Or is teen ds re bike helmet?

[choosingchilli]

Ds (14) used to wear his helmet with no issues.

He hasn't ridden his bike in about 18 months purely because our rules are no helmet no bike.

He has a bike sitting in the garage, he wants to ride it to hang out with his friends in the local park but NONE of his friends wear a helmet and he freely admits he won't wear his because he will get "roasted" by his mates.

We're going round in circles, he knows the reason why helmets are important. I feel really strongly about this issue as I've seen brain injuries as a result of split second accidents and even though the roads around here are fairly quiet there is still always that risk.....

He's a good kid and he won't go out pretending to wear his helmet then take it off round the corner (which I half expected him to do).

I'm not usually particularly strict and even though I feel strongly about this I do understand peer pressure and I can see that the majority of teens around here don't wear helmets. AIBU in sticking to this rule?

@SoHotADragonRetired Are you serious?! The evidence is flimsy at best? Please see my previous comment. Utter rubbish

@HiJuice That is the most ludicrous thing I have EVER read on Mumsnet. Unlikely to make any difference? My brother's head bounced off of a kerb. The Consultant said that helmet undoubtedly saved his life!!!!!!! You should be banned from MN for saying such dangerous rubbish

@HiJuice

My 16 year old cousin died because he wasn't wearing a helmet. For me there is nothing to negotiate. My children wear a helmet or they don't bike.

My DSs would cycle off with helmet on, get round the corner and stash it in a bush until their return, the buggers.

I have to add, they don't cycle anymore as i didn't buy them a new bike when they grew out of the old one.

Yes. I did say it, and I'll say it again, and I also recommend that everyone read the very lucid BMJ editorial previously linked. www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.f3817.full?ijkey=I5vHBog6FhaaLzX&keytype=ref

There is one thing that helmets most definitely do, as verified by research: put people off cycling, and contribute to a perception of cycling as excessively dangerous, when in fact the research is fairly unambiguous that cycling is far far more likely to extend your life than shorten it. And by discouraging cycling it in itself makes cycling less safe, because the more people who cycle the safer it is.

There are lots of anecdotes about how so and so wouldn't be here if it weren't for their helmet, but the data do not support these anecdotes. It's nice to believe that a helmet saved your life and it's a dramatic story to repeat.

On balance, I think that it is better for a teen to cycle helmetless, to benefit from exercise, freedom, and social connectedness, than not to cycle and sit at home. You can also do something that will really definitely make that teen boy safer by buying him a copy of Cyclecraft and making sure he's done a good Bikeability course and knows how to ride assertively and how to maintain his bike.

Seems like the cycle helmet manufacturer-funded conspiracy theorists are out in force in this thread. The only studies that have shown that helmets make a significant difference to safety are funded by helmet manufacturers.

And the propaganda websites telling us that cycling is more dangerous than cliff diving are funded by, you guessed it, helmet manufacturers.

For me there is nothing to negotiate. My children wear a helmet or they don't bike.

I have seen this, or something similar, written several times on this thread. I wonder if parents who insist on helmets also insist they are a good fit and worn correctly. Do they even know how to tell? Do they regularly monitor fit and correct wearing of the helmet. Do they check regularly for wear or damage, replacing the helmet if required?

Let's look at it this way. Seatbelts can cause bruising and internal organ damage in an accident, especially if they aren't worn properly. But would you ever suggest that someone should not wear a seatbelt due to the risk of injury?

My friend, a very experienced cyclist (& biker) was cycling to work when a car pulled out as he approached a side road. The driver said that she 'hadn't noticed him' (neon reflective jacket and bright yellow helmet). He hit the front wing and went over the handlebars into the windscreen...
I saw his helmet, which was completely cracked in half - but his head was okay and he escaped with cuts and bruises.
He's a Police motorcyclist - and says that he'd never cycle without a helmet after the accidents he's seen...!

My DS nearly 16 knows the rules, no helmet no bike and if they sneak off without it, no phone. He wears it and we've got his friends on board too. Talk to the other mum's and see if they can all orchestrate a one rule.

The no helmet no bike rule parents don’t realise that I see their dc cycling along with the helmets dangling from their handlebars and not actually on their heads, there isn’t another reason they’d take a helmet with them but not actually wear the helmet

My DS is the same - however, he is 17 so I have said it's up to him at the end of the day. I have tried talking calmly to him, I've tried telling him that he might think cycling helmets aren't cool but brain damage is less cool, I've tried ignoring it. I can't believe he is so unreasonable about it. I have ensured he has a helmet that's fashionable, good brand etc. A teacher from his school had a cycling accident last term - she is still off weeks later. I thought this would make him see sense but he still won't wear it. He cycled over 35km tonight, it really worries me. Sorry OP, that's no help to you, but I sympathise.

@MyCatHogsTheBed
It’s drivers that are dangerous and putting helmets on people riding bikes doesn’t stop the drivers being dangerous. Tackle the danger would bring more success and keep people safer

Yes I do recrudescence

I would expect a helmet to be worn for any high speed sport. Not sure why cycling is exempt from this by so many people. I know how fast they go as they have bike computers that tell me.

Motor cyclists, horse riders, competitive cyclists all wear helmets. We would think they were mad if they didn't. Why do people view cycling differently? I go far faster on a bike than I do on a horse. How often do you see a horse rider without a hard hat?

Not sure if we have a different ethos round here, but I rarely see a cyclist of any age without a helmet.

All those studies that say wearing helmet=reduced cycling= health effect are population based. The importance of the helmet is for individual safety. Very different things.

I would expect a helmet to be worn for any high speed sport. Not sure why cycling is exempt from this by so many people. I know how fast they go as they have bike computers that tell me.

I think part of the problem with the helmet debate over cycling is the tendency to see it all as one activity. You don't dress like Jensen Button to drive to the shops. I don't dress like Mark Cavendish to cycle along a towpath at 12mph.

So if you're cycling as part of a higher risk sporting activity, then a helmet makes more sense. If you're a utility cyclist you're far less likely to be involved in a collision.

Similarly I wear a helmet when riding horses and often when handling them but I only wear a back protector going across country or jumping. I find direct comparisons between wearing a riding hat a wearing a cycling helmet rather odd. My bike has yet to decide a plastic bag is terrifying and attempt to spin 180 to get away from it. In any of these activities I weigh up the risks and then make a decision as to what to wear.

Belenus I likewise wear more protective kit for jumping than dressage. But I always wear the helmet.

I never do high speeds on my bike

For all those "I never go fast" people. The only time I have fallen off my bike and banged my head (helmet on) was just as I pulled my pedals round to get going. I somehow caught my foot, lost my balance and fell sideways and onto my back. I bounced my head fairly hard off the concrete as my head basically arced round from standing to lying rather than my bum going down first.

There are lots of anecdotes about how so and so wouldn't be here if it weren't for their helmet, but the data do not support these anecdotes. It's nice to believe that a helmet saved your life and it's a dramatic story to repeat

This. I do wear a helmet but not because I think it will help me if I get squashed by a car, just because the groups I ride with require it for insurance reasons.

I've been out (walking) this morning and walked past our local infant and junior schools. Lots of kids out on scooters. All helmetless. It made me think of this thread. So if I fall off my bike at 5 mph I need a helmet but if I fall off my scooter at 5mph I don't?

I would also say that if you ride a road bike you are more likely to fall off because of the cleats and being clipped in. I ride a hybrid with trainers so don't have that problem. Most kids don't wear bikes clipped in, either.

ride bikes not wear them!

The mobile- I was responding to the poster who described it as a high speed sport. For me, It's not high speed or a sport. I commute at a gentle pace. And yes I can fall off and bash my head at any time but I've also done this while walking so i dont really see much difference.

@fairweathercyclist Anecdote?! It bloody happened! 1991 I remember it well and I was there when his consultant told us the Helmet saved his life. I'm sorry if you don't like them but that doesn't allow you declare facts as 'anecdotes'