Bike helmets

[marmeemarch1]

I have always insisted my two DDs 6 and 9 wear bike helmets. They have recently started meeting our oldest DDs friends and playing around the block. It's a very quiet area but does have some through traffic.

They like to go out on their bikes. I have said they have to wear helmets but their dad and our childminder frequently let them out without helmets.

They say they hurt their heads, make them sweaty and they are embarrassed to wear them as not all of their friends wear them. Our current compromise is if they don't want to go out with helmets they can't take their bikes, but can still play out with their friends.

I have worked with people with brain injury so am worried that my work experiences are clouding my judgement.

Wise mumsnetters what do you think

It's very very simple in our house - no helmet = no bike = no argument. We're a cycling family and all wear them, adults included.

Helmets, definitely.

Not negotiable in our house.

Absolute non negotiable in our house.

google "bike helmet after accident" and show them (and their dad) the helmets after they have been in an accidnet. explain if that person hadnt been wearing a helmet, then it would be their skull broken instead.

The childminder should be doing what you say in regards to what you want your children to do.

I'm Australian and it's illegal to ride without a helmet there so it always surprises me to see people here riding without them! They're not exactly the coolest thing in the world, but a darn sight better than a brain injury!

Thank you. Sometimes you start to doubt your own judgement!!

As someone who has been hospitalised following a cycling accident (my helmet split - imagine if I hadn't been wearing it) I don't get on my bike without a helmet.

I was only going slowly at the time as well.

Not negotiable, I agree. THough if helmets hurt consider if they need a better-fitting? Shows you're listening...

Non negotiable here too, my kids have never questioned it or complained - but round here someone without a helmet would stand out because practically every child wears them and most adults too.

My brother's life was undoubtedly saved by his helmet when he had a serious bike accident aged 9. The helmet was destroyed by the impact, the thought of his head taking the impact without it is horrific.

I do wear one.

But I have no opinion on whether other adults should. Simply because they are not the universal panacea they are made out to be.

Firstly, if you get squashed by a car, a helmet won't help you. Secondly, if you fall off your bike and hit your head, it could just as easily happen if you slipped over while walking or running, but we don't expect pedestrians to wear them. Thirdly, they are not widely worn in the Netherlands or Germany (kids tend to but otherwise not so much in Germany, in NL the kids don't either) and I can't see that their heads are harder than ours. Fourthly, the split helmet is a bit of a red herring, the surface area of a helmet is bigger than your head, so you are more likely to hit the helmet than you are your head. Fifthly, most people don't wear them properly so they won't help anyway. Sixthly there has been research that shows that car drivers take more care if you don't wear one.

They are a way of making you feel like you are doing something constructive about your safety and stop judgmental people who know nothing about cycling from making rude comments.

Personally, I think wearing hi-vis and ensuring you don't ride up the inside of left-turning vehicles are more likely to save your life than a helmet.

HOWEVER, the caveat for all of this is road cycling. If you do mountain biking, wear a helmet. You do not want your head to connect with a tree at speed.

If their helmets are giving them a headache then take them out and see if you can find ones which don't.

IME getting safety helmets to fit comfortably involves a lot of trial and error (in the shop) with different brands. Different brands are subtley different shapes. Each of my kids needed a different brand. (horse riding)

Friend of mine went to a restaurant didn't drink anything alcoholic. Went to go downstairs and fell. Well the result is she's had brain surgery and in rehabilitation hospital

Accidents happen but how far do we take wearing a helmet?

TBH 54% if head injuries are caused inside a car by a motorist- if you say that you should wear a bike helmet then you would be mad not to insist on helmet wearing in a car which is 4 times more likely

Do you make your dc wear helmets in the car?

I cringe when I see anyone cycling without a helmet! You can make all the non-helmet arguments you like but if Peter Sagan has to wear a helmet, it's good enough for me!

If it's got wheels you need a helmet. I told my daughter her scooter was going on freecycle unless she wore the helmet.

Frustratingly so many adults set a crappy example by cycling without them.

Helmets non-negotiable in this house and I always wear mine too (short bike commute every day).

Even where no/low traffic, kids are more likely to fall off bike than adults.

But helmets shouldn't hurt - they need to be properly fitted.

Wellhonestly , me too , I had a mile and a half commute and always wore it.

Frustratingly so many adults set a crappy example by cycling without them.

It's not my responsibility to set a good example to other people's children. I don't wear a helmet for precisely the reasons set out by purplemeddler.
Nobody ever suggests that pedestrians or passengers in motor vehicles should wear helmets, and both those groups are also at risk of head injuries.

Their heads will hurt a damn sight more if they fall off and smack them on a curb or stone. There does not need to be a vehicle involved to sustain serious injury. Mountain biker here I sustained a head injury on a basic track I just happened to slip on some loose rocks and hit my head which was in a helmet obviously just hit a sweet spot a couldn’t remember anything for a few days and was in hospital I don’t even want to imagine what could have been without my helmet. No helmet no compromise.

Interestingly research by Reading university a few years ago showed people who wore cycle helmets were more likely to be killed or suffer serious injuries in a road traffic accident.

I know kids are generally only going slow on their bikes or short distances when messing around with friends.
But my 7yr old last yr miss judged a kerb as he was going up it, only slowly. But he slid along it, fell off and smacked his head on a dry stone wall. His helmet had a hige dent in it. I'n so glad he was wearing it!
It still gives me the shivers thinking about it as he was only on the path outside the house just riding up and down the kerbs.
Can happen anytime, any situation whether fast or slow x

mustang I'm a mnt biker too and did a similar thing, only landed on my chin .... Had to have it glued back together, glad it wasn't my head!

So do any of you advocating helmets wear them in a car? And if not why not?

No negotiable in our house too. I would be having very serious words with the childminder (tbh looking for a new one).

Kids brains are so plastic compared to adults (small bangs have a bigger potential injury) , and yeah if your hit by a truck it isn't going to make the difference but it will make the difference if they slip and come their bike. Why make what should be a headache and a trip to the bike shop for a new helmet, a life changing injury.

Also, I know someone who was on her road bike and a cat ran out infront of her. She went straight over the handlebars and was grateful for the helmet.

Yes, pp are correct that accidents not involving cars are unlikely and a helmet isn't going to help with a car collision. But why not wear one anyway? What's the harm?.... It hardly weighs anything, don't have to cost much, and doesn't impact you cycling in any way.