Need to consult the MN oracle - teenaged boys and cycle helmets!

[Greensleeves]

My 14yo wants a new bike for Christmas. He also wants us to stop insisting that he wears a cycle helmet, because apparently we are the only parents who make our teens wear them, none of his friends do, and it's embarrassing (to the point that he would rather not cycle)

DH and I don't want to cave in on this one...AWBU?

Ifailed - I completely agree. Bikes are the wrong target.

I’d be interested what impact shifting all blame onto a driver if they hit a cyclist. A lot of drivers’ attitudes on cyclists is disgusting and some practically use their cars as weapons to drive cyclists off the road.

If drivers were always to blame then consideration around cyclists would improve massively and may even encourage some drivers to give up their cars in favour of a bike.

What GGirl said....

Actually, there is a petition for debate in parliament. It’s here petition.parliament.uk/petitions/222035

100k signatures gets it debated in Parliament. I think with the collective MN we could do this....

The over all health of a nation improves the more people cycle, lessening the burden on healthcare. The more people cycle the safer it is. Making helmets mandatory reverses these affects. The focus should be on making roads safer and cars less dominant.

I have a friend who cycles and is very vocal about not making helmets compulsory. He says that if pedestrians don’t wear helmets why should cyclists. In Australia making helmets compulsory has cost lives, better to cycle and get those health benefits than to not because of fear of colliding with a car head first or at speed. In NL they don’t wear helmets and health is better. I think that safe routes and safe cycling are far more important than helmets. Where I live the roads are sadly so dangerous for cyclists that I wouldn’t want my kids using them helmets or not, off road without the danger of cars I’m happy if the want to go without.

Oh I’m certain that’s true. But we are where we are and cultural change takes a generation. By requiring helmets we could ensure that our embarrassed teens keep cycling, and that will increase cycling rates in the future, enhancing sustainability.

Or you could let your teens make their own decisions about such things. It's not something I insisted upon. Life is full of risks and i am not going to be able to eradicate every single one of them.

I'd join and support a campaign to change the law. My DS15 wears his helmet to ride his bike, but none of his friends do, and I suppose he might take it off when he's with them.

The consequences of not wearing a helmet can be catastrophic, as many PPs mention, but when you're an invincible teenager that doesn't even register.

NewPapaGuinea in the Netherlands, like many countries in Europe, in a bike v car collision the driver is held responsible under the concept of presumed liability. It is also very rare for a Dutch recreational cyclist to wear a helmet, they don't see the point.

As to why riders in any competitive event must wear one, this is due to UCI rules, which British Cycling follow. They are invariably pointless, as most injuries in a racing accident are not related to the head, and the standard is so low (protection for collision upto 15 mph, equivalent to an adult falling sidewise off a stationary bike), they won't protect the rider.

However, for younger riders, they do make sense as they are more likely to suffer from falls and collisions due to their lower skills and awareness. They should be properly worn, not on the back of the head, and replaced if dropped.

If you bring in compulsory helmets loads of teens will stop cycling. Then they aren't getting the benefit of cycling.

It would make just as much sense to never take them in a car as they are more likely to get hurt that way, especially a head injury.

Should people wear helmets in cars too? Far safer.

if pedestrians don't wear helmets why should cyclists

Umm because pedestrians don't walk in the road? Because they don't walk at 25mph and can stop instantly? Because you're more stable walking than cycling so less likely to topple over?

Bonkers argument.

Bonkers argument
It's not, far more pedestrians are killed and injured than cyclists, and far more people are killed and injured in cars than pedestrians. If the aim is reduce head injuries, then addressing car users first, then pedestrians makes sense.

My GD when she was younger asked why she had to wear a helmet and I didn’t.

No answer to that so I wore one from then on

Cycle helmets aren't good at reducing injuries. There is minimal evidence to demonstrate they are. They are simply not designed to a high enough standard. If you want to reduce the risk then campaign for cyclists to wear motorbike helmets. These are at least designed to reduce injuries!

I absolutely would not allow my child out on a bike without a helmet. I'm a cyclist so would hope that A. he will join in when old enough and B. will just learn by example. I am however, the type of parent that would covertly follow him to school to see if he took his helmet off on the journey....!

A couple of things I can think of that may or may not help. Firstly the no helmet, no bike mantra. Could you come to an agreement that he can have his bike on the condition he wears a helmet, but allow him to choose said helmet? There's no comeback on you then - he chose it, he should be happy to wear it.

Secondly, what type of bike/style of riding is he after? Road, MTB or BMX? Could you take him to see/get involved with/talk to your local club? Everyone who does any kind of cycling to club level regardless of style will be wearing appropriate helmets (and likely have loads of other "cool" gear that he may find an interest in). WARNING: if this goes too well, it may get very expensive 😂

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/sep/22/bicycle-helmets-reduce-risk-of-serious-head-injury-by-nearly-70-study-finds

Or watch The Crash Reel movie, it's Olympic snow sports but about traumatic brain injury.

I have a lot of friends that race bikes, road, mountain etc.. they would never not wear a helmet.

Odd isn’t it. My children ride bike and horses. I would be incandescent if I saw one on a horse with no hat, but I don’t insist on cycle helmets. How incredibly illogical is that.

This has been done to death on here before. There are all sorts of reasons why wearing a helmet actually doesn't make much of a difference:

-People ride faster and more aggressively when wearing a helmet
-Car drivers drive more aggressively and less safely around cyclists wearing helmets
-Cycle helmets make very little difference in collisions over around 20kph. Sorry to be blunt but if you're in any kind of collision that's liable to kill or cause really serious injury, a bit of polystyrene isn't going to save you
-particularly the larger and heavier (cheaper) helmets can exacerbate neck injuries - again sorry to sound grim but they create a larger target areas for impact, and can make whiplash-type injuries worse (up to and including broken necks) by effectively increasing the weight of the head.

There's good evidence for all this. It all said, my gut feeling is that you're still safer with a helmet than without. But the benefits are marginal, and I think you're far better not wearing a helmet and riding safely.

And it's certainly better for your health to cycle safely without a helmet than not to cycle at all. Banning cycling without a helmet is a fucking terrible idea, and seems to be part of the same narrative of the Clarkson-esque 'cyclists should be taxed and have number plates' shit.

Had a friend as a young teen whose life was saved by a helmet. She was in a park (so no cars!), fell and literally scrapped off the side of the helmet and a hell of a lot of face skin. She was off of school for months, she was told she certainly would have died if not for the helmet. It should be the law to wear them when cycling on the road.
I also think that bikes should be numberplated and cyclists have insurance (free to under 18s, nominal free of a £1 etc) because the teenage cyclists where I am in London are awful. Wheelies, riding in and out of traffic, bunny hopping in the middle of cross roads, riding as a pack etc. I’ve bought a dash cam because I’m terrified one of them is going to fall off and say I or someone else hit them. There needs to be more accountability for cyclists and that starts with their own safety

Bertrand, it's not illogical at all. On a horse, you could easily be falling from 10'-plus in the air, at 30mph-plus, and the stirrups can turn you on your head (sorry to be blunt but its the reality). And riding helmets have got a bit more to them than a bit of styrofoam.

I also think that bikes should be numberplated and cyclists have insurance

Here we go, three pages and the cyclist-bashers come along. Didn't think it would take long. cf my point above about 'cyclists should wear helmets' being part of the clarkson narrative.

Teenage boys on bikes are a real menace round here.
I regularly see them with:
Dark clothes
Dark bike
No reflectors
No lights
No helmet
In the dark
Doing wheelies
Wrong side of the road
Round a blind bend
Deliberately aiming for cars and swerving at the last minute
Doubly dangerous last night as it was foggy.

How on Earth one of them hasn't been killed is a mystery to me.

To be honest I think I would rather my DS find another way of exercising.

There are laws in other countries where bike helmets are compulsory- it should be here too- having said that - not sure how it would be policed seeing as we don't seem to have any round here...

We have no helmet, no bike rule also for our 2ds who cycle to school. I just wish the schools (DS1, y7 and ds2 y6) would take action and make it a rule just to help with the peer pressure as that is the actual problem.