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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU re cycle helmet use in children cycling to school

154 replies

cyclehelmetuse · 09/10/2018 11:23

AIBU to think if secondary schools are able to enforce an exact length of regulation school skirt, the length of ties and inspect the contents of pencil cases they should be able to enforce the bringing of a cycle helmet when parking a bike on school premises?

Not one child wears a cycle helmet at our secondary school. Apparently it is totally uncool and children are bullied if seen with one. Even cycling with one hanging their handle bars is now unacceptable and is never seen.

I believe schools have a responsibility to enforce the bringing of a helmet as some of these children are only 11 years old and it is totally unacceptable that they are too scared of the older children to protect themselves.

OP posts:
Original poster
cyclehelmetuse · 09/10/2018 13:17

DeadZed - I don't have any evidence of any other issues re bullying. There is no teasing about uniform as it is all regulation even skirt lengths etc and no issues with teasing for type of phone or such according to all the children and parents. Everything seems great except the helmets.

OP posts:
daisychicken · 09/10/2018 13:24

This is the same as at my dc's secondary school:

"Our school now has cycle permits & to be allowed to bring your bike onto the school site you have to have a helmet. No helmet - permit removed."

DC have to have a helmet, bike lock, permission from parents and 'licence' from school. They are expected to be sensible safe cyclists and any reports from members of the public are taken seriously.

My oldest ds refuses to wear a helmet so no cycling to school (he will wear his helmet on cycling trips with his DGF.. as friends can't see him...). Youngest ds wears his helmet and cycles to school. I insist on helmets when ds2 rides his bike out of school but I can't guarantee it's actually worn out of sight.

I think it should be illegal for all cyclists not to wear a helmet. It would help parents enforce the rule as it then means it's not teens thinking "parents are not 'cool' " iyswim.

gigglingHyena · 09/10/2018 13:26

Our local school give detention to any child arriving with a bike but no helmet. The bike rack at the sports centre is permanent lyrics full in term time as kids leave their bikes and cross the road into school on foot.

I'd prefer them to tackle the bullying and allow the rest of us to use the bike rack at the sports centre.

Original poster
cyclehelmetuse · 09/10/2018 13:29

Daisychicken - Yes it would be much easier if the law was changed but seeing how many adults here don't agree with the wearing of helmets I guess it wouldn't be popular. How long ago did your school implement permits? How was it received?

OP posts:
3WildOnes · 09/10/2018 13:42

I thought that studies had shown you were actually more likely to be seriously injured if you do wear a helmet, because drivers a much less careful around you. I also read that a bicycle helmet don’t actually offer that much protection.

cheminotte · 09/10/2018 13:49

Cycling levels are already ridiculously low in this country - there are more vegans than regular cyclists. Making helmet use mandatory would only make that worse.

Original poster
cyclehelmetuse · 09/10/2018 14:12

I had no idea this many people were opposed to cycle helmets!! Surely the regular/keen cyclists are the ones wearing helmets? Certainly everyone I know who belongs to a club or is a keen cyclist ie cycling a reasonable distance wears one.

OP posts:
Hillarious · 09/10/2018 14:12

But if I fall off my bike I will do as much damage to my head as I would if I fell over walking, and I don't have to wear one walking. In fact the only time I have hit my head was slipping on ice, walking.

When you come off your bike, though, it's the speed with which you hit the ground that's different to walking. I came off my bike last year on ice and was very conscious of the fact that it was my helmet that hit the road first. A friend on another occasion came off her bike whilst not wearing a helmet and had two rather distressing black eyes as a consequence of bleeding from the knock on her head, rather than being hit in the eye.

When DS was taken to hospital in an ambulance after coming off his bike, the paramedics, the triage nurse, the A&E staff, the doctors all asked if he'd been wearing a helmet. A friend who works in insurance says it can make a difference to a claim if a cyclist isn't wearing a helmet.

Of course there are occasions where a helmet won't make the slightest difference to injuries sustained, and indeed a contemporary of my DD's was knocked off her bike and died. A helmet would not have saved her, but there are plenty of mishaps where a helmet would make a difference and we need adults to set a good example to impressionable children.

CoalTit · 09/10/2018 14:16

Blaming the school for a child not wearing a helmet is equivalent to blaming my workplace for not using my seatbelt in the car
The problem with that analogy is that the law doesn't require anyone, of any age, to wear a helmet while cycling. So it's more like blaming your workplace for your failure to wear a helmet in your car, where it is not mandatory but would prevent a lot of head injuries if it were.

Kaykay06 · 09/10/2018 14:19

Well, tough shit if it doesn’t look cool, both my boys wanted to ride their bikes to school I said no problem wear a helmet both provided with one with purchase of bikes when they got them. Eldest wore his (16 at time) 13 year old walks as he won’t wear a helmet it’s not schools responsibility it’s mine

specialsubject · 09/10/2018 14:19

Cycle helmets become voluntary when you are old enough not to dick about on a bike and to be able to judge distances and speeds properly. No one of school age meets these criteria.

The school needs to deal with the feral children that bully the sensible ones. Such a shame the cane went out.

skintnotskinny · 09/10/2018 14:22

Cycle helmets in their current form are effectively cosmetic - they’re designed to protect heads in the event of a low-speed crash from a not particularly great height. So if your toddlers falls off their bike and hits their head then they’d probably be better off with a helmet than not. However for adults/teens riding at greater speeds the evidence that they actually help is pretty flimsy (rather like cycle helmets). To get proper protection from head injuries you’d need something like a full face motorbike helmet, but they’re heavy and uncomfortable and not designed for cycling. There’s also evidence that wearing a helmet makes cyclists less cautious as they feel ‘protected’. Mandatory helmet laws reduce the numbers of people cycling and increase the perception that it’s a dangerous activity. The most effective way to reduce head (and other) injuries to cyclists is to have more cyclists on the road so other road users are used to them being there and drive more safely.

lekkerkroketje · 09/10/2018 14:28

Why not just prosecute every driver that hits a cyclist automatically, with automatic blame on the driver. That's what happens in the Netherlands and there no one above the age of 5 wears a helmet. And yes, they do have segregated lanes, but only in the centre of cities. Outside cities, low speed limits and harsh punishments make drivers cautious.

Making helmets compulsory is just victim blaming.

3WildOnes · 09/10/2018 14:31

www.cyclinguk.org/campaign/cycle-helmets-evidence

From what I can gather from reading around, if you are wearing a helmet and are in a crash you are more likely to survive by you are much less likely to be in a crash in the first place if you are not wearing a helmet as drivers drive an extra 8.5cm away from you on average.

I think in Holland where cycling s much more prevalent than anywhere else most people don’t wear helmets.

mastertomsmum · 09/10/2018 14:36

The head patrols up and down outside the school stopping kids without helmets on a regular basis at our school. I think it may be in the school rules.

We also have a hire bike problem and parents whose kids have vandalised hire bikes with the lock and sensor bashed off get sent a letter

tenbob · 09/10/2018 14:44

skint
That isn't true.

I've seen some crashes at 20mph+ from bikes onto tarmac, and the helmets do a great job at protecting heads (faces, not so much)
I have been in a crash at 25mph in a peloton where we were all fine save for some road rash but almost certainly would have had one or more serious head injuries without them, judging by the damage to the helmets afterwards

I find the anti-helmet argument really, really odd.

Helmets are universal for horse riding and skiing, and no one tries to use the same flimsy excuses about their efficacy or comfort. You just get on with it and wear one, because we all know what would lose in a collision between concrete or tarmac, vs skin and skull

KidLorneRoll · 09/10/2018 14:47

The usefulness of bike helmets - given they are lightweight, flimsy things made out of thin polystyrene is very, very debatable. Indeed, in some cases they can increase the chances of injury rather than decrease it.

Lights/hi vis etc absolutely should be compulsory. Helmets should be personal choice and I personally don't see much value in forcing a teenager to wear one if the alternative is they don't use their bike at all.

RedSkyLastNight · 09/10/2018 14:58

Sorry you cant enforce your child wearing it

Not sure how you can enforce a child wearing a helmet whilst you're not around. Please tell me ...

IntentsAndPorpoises · 09/10/2018 14:59

Horseriding helmets are much stronger.

There is genuine research that shows that cyclists are safer without a helmet because of the way drivers treat them. In the vast majority of accidents a helmet will not help at all.

BTW I say this as a cyclist that does wear a helmet. But they aren't the lifesaving thing they are claimed to be.

I'd rather a teenager that was switched on, a are of surroundings, cycling carefully, and not wearing. A helmet than otherwise.

As said in Netherlands hardly anyone wears a helmet.

cheminotte · 09/10/2018 15:03

I cycle and do wear a helmet and so do my dc. But we’re going at 5 -10mph, not 20 mph and I’d still rather cycling was perceived to be safer and more people did it even without helmets as that would increase safety for everyone. And reduce air pollution. And give people more exercise. And increase life expectancy....

Original poster
cyclehelmetuse · 09/10/2018 15:03

Wearing helmets skiing doesn't stop any teenagers skiing and I cant see it would stop them cycling if everyone wore a helmet. They all want to ride a motorbike or ski. Don't they just want to be the same as everyone else and are scared of being teased? If everyone wore one they would wear one. Those who dismiss the use of helmets what makes ski helmets so much more effective?

OP posts:
CoalTit · 09/10/2018 15:05

Cycle helmets become voluntary when you are old enough not to dick about on a bike and to be able to judge distances and speeds properly.... Such a shame the cane went out

The law is not on your side in either matter.

NonaGrey · 09/10/2018 15:09

But if I fall off my bike I will do as much damage to my head as I would if I fell over walking

This isn’t true. Not even nearly.

If you come off your bike at any kind of speed and especially if you are hit by a car you are going to be thrown through the air.

A helmet can be the very real difference between life and death.

All the kids cycling to our local high school wear helmets.

All the adults you see cycling locally wear helmets too.

I’d be concerned about how the school handles bullying tbh.

Original poster
cyclehelmetuse · 09/10/2018 15:09

RedSky - We drive past to spot check helmet is being worn regularly and have also mentioned to any friends/family that pass them cycling to tell me if helmet/lights etc are not being used. They know bike would be confiscated if that was the case. So far all checks have been OK. They know there is a chance I would find out and want the freedom of having a bike to use so wont risk it. Works for us so far but may not if attending a school where it is not acceptable as peer pressure may be stronger than fear of not being able to go out at all.

OP posts:
Thatstheendofmytether · 09/10/2018 15:10

YANBU my son has to tale his bike to school every Monday they do insist they wear a helmet for their bike lesson, but I walked up to school with my younger DS the other day not long after older DS left with friends to cycle. Found them about half way to school with the helmets stuffed in their bags, but then I remember being that age and and not wanting to do anything uncool.