Should I make him wear a bike helmet?

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My DS is almost 12. He has just joined Y7, likes to meet up with friends and often this means going out on bikes. He took his cycling proficiency earlier in the year. None of his friends seem to wear helmets and I have, so far, insisted he should. He doesn't want to though as this makes him different to his friends. Should I insist he wears one, advise him he should but let him decide or not let him out on his bike if he doesn't?

An article in the Guardian in 2016

A major study of bike helmet use around the world from more than 64,000 cyclists has found helmets reduce the risks of a serious head injury by nearly 70%.

The study also found neck injuries are not associated with helmet use and cyclists who wear helmets reduce their chance of a fatal head injury by 65%.

The compulsory wearing of bike helmets in Australia has long been a source of frustration for some cyclists, who argue it reduces participation rates. Previous studies have indicated helmet use encourages risk-taking behaviour or does not reduce serious injury to the brain.

But a comprehensive review by Australian statisticians Jake Olivier and Prudence Creighton from the University of New South Wales that drew together data from more than 40 separate studies found helmet use was associated with dramatically reduced odds of head injuries.

The findings were presented in Finland this week at Safety 2016, the world conference on injury prevention and safety promotion.

Olivier’s findings were particularly significant for serious or fatal head injuries and found the reduction was greater for these kinds of more serious injuries.

“Helmet use is associated with odds reductions of 51% for head injury, 69% for serious head injury, 33% for face injury and 65% for fatal head injury. Injuries to the neck were rare and not associated with helmet use,” the study found.

Do those who insist their children wearing helmets follow them everywhere?

How do you know they don't take them off as soon as they're out of sight?

I know someone who is a neurologist. They always stress the importance of a helmet. They have seen some terrible things.

I’ll ask the question I always ask when this topic is discussed: do parents who insist their children wear cycle helmets also check that they are correctly fitted and worn?

So you just don’t bother to parent them properly because they’ll do what they want anyway, @veni?

Do you apply that to everything?

I’ll ask the question I always ask when this topic is discussed: do parents who insist their children wear cycle helmets also check that they are correctly fitted and worn?

Yes.

”No it's not - despite being surrounded by all that, you are STILL more likely to suffer a head injury in a car crash than a bike accident - that's the point (that you seem to have totally missed).”

I don’t believe you, partly because there is no way such statistics are recorded.

Surely if someone comes off their bike, the chances of them hitting their head must be fairly high. They are falling over on to the road/path. Whereas the vast majority of similar level incidents in cars, ie shunts, knocks, that type of thing, involve the driver’s head not coming into contact with anything at all? Surely for a driver’s head to hit something, it would have to be a pretty serious accident? Whereas even a minor incident for a cyclist will involve the head hitting something?

I’ve had (through no fault of my own) two or three shunts in my car. No injury at all. A shunt with a cyclist will involve them falling over and hitting the road. Maybe not seriously, but certainly more so than similar low-level low-speed impact in a car.

In the vast majority of incidents, no one records whether or not anyone hits their head. So it’s not posting say definitely. But I am perfectly comfortable my children not wearing helmets in the car in the event of a minor accident. I would not be comfortable them being involved in a similar accident on their bike without a helmet.

littlepeas Sun 13-Oct-19 09:52:09
I will never forget the time my ds came off his scooter and the back of his head hit the kerb - it knocked a huge chunk out of his helmet. That would have been HIS HEAD if he wasn't wearing a helmet. I shudder when I think about it. One of my friends was very sneery about putting helmets on for scootering - I am am so glad I wasn't influenced by her.

We've always had a no helmet, no wheels rule her, even applied it when daughter first got a pair of heelies.

Your post jumped out at me as it's actually not the big accidents I'm concerned with, it's the little ones where they could bash their head on the edge of the kerb, just as you say happened to your son. The only time I've let them ride without a helmet is at the local park where it's level and there are no kerbs, but if they're out cycling or scootering a helmet is a must. Neither of them have ever argued against it as we've always explained the reasons why it matters. So far they've been lucky, and never fallen off their bikes in a way a helmet is beneficial, but they may not always be that lucky, and we and they are not prepared to the take the risk for what is such a minor effort.

Utterly appalled by the number of people on this thread who are seriously suggesting that it's ok to not wear a helmet. You sound like the people who used to say that it was safer not to wear a seatbelt in a car because it was better to be thrown clear in a crash, or easier for emergency services to get your bleeding broken body out of the car if you weren't wearing one. Or that it's safer to not teach children to swim because if they can't swim they won't ever go in water so your are less likely to drown if you can't swim.

No helmet, no cycling. Zero tolerance. You wouldn't leave it up to your 12 year old to decide whether to wear a seatbelt in a car.

Neurosurgeon friend always wears a helmet. Good enough for me.

My sons the same age as yours. Last week he was riding his bike to school as it was dry. As he crossed the road (safely i was told by a witness hed check bith ways and crossed when it was clear) a speeding car almost hit him. He managed to get out of the way. Barely. In doing so he crashed the bike in to the kerb as hed been forced to go at angle. The first i knew of it was when school rang. Hed been able to scream out his name and school when a passerby asked. I was told they didnt know what condition he was in but an ambulance was taking him straight to a&e.hed faceplanted directly onto the edge of the kerb. Later we could see where the accident took place because of the puddles of blood. He was damn lucky he hasnt got any lasting serious life changing injuries. He hadnt worn a helmet "because it takes up to much room in his bag". If hed been going any faster hed could of died. Because he didnt want to lug it around. I shouted at him. Family shounted at him. Every healthcare proffesional from the radiologist to the nurse mopping up his blood told him how bloody stupid hed been. Its always been no helmet no bike in this house and once hes healed enough to ride again hes barred from it until he can prove hes grown up enough to not be an idiot.

Would you make him wear a seatbelt in a car or let him leave it iff because its not 'cool'? Same thing.

We have a rule for everyone in our house: no helmet, no bike.

Having taught a child who failed to reach home after school one day I don't move on that rule. 12y boy cycling home from school, cycled into a car and came off bike, hit his head on the road and died at the scene.

Every single one of his friends wore a helmet thereafter on their way to and from school, that's for sure.

Why risk it for fashion and friends?!

My brother cycles a lot including triathlons and extended cycle races, etc. He always wears a helmet as does his friends who do the same.

Infact ALL of the friends we have who cycle a lot, be it road bikes, trial bikes or cross country, all wear helmets. They all insist their children, at all ages, wear helmets. Most have seen other friends who have suffered cycle accidents and had injuries. They choose not to risk their and their child's lives. And for me, that's what you do if you don't have one on - you're risking your head and you're risking your life.

Messiah the point is there are far more cars on the road than cycles. And as I've already pointed out the department for transport only release stats on those who were involved in cycle accidents involving cars or pedestrians. The actual figure of people who've been injured whilst cycling is 3x higher.

I guess if people are serious about preventing head injuries they would wear proper full face motorcycle helmets, rather than those crappy bike hats. When in cars too.

Not sure where that attitude would end, if his friends don't wear seatbelts will he not.I think you've a perfect learning opportunity for him here in terms of not having to follow his peers.

It’s just stupid not to wear a helmet. Cycling is one of those things where you should expect to have a fall at some point and mitigate against it. Wearing a helmet prevents small but serious impact injuries, knocking your head against the curb in particular cones to mind. They also help prevent facial injuries in the event you fall at speed and skid along the road a bit. If you are going to let your child cycle around you should at least try to make it less dangerous.

” I guess if people are serious about preventing head injuries they would wear proper full face motorcycle helmets, rather than those crappy bike hats. When in cars too.”

You think anyone who doesn’t pootle up to Sainsburys in their Fiesta with a motorcycle helmet on isn’t really serious about preventing head injury?

Um. Ok.

Not sure where that attitude would end, if his friends don't wear seatbelts will he not.

This is what I wanted to say. Because my mates don't is the stupidest reason not to follow safety advice.
My BIL behaved like this as a teen and was lucky to survive the crash he was a passenger in. He hit the windscreen and had nasty concussion.

I guess if people are serious about preventing head injuries they would wear proper full face motorcycle helmets, rather than those crappy bike hats. When in cars too.

I realise you’re being facetious but a helmet like that would probably break the wearer’s neck in a high speed car accident! In fact, I think I’ve heard a very sad and horrible story about a child being internally decapitated in his dad’s kit car, because he was wearing a helmet! It’s the same reason that babies shouldn’t be turned ff in a car too early.

Although I’ve just remembered formula 1 drivers wear helmets, so who knows??

@Moonmelodies....those crappy bike helmets as you call them, save lives.. not really funny to joke about brain injury. If you are lucky enough to survive injury, you have a lifetime of disability ahead of you. This could be anything from mild to severe. It can affect balance, walking, speech, feelings, sight, swallow, you name it, the brain can affect it. It's basically the end of your life being the same. It affects family, their job, your job, you could be in a home, unable to move.

I was a nurse in a&e and a head injuries unit

PLEASE to all of you who say not to wear a helmet, change your mind.

I still can't sleep some nights after seeing some of the things I saw with patients who came in without wearing a helmet.....

My Ds is 12. Guess what I make the rules. I can’t guarantee what he does out of my sight however if I say it doesn’t matter he definitely won’t wear it.

Messiah the point is there are far more cars on the road than cycles. And as I've already pointed out the department for transport only release stats on those who were involved in cycle accidents involving cars or pedestrians. The actual figure of people who've been injured whilst cycling is 3x higher.

I don’t believe you, partly because there is no way such statistics are recorded.

Just a quick search found this study (from Australia) first, but there are others I have seen:

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0001457596000164

Despite the risk of dying from head injury per hour being similar for unhelmeted cyclists and motor vehicle occupants, cyclists alone have been required to wear head protection