cycle helmets

[Orangejuicemarathoner]

I can't bear to see my nephew set off for school by bike in busy traffic, and poor visibility without a cycle helmet. I can't understand his parents allowing this. I know it's none of my business and there is nothing I can do, but I really wish this wasn't allowed

Yabu. Cycle helmets are no use against being hit by a car. They are a thin bit of polystyrene tested with a 12 kg weight, cars weigh hundreds of kilos. Why do people think cycle helmets are some kind of magic forcefield to stop all accidents
Anyway cycling is an inherently safe activity. He's much better off cycling than sitting in a car , both mentally and physically.

How
Old is he? Most teens would be too embarrassed to wear one

Buy him one for Christmas?

@Noogar

Buy him one for Christmas?

he's already got one

@Orangejuicemarathoner I agree, I hate to see kids without helmets. Even if they reduce the risk of serious head injury by 30% it’s still a reduction. Kids fall off bikes all the time. Can you suggest one for him for Christmas and get him to pick it?

Yabu. Cycle helmets are no use against being hit by a car. They are a thin bit of polystyrene tested with a 12 kg weight, cars weigh hundreds of kilos. Why do people think cycle helmets are some kind of magic forcefield to stop all accidents

Nobody thinks that. If you get hit hard enough a helmet won’t make a difference. Same as a seatbelt won’t help if you slam into a tree at 70mph. But people don’t say seatbelts are a useless magical forcefield.

Where a helmet makes a difference is at lower impact levels. That layer of polystyrene may make the difference between death or a serious brain injury and surviving.

Do you think helmets haven’t been studied? Impacts examined? Do you think someone just made them up and started selling them as safety items?

I am here today because I was wearing a helmet when my head hit tarmac. The helmet split not my head. My back was unprotected and two of my vertebrae broke on the secondary impact, so the impact was definitely hard enough to fracture my skull at the very least.

@SnackSizeRaisin

Yabu. Cycle helmets are no use against being hit by a car. They are a thin bit of polystyrene tested with a 12 kg weight, cars weigh hundreds of kilos. Why do people think cycle helmets are some kind of magic forcefield to stop all accidents Anyway cycling is an inherently safe activity. He's much better off cycling than sitting in a car , both mentally and physically.

So are you suggesting there is no reason to wear helmets?

@SnackSizeRaisin

Yabu. Cycle helmets are no use against being hit by a car. They are a thin bit of polystyrene tested with a 12 kg weight, cars weigh hundreds of kilos. Why do people think cycle helmets are some kind of magic forcefield to stop all accidents Anyway cycling is an inherently safe activity. He's much better off cycling than sitting in a car , both mentally and physically.

The National highway safety admin calls them

the single most effective way to reduce head injuries and fatalities from bicycle crashes.

the Royal society for prevention of accidents recommends them

Some studies have shown they reduce the chance of head injury by 75%. Other studies have shown smaller benefits, but they do offer some protection

Of course they don't save everyone- but as someone who had my life saved by a cycling helmet nearly 35 years ago, I certainly appreciate their value

You still haven’t said how old he is?

@BakingOfTheFoodCats

How Old is he? Most teens would be too embarrassed to wear one

I think that's why he doesn't wear one, but if everyone wore one, noone would be embarrassed.

I wish the school made it compulsary

@BakingOfTheFoodCats

You still haven’t said how old he is?

Hes 12

Oh ok that’s fair enough I was thinking he was older. I don’t see any teenagers wearing cycle helmets round here unfortunately

@BakingOfTheFoodCats

Oh ok that’s fair enough I was thinking he was older. I don’t see any teenagers wearing cycle helmets round here unfortunately

I am going to have to live with this awful dread about it for the next 6 school years

Most teens would be too embarrassed to wear one

Is this really a thing? I've always worn one, friends all did when I rode to school & on weekends aged 14 or so.

I see most kids and teens where I live wearing them but then there are lots of cyclists where I live & all wear helmets.

I see a lot of kids without them. Frightening.

We have a no helmet no bike rule in our house and make sure everyone sticks to it (from balance bike and toddler scooters up). Makes it feel odd to have a naked head when you're out. Hoping they stick to it through teens and beyond.

As a junior dr I remember being called to long stay rehab wards to do "jobs" for a couple of people who were essentially in persistent vegetative states following head injuries they'd received in cycling accidents while not wearing helmets...though it was more common to go out without a helmet then.

@SnackSizeRaisin

Yabu. Cycle helmets are no use against being hit by a car. They are a thin bit of polystyrene tested with a 12 kg weight, cars weigh hundreds of kilos. Why do people think cycle helmets are some kind of magic forcefield to stop all accidents Anyway cycling is an inherently safe activity. He's much better off cycling than sitting in a car , both mentally and physically.

I don't think they stop all accidents. But if you are in an accident you are better off with one than without.

Groups of teens round here definitely don’t wear them, I was just at the local park earlier and none of them was wearing one, I was going to get one for my son as he’s just got a new bike and my mum said “ don’t be silly people will laugh at him “ he’s 7! 🤦🏻 So yes definitely a thing where I am

Tbh even younger children where I live don’t tend to wear them so maybe depends where you live!

Whenever l have come off my bike l have never hit my head, always been my middle region.I have gone over the handlebars before, and come off many times, when roads are slippery etc, been cycling since a young girl.

*Moonface123

Whenever l have come off my bike l have never hit my head, always been my middle region.I have gone over the handlebars before, and come off many times, when roads are slippery etc, been cycling since a young girl*

So what’s your point? That people don’t hit their heads if they fall off a bicycle? Because you never have?

The chances are that he will not have an accident. Most people riding a bike with or without a helmet do not have accidents, in the same way that most people in cars do not have accidents.

Focus on that and worry if it does happen.

There is nothing you can do about it.

Kids may or may not wear helmets on bikes, then they progress to driving cars.......

Or they go around the local town at night ......drink, drugs......

There is always a new fear, you have to learn to live with them.

To be honest, cycling to school without a helmet is ultimately low on the list of fears.

I don't understsnd why people get so upset about what other people wear on their heads. It's their head.

All the schools round here have made them compulsory for their pupils- no helmet, no bike.

Write to the school and suggest it? Or if he's old enough look up "cycle accident no helmet" where you'll find many a graphic story and photos.

@Nomoreusernames1244

Yabu. Cycle helmets are no use against being hit by a car. They are a thin bit of polystyrene tested with a 12 kg weight, cars weigh hundreds of kilos. Why do people think cycle helmets are some kind of magic forcefield to stop all accidents

Nobody thinks that. If you get hit hard enough a helmet won’t make a difference. Same as a seatbelt won’t help if you slam into a tree at 70mph. But people don’t say seatbelts are a useless magical forcefield.

Where a helmet makes a difference is at lower impact levels. That layer of polystyrene may make the difference between death or a serious brain injury and surviving.

Do you think helmets haven’t been studied? Impacts examined? Do you think someone just made them up and started selling them as safety items?

I am here today because I was wearing a helmet when my head hit tarmac. The helmet split not my head. My back was unprotected and two of my vertebrae broke on the secondary impact, so the impact was definitely hard enough to fracture my skull at the very least.

Oh good, someone already responded to the ridiculous "no use if you get hit by a car" response.

Yes because all fatal incidents involve the cyclist being hit by a moving vehicle. Absolutely none involves a situation where the cyclists collides with a driver nor bothering with their mirrors and turning left in front of the cyclist and the cyclist sustaining a fatal head injury as their unhelmeted head hit the ground.

@Moonface123

Whenever l have come off my bike l have never hit my head, always been my middle region.I have gone over the handlebars before, and come off many times, when roads are slippery etc, been cycling since a young girl.

I remember saying similar- until the day I came off in the wet on a path and smacked my head so hard I got concussion that lasted several days and necessitated an MRI. I was ok after a couple of weeks, but it was so unpleasant it was a real wake up call. Imagine having to live with more permanent effects. Shudder.