AIBU re cycle helmet use in children cycling to school

[cyclehelmetuse]

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.

cyclehelmetuse

It is a bit difficult for schools to enforce a rule outside of it especially when parents ring up and say that their child will be cycling in anyway.

If you really want this to happen you should be talking to the parents.

The HSE don't class cycle helmets as PPE. They are not considered fit for purpose.

If campaigners wanted to save the lives of cyclists through the use of helmets they should argue the case for cycle helmets the same standard as motorbike helmets. Not very practical though....

They don't work for what they are perceived to do, a universal panacea. This is why road safety campaigners road incident investigators etc. ate reluctant to support their use. Unfortunately the medics etc get involved and use their kudos to support a broken cause.

You take the bike off them and make them walk to school if they have that much of a problem with wearing a helmet. I feel very strongly about this having experienced and witnessed what wearing a helmet and NOT wearing a helmet can result it.

Helmet “stigma” needs eradicating as they literally save lives. Saying that, maybe Darwinism will play a role.

See I thought teachers had enough to do without policing the roads, but seeing as the police do have cuts perhaps if the teachers have spare time this will help out

A West Midlands school recently had police stop 51 illegally driven cars in 45 minutes, more offences were seen but not enough officers, so perhaps teachers could help with the drivers and make the roads safer for children cycling

Don't ask me for the quotes but I'm sure I've seen research that suggests the benefit of the of cycling to school is far higher than the risk of cycling without a helmet. So, it's not quite so black and white as all kids must wear a helmet, if that then means fewer children cycle

That's one of the arguments cycling UK explain on their website Bestseller. Things are very different when you look at laws at a population level versus individual. It's why anecdote isn't a good motivation for policy.

Helmets are compulsory here, no helmet, no bike permit. I thought it was like that at every school in the U.K.?

I do think the school could do something about the bullying and the culture that exists around school. That is dreadful that kids are made to feel like they can't wear one, however I'm not in favour of more draconian rules. I usually wear cycle helmet, but sometimes I forget, I don't want to get told off by my workplace for this.

Anniehm - not according to most of the posters here who don't think school should offer a permit system in case it reduced the number of children cycling. How long since the system was introduced? Do you know if it reduced or increased uptake in cycling at your school? Do you mind saying location or at least if it is rural or not? Thanks

In the case of accidents. .. a helmet provided a reduction of 63 to 88% in the risk of head, facial injury and death. Source : Cochrane report. www.cochrane.org/CD001855/INJ_wearing-a-helmet-dramatically-reduces-the-risk-of-head-and-facial-injuries-for-bicyclists-involved-in-a-crash-even-if-it-involves-a-motor-vehicle

There are approximately 100 deaths and 3,000 serious injuries each year in the UK.

The logic put forward by cycling UK regarding the net benefit being outweighed by the reduction in overall health benefits if people stopped cycling rather than wear a helmet.. is interesting. ... ??

Yes, cyclists would be safer if they had dedicated cycle lanes which were separated from cars but that is not the question here....

In countries where large numbers of people cycle the use of cycle helmets is a lot rarer - and those people who do wear cycle helmets have proper ones that offer more protection than the standard British cycling helmet.

If you ban children from cycling to school without a helmet you shorten their life, on average, compared to cycling to school without the helmet. A helmet really doesn't make much difference compared to the improvement in health that cycling creates.

That's a YABU from me, though of course bullying should be tackled.

I'm a regular cyclist who wears a helmet at all times, I don't support compulsion. The evidence is far from clear cut and they aren't the magic force fields that some folk seem to think they are. Also, compulsion would discourage people from cycling, leading to countless more deaths from pollution and accidents caused by more cars on the road.

Quite frankly I don't think it is any of the school's business whether a child wears a helmet to school or not any more it is their business whether the car a child travels to school in meets the latest Encap standards.

It is also a form of victim blaming when cyclists are expected to armour themselves in helmets, daytime lights and hi viz so that lazy and dangerous drivers can be excused the bother of having proper observational skills. I commute using all these things and am still subject to near misses and close passes from the 'sorry mate didn't see you' brigade.

The best thing to ensure cyclist safety would be proper infrastructure, driver and early age cyclist education and proper punishment for drivers who severely injure and kill cyclists through their own negligence. School obsessing over helmets shows a profound misunderstanding over safe cycling is like worrying about the shine on the brass work on the titanic moments after it has hit the iceberg.

Other school rules (such as uniform or accessing off site restaurants) tend to be in place on school premises and during school hours. Wearing a helmet whilst cycling to and from school should be nothing to do with the school.

Also, the other rules tend not to affect the health of the pupils. With childhood obesity figures what they are, schools should be encouraging physical activity, not putting barriers in place.

In NZ it's compulsory to wear a bike helmet. Since that law was enacted cycling has become so uncommon that it really is genuinely hazardous for cyclists on the roads, and motorists treat them with no consideration because they are not used to them. There is no way that I would be happy with my DCs cycling to school by themselves, Wyeth helmets or without. Don't do the same thing, UK!

In countries where more people cycle.... more people die!!! Would fewer of them die if they wore helmets? The Cochrane reports implies that they would!!

Some facts from 2017
206 cyclist deaths in the Netherlands of 17m people each averaging 900km per year to our 100 cyclist deaths for 67m people averaging 53km per year. (Yes the Dutch cycle a lot more!)

Overall life expectancy in Netherlands is 6.5 months longer than the UK, it is not possible to assume this is due to cycle lingerie you more than we can assume it is due to legalised prostitution or smoking dope!!

Total road deaths in the UK for 2017 was 1,700 compared to 626 in the Netherlands so over all, the British are safer on the road.

nltimes.nl/2018/04/25/cyclists-motorists-killed-netherlands-traffic-accidents

Where did you get your figures of 626 deaths in 2017

DS's school doesn't let pupils take bikes without a helmet. I have no idea how they police this though.

Ban cars near schools

Lethaldrizzel they do this at some schools during pick up and drop of and it works well

It's the stupid behaviour on bikes currently that is going to get teens injured or killed, especially teen boys. Far more of an issue than the helmet. I feel so sorry for the driver who injures one because of the cyclists stupidity as well as sorry for the family of the potential victim. I'm not talking about cyclists in general, but specifically the teen boys I see around. Parents need to address that one.

@ivykaty44.. sorry. 613 .. not 626. To many number to remember from too many tabs on my phone.

'Stupid behaviour on bikes' is an insult to all the cyclists that have died on Britain's roads this year alone.

No it's not. That's why I specifically mentioned the groups of teens who do that behaviour. I'm talking the wheelies in front of cars, without helmets, the deliberate dashing in front of cars and pedestrians etc. The point being that that is more dangerous than riding sensibly, even without a helmet.

Fantastiq

The biggest risk to cyclists? Two tonnes of killing machine controlled by careless, clueless and in some cases malevolent idiots.

A few minutes viewing these and you might get some sort of idea of what cyclists encounter practically everyday. Of course teenagers acting the giddy goat on their bikes is a risk, but it is a side issue.

Road Cc near miss of the day

Yes, a side issue in general, but the thread is about teens and helmets to school. Cycling dangerously is a massive issue here among young teens, and more of an issue than helmets for them. I'm not talking cyclists in general.