To think it's ok for DS to cycle around park without helmet?

[zozzle]

What's the worst that can happen? He might fall off and bash his head on .... some soft grass! Still unlikely as he's confident on his bike and rarely falls off.

There are no cars in the park (strange that!) but still I get surprised/shocked comments from other mums.

Yes, when he's older cycling on roads, of course I shall insist he wears a helmet. But do we really need belt and braces in a grassy park?

He's 8 yrs old btw.

Yes, titanium enforced ones are very robust. My horse threw me on the soft sand, off rising trot fgs, yet cracked my helmet. So my point was - freakish accidents can happen. We hope they don't happen to us and hopefully most of us are lucky, but some aren't. Helmets can at least help to soften the blow.

Just to clarify, I was, of course, wearing riding helmet.

A grassy park should be ok. Risk is everywhere, you could argue that all people should wear helmets when they walk on pavement, as there's a risk they could fall and hit their head. Grassy park, 8 years old, probably ok. It will also teach the child about judging risk.

Research on helmet benefits is inconclusive, but you would probably be blamed by others from here until doomsday if your child was badly hurt without one, its the guilt society (underpinned by people with things to sell) at work.

It's up to you of course, but a friend still misses the little boy who, on his 7th birthday went out on his new bike, rode a little way down the pavement (grass on both sides), and she never held his living body again. He'd be 30+ now.

I wouldn't do it.

Whatmeworry, I very much doubt that anyone on here would be that cruel to a grieving parent - in fact, we'd probably knit them a blanket.

But the parent concerned would be left wondering, what if.... Would my precious child still be alive if I'd made them wear a helmet? Losing a child is hell under any circumstances - this would make it worse.

VolvoMo - an 8 year old is not old enough to judge risk, in my opinion - and as CoteDePablo has shown, a simple fall onto grass can be the polar opposite of OK.

Again - I have to ask - wearing a helmet is such a small thing, it doesn't hurt, or spoil a child's fun - so why not wear something that could prevent serious injury or worse - seriously - what is the downside????

cote, your post sent chills down my spine. :( What parent in their right mind could read that and still not bother with a helmet. I don't get it.

What parent in their right mind could read that and still not bother with a helmet. I don't get it.

Well, I for one want to know whether having a helmet would have helped or not in that situation.

Bloody hell, you lot are doomsayers!
Yes, it will have happened to some people. That does not mean it will happen to all people. Do you never EVER put your TV on standby because in a few cases TVs have blow up while on standby due to the energy? I highly doubt it. Obviously I am no longer the only one in the thread that believes this, and I agree that the "oh my god my Dahling son may accidently hit his head on a bit of gravel in the grass" attitude is detrimental to the whole discussion.

And Thistledew, yes, helmets may be good at stopping cuts and grazes. But we can't and shouldn't bubble-wrap children, it's not healthy for them to be coddled.

But we can't and shouldn't bubble-wrap children

Now there's an idea - I wonder when the first bubble-wrap children's clothing will go on sale :)

I tend to think that he should wear one (I say this as someone who cycles a lot myself) because

• it'll get him into the habit of wearing one, so there will be less fuss in getting him to wear one when he does go on the roads
• low speed crashes (such as those that kids have) are those where cycle helmets offer the most protection. On road, it's actually a bit more debatable, because in high speed crashes they offer naff all protection (NB you should look for the foam being compressed, rather than cracks, as that shows that it has absorbed the force), and there is also the argument that drivers take more care around unhelmeted cyclists (having tried both, I think there may be some truth to this).
• grass isn't that soft. I remember a boy, when I was at primary school, being swung around by the ankles (IIRC) and then dropped, landing on the grass. He spent several weeks on a spinal board in hospital.

PS I am saying that he should be wearing a helmet as someone who finds it shocking that kids are seemingly no longer allowed to climb trees, play Bulldog in the playground and play out by themselves.

I'm happy for mine to rocket around on bikes, but don't think it unreasonable to ask them to wear a hat, albeit a protective hat, whilst they do so.

Many years ago I whizzed around Greek islands on a moped, helmetless. Would never do it now that I have kids who depend on me, & I wonder how on earth my parents could've condoned this.

Actually that's harsh. My parents' German friends sent over seat-belt kits & we were first kids in our area to be pinned back in our seats. We were so used to hanging between the driver/passenger seat asking are we nearly there yet that it seemed like an infringement of our rights. If only we'd been used to it.

No helmet means no bike here. DS doesn't even think about now.

to those who say what's the harm in wearing one you may want to read this
www.cyclehelmets.org/1039.html

Or you could read this study from Australia which shows a 63% reduction in head injuries to children by wearing a cycle helmet.

Yes, he should always wear a helmet. A little boy of 8 recently got knocked off his bike and was in icu for a long time, had to have brain surgery. You are teaching him that it is ok to pick and choose when you wear it and I can't see what the point in not wearing it is? So it is unlikely he'll fall off, well that applies wherever he is! You wear a helmet just in case not because it is likely you'll get knocked off and that's what you should be teaching him I think.

What's the worst that can happen? He might fall off and bash his head on .... some soft grass!

Soft wet grass is about as springy as the safety stuff they put under slides, dry grass is about the same as concrete.

What if he goes head first into a tree?

Cycling is an inherently risky activity in terms of suffering a fall from your bike. It doesn't mean that children shouldn't do it, but it is a good idea to minimise the risk. Just as you wouldn't, for example, let a child go rock scrambling wearing flip- flops but would insist on them wearing shoes with a good grip, a helmet is a non-intrusive and appropriate piece of safety equipment suitable for the sport.

I am an experienced cyclist and have fallen off my bike twice in the last year- the first time was on grass, when I tried to cycle up a steeper slope than the tyres I have on my bike were suitable for. I didn't hit my head, but landed only about 2 ft from a tree stump, which if I had managed to cycle just one turn of the pedals further I may well have hit my head on. Personally, even though I doubt I would have caused myself serious injury, I would have been glad to avoid getting as big a bruise on my head as I did on my hip.

My second accident was just this weekend and was caused by a sudden mechanical failure when my chain jammed as I went into the lowest gear. My bike is well maintained - I took it into a bike shop for a service at the beginning of the week - but the day before it had fallen over, causing a problem not noticeable to the naked eye.

I was only travelling at a slow speed and was lucky that I was able to throw my weight so I fell onto a verge and not the road, but again, just a small change in factors and I could have been relying on my helmet for protection.

I also saw a man fall from his bike whilst riding on the grass last summer. A combination of swerving to avoid a loose dog, hitting a bit of a dip, and only grabbing the front brake saw him take a spectacular dive over the handlebars, straight onto his head. Fortunately, he was only going very slowly and was just left with a bruise, a headache and feeling a bit dazed, all which would have been reduced or avoided if he had been wearing a helmet.

Cycling is an inherently risky activity in terms of suffering a fall from your bike. It doesn't mean that children shouldn't do it, but it is a good idea to minimise the risk

No, paragliding, scuba diving and lion taming are inherently risky activities. cycling on grass in a park, like skipping on a pavement or getting out of bed onto carpet, are inherently very safe activities with a very small no of unfortunate accidents. The only time cycling becomes in the least way dangerous is if you choose to cycle on roads or off mountains.

These people of all ages seem to manage fine without helmets. Mabe we have softer heads in this country.

YANBU.

What's your point latebreakfast? You don't need to wear a helmet to be physically able to cycle, however I can't see why wearing a helmet is seen as something to avoid if you can, surely you'd be better off with something rather than nothing on your head and it isn't a major inconvenience to wear a helmet.

"I can't see why wearing a helmet is seen as something to avoid if you can"

I find cycle helmets, even lightweight ones, to be hot and unpleasant to wear. I believe that the impetus to wear them comes far more from a cultural shift than from any proven safety grounds, and I believe that their almost non-existence in the Netherlands as shown in that article backs this view up.

Almost all of the arguments on here are anecdotal, and I think that if we understood and acted upon real safety concerns then we'd all be wearing helmets in cars.

"I can't see why wearing a helmet is seen as something to avoid if you can"

Well for me half the pleasure of cycling is the freedom to feel the wind in your hair.

I am hyper sensitive to clothing on my head & face - I never wear hats or even sunglasses as I find them incredibly annoying. I also have trouble getting hats etc. to fit properly - I must have a funny shaped head. I certainly have large, protruding ears. I am old enough now not to worry about how they look in a helmet, but all the ones I've tried fold my ears down at the top, which is uncomfortable & quite painful after a while. My ears stick out too much to 'tuck in' to the hat/helmet - they 'ping' out after a while and the helmet presses down on them. I don't think I've met many other people with ears as long as mine - they rival Dr Spock!
My father's are the same, but he has a bigger head & face, so they are more in proportion. Needless to say my ears are usually kept under my hair! .

All the above mean that if helmets ever became compulsary I would sell my bike & never ride again. I am not generally a foolhardy risktaker and in fact do not ride on some roads locally because I don't think they are safe (with or without a helmet), but I don't consider cycling an inherantly risky activity that needs special headgear, but as something akin to running (and sometimes runners fall & hit their heads you know nothing is risk free).