To make teen wear a helmet

[ILoveFood87]

My 14 year old wants to go out with his 2 friends (both were in his keyworker bubble at school). These 2 kids dont wear helmets as its uncool apparently. I've told mine if he doesn't wear his helmet he is not going. He thinks im mean / i baby him / i want to embarrass him. Hes an only child and has hardly been out all lockdown so i do feel a bit mean. He's now gone and the helmet was on when he left so I hope it stays on. I'm not being unreasonable am i?

My dd was the same at 14 yrs for about a year or so. We had fairly robust exchanges about it. Now she is 17 and she wont go anywhere on a bike without her helmet and nor do her friends, so dont give up, there is light at the end of the tunnel! Also, she did a road/bike safety certificate thing through school (not in uk) which might be worth pursuing if available where you are?

I'm usually not at all hyper-protective or risk adverse, but this is one battle I would fight. A family friend was badly injured in a RTA (very much not her fault) while cycling several years ago and only survived because she wore a helmet.

Not unreasonable. I make my 13 and 14 year olds wear one. They mostly just ride locally with friends but we live on a hill and one of the things they all do is hang out on the cul-de-sac riding no hands down the hill.

Mine don't object that much as we used to cycle a lot and I they've always worn a helmet so feel a bit weird without one but most don't wear one.

All the other parents comment that they are "so sensible" which annoys me as it makes it more of big deal of it.

I have the same argument conversation with my DS 12 when he goes out. I've told him it's non negotiable. If there is a chance that it would save his head then I'll take the that chance and put up with his moaning and groaning.

Sorry to scare you OP, but this is my dad's story.

My dad was a very experienced cyclist who commuted to work and back every day by bike. He always wore a helmet.

10 years ago, after a pub dinner with a friend, he had a freak accident where he collided with a young pedestrian that walked out into the road texting on their phone. Dad was cycling fast downhill - about 25/30mph - on his road bike. He went over the handlebars, smashed his head on the curb and was taken to intensive care. He was in a coma for a couple of months. He woke but was severely brain damaged (he could recognise family and friends but couldn't string a sentence together and little to no control over his body movements). He could tell what was going on, but was essentially trapped in his own body and became incredibly agitated and frustrated especially not being able to communicate. He finally gave up 6 months after the accident and died one month after he was transferred to a specialist care centre.

That day, for reasons we still don't know, he wasn't wearing his helmet. He ALWAYS wore one... But on the day of his accident, he wasn't wearing it. It cost him his life!

Please, OP. Make him wear a helmet. Tell him this story if you must. If an accident like this could happen to an experienced cyclist, it could happen to anyone.

Could you ask his school to do an assembly on the importance of safety helmets . I am a teacher and one of our assistant heads is a keen biker . At one point in the assembly he dropped a water melon onto a concrete slab to show the damage to the head . There was also a video about a child left brain damaged after a bike accident . It may be an exception , but the kids who bike to school all have helmets and are reminded if they don’t .

@dwiz8 there have been several studies examining this.

www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2018/11/14/motorists-punish-helmet-wearing-cyclists-with-close-passes-confirms-data-recrunch/#7f4634844859

[quote JoeCalFuckingZaghe]@dwiz8 there have been several studies examining this.

www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2018/11/14/motorists-punish-helmet-wearing-cyclists-with-close-passes-confirms-data-recrunch/#7f4634844859[/quote]
A small scale study in one area of Australia is hardly indicative or enough to warrant such a broad statement

In our house helmets are worn for cycling and skiing. DH is a keen cyclist and always wears a helmet. Plus BIL had a serious skiing accident and wouldn't have survived if he hadn't been wearing a helmet. The dent in his helmet still makes me shudder.

Cycling without a helmet is about as cool as not wearing a seatbelt. Or smoking. YANBU

Friend of mine's son spent two weeks in hospital with a severe concussion following a bike accident. And he was wearing a helmet. Lord knows what would have happened if he hadn't been wearing one.

@Stamen196 so sorry for your loss. No helmet no ride.

I never cycle without one, watched an episode of 999 what’s your emergency and saw someone collide with a bus, the head injury and eyeballs rolling to the back of the head was enough for me. Maybe a few videos like that might get him to change his mind, I was very chilled about it, until I saw the actual damage being withone could do, my children aren’t allowed to cycle without one either. Safety first. I don’t care what I look like either.

I was knocked off my bike by a car when I wasn't wearing a helmet. Flew over the handlebars, landed on my face. Split my nose, broke my front teeth and my cheekbone, got a black eye.

And I was bloody lucky.

@Stamen196 so sorry

If parents don't make them optional, then everyone will wear them.