmets do not ( they mitigate minor accidents)

The training will do far far more to reduce injuries than wearing a helmet will. Australias compulsory helmet laws have not reduced head injuries in cyclists per mile cycled at all. Allit has dfone is greatly reduced the number of people who cycle and thus increased the number who die from diseases of inactivity.

Helmets will not automatically save your life if in an accident in the same way a seatbelt will not automatically save your life in a car accident. However, on balance i think they are a good thing to use as it could be the deciding factor especially since we don't have the level of infrastructure the Netherlands have.

JayPI curious to know how helmets mitigate minor accidents?

That's the trouble in this country compared with many others. Others have many cycle ways on the pavements and do not have a multitude of roundabouts, anyway. Cyclists ride in strict single line and don't not have to ride on the roads with the cars.
They cross the roads with pedestrians at pedestrian crossings at traffic lights.

My school provides bikes for those children who don't have one. We do not allow children to complete the bicycle safety training without a helmet. It's part of the school Risk Assessment.

It's not entirely clear cut that helmets are safer than not wearing helmets. better to have children who refuse to wear helmets know road safety than have no helmet and no road sense.

I'm surprised they were out without helmets

DD1 did Bikeability last year and if they didn't wear helmets, they weren't allowed to take part. The people running it had helmets (and even bikes) to lend out for anyone who didn't have one, but they didn't let anyone near a bike without a helmet on

For those who doubt the safety of helmets it may be worth your while looking at james cracknell's one after he was hit by a truck in America. It without question saved his life.