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?

It was the same bloody arguement when motorbikes were forced to wear helmets.

Why are people so against wearing safety equipment to the point they would stop cycling its bloody stupid.

Why are people so against wearing safety equipment to the point they would stop cycling its bloody stupid.

Because it's inconvenient, uncomfortable and doesn't make much bloody difference to safety. By all means wear one yourself but you've no right, and no basis, to make others' choices for them.

^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. ^

Can you not see that the main risk here is not 'no helmet' but 'cycling like a fucking dick'?

Focussing on helmets - which as I've explained upthread, make a marginal difference at best to safety - distracts from the far bigger issues.

Fucking number plates and insurance won't make them any safer either.

I have come to the view that if you cycle on roads in the UK, you should have a cycle helmet. Unfortunately until we are prepared to ban the 25% or so of those who in my opinion should not have a driving licence, those with poor vision, aggressive driving or ill-health will be on the roads and a risk to cyclists.

Thats the exact same agruement they made about motor bike helmets becoming mandatory people got over it and safety increased.

I got a good idea maybe instead of helmets being mandatory maybe make insurnce payouts reduce by 50%-75% less then you would of received if you had been wearing a helmet.

So its still the persons choice so they can make a informed decision.

Thats the exact same agruement they made about motor bike helmets becoming mandatory people got over it and safety increased.

Okay but to have a significant impact on safety you'd need to basically force cyclists to wear motorcycle helmets (something which no-one's advocating). Because the flimsy bits of plastic and styrofoam that pass for bike helmets only make a difference in slow-speed collisions. If you're in a really bad crash - one that's liable to kill you - they don't really help.

And if you're concerned about public health, you are still on average better off cycling without a helmet, than getting on a bus or in a car: something that absolutely couldn't be said where motorcycling is concerned. Motorbikes are phenomenally dangerous and give you nothing back health-wise - riding a bike is an utterly different proposition

worridmum would you want the same rule for pedestrians and car passengers - If not, why not?

I got a good idea maybe instead of helmets being mandatory maybe make insurnce payouts reduce by 50%-75% less then you would of received if you had been wearing a helmet.

This isn't my area of law but I believe this is already how it works, more or less.

Ooh it makes me so mad when I see people smoking. I just want to run up to them and pull that fag out of their mouth and throw it away. Grrr. But no I don't do that because it none of my business that people choose to take that risk.

Do people laugh at Bradley wiggins wearing a helmet?
No. Course not.

No helmet. No bike.

Get him a new one. Make sure it’s on he’s chosen and likes. That the fit is good. Might cost you a bit but if he wears it it’s worth it.
Get him to look at his friends. Why are they teasing him for wearing a helmet. They are the stupid ones for not wearing one!

Essential imo. Let him chose one he would wear but insist he does.

A teacher bought her husband's cracked and broken one into school and told assembly "this would've been his skull" really pushed the message home to the kids.

A teacher bought her husband's cracked and broken one into school and told assembly "this would've been his skull" really pushed the message home to the kids.

No it wouldn't, because his skull's not made of plastic and polystyrene.

dancingbear I'm not asking your opinion, I'm saying it DID make the kids think. That bloke would've been in a darned sight more trouble than he was, if he hadn't have worn his helmet.

DS is 21 now and that stuck with him his whole teenage life, I didn't have the problems op is having because of it. Without it, I'd probably have been in the same boat as op.

Good grief, MN sometimes would argue that black was white

My 13 year old will not wear one either I've lost the battle on this one. Peer pressure is strong.

A man who works at the same place as me has horrific scarring on his head. Apparently he "degloved" half his head in a cycling accident.

I bet he wears one now.

From Headway:
A study from 2016 collected data from over 64,000 cyclists around the world, and found compelling evidence that wearing a cycle helmet reduces risk of serious head injury by almost 70% and fatal head injury by 65%. It is the largest review on cycling and helmets to date. The study also found that the risk of sustaining a general head injury is reduced by 51% and facial injury by 33%, when a helmet is used

Helmets save lives.

www.citylab.com/transportation/2013/05/do-bike-helmet-laws-really-make-people-safer/5732/

You can find something on the internet to say anything you want. The more nuanced work suggests the position is unclear and the safety benefits are marginal.

dancingbear I'm not asking your opinion, I'm saying it DID make the kids think.

Yes, they now think they are safe on their bike as long as they wear a helmet, where in fact the only way to stay safe(r) on your bike is to ride it safely.

And if you don't want people's opinions, why post on an internet message board?

www.headway.org.uk/get-involved/campaigns/cycle-safety/

There’s the link, it’s not the only study.

I have no clue why people don’t take injury to the head more seriously. It’s not just the risk of death, it’s the risk of brain injury. Brain injuries can and do fuck peoples lives up. You are more likely to: commit suicide, have your relationships desolve, end up in prison, become homeless etc than if you had not sustained one.

It’s a huge hidden issue in the UK.

This isn't just about bike helmets, it's about dangerous traffic and teenage boys who think they're immortal. To my son at this age his bike represented freedom.
Had a dickens of a job to get him to wear his hat. Got him a poc one which was expensive and he wore it about half the time. However when he was mountain biking he and all his friends wore full face crash hats so that was something! I think they somehow felt these were acceptable.
My son actually gave up mountain biking in his late teens after seeing a couple of his friends have accidents.
I think teenage boys, up until their early twenties even, are a bit of a disaster waiting to happen. Peer pressure plays a major part and wanting to fit in.

I know this is possibly not the point of the thread, but I read the newspaper article about the young man who was knocked off his bike, it was really sad, so I tried to look up what happened to him (expecting to read that he died), but it actually does have a happy ending :)

He is obviously not 100%, but it says he is back at school:

www.braininjuryhub.co.uk/real-stories/mark-and-ryan

I don't know if I've just been knocked around a bit this week but this story really got to me, happy to read he is OK.

I don't bike, but if I did I'd wear a helmet, purely because of reading things like the person who wrote above that they work in casualty and can tell the difference between those who come in knocked off their bike with one (stitches) and without one (CT, neurosurgeon consultation). Obviously the helmet must help somewhat? If it doesn't help at all then no, I'd not wear it.

No helmet = no bike!
Show your son this

( if link doesn’t work google wear a helmet campaign) show your son what a brain injury really really means. He will not like it!

I’m a Intensive Care Nurse I am beyond serious about my kids wearing them.

I would be a lot safer on my bike if:
Drivers didn't try to intimidate me, or overtake me or force me into the kerb or beep at me for a laugh
The potholes in the road were fixed
The segregated cycle lanes did not cut across the pavement, have obstacles like lampposts, rubbish or parked cars.
Pedestrians respected the cycle lanes instead of looking at me like I'm in the wrong for trying to cycle on them when there's a group if 8 having a fag in one
Restaurant owners didn't use them for disposing of cooking oil.

A helmet? Not so much. I would wear one if it was compulsory but they restrict my vision. I know far more people who've had horrible jaw and neck injuries exacerbated by helmets than I do anyone who's died. In fact the only cyclist I know who died was a meticulously "safe" law abiding, shiny day light running helmet wearer who was hit at 90mph by a drink driver.
If drivers accepted that cyclists do have the right to be on the road not just bunched up to the kerb, and if I'm weaving around a pothole or obstacle you'd be better off watching where I'm going to avoid it too.

And with regard to running red lights when there is no traffic coming from the side, most cycling accidents happen when cars pull out too fast without regard for the cyclist. Even with the Advanced Stop Boxes which shockingly enough are for bikes not cars.

I know far more people who've had horrible jaw and neck injuries exacerbated by helmets than I do anyone who's died

It isn’t just about the risk of death. Would you rather have brain injury or a jaw injury?