Helmets and cycles

[Anon9898]

Is it wrong of me to think when somebody's on a bicycle they should wear a helmet. I have seen loads of children riding bikes and scooters without wearing one.

I know it's parents choice but I won't let my kids go on a bike or scooter with out one.

Am I being a reasonable to think that if a person not just a child an adult as well is going out on a bicycle they should be protected with a helmet

Meh? I would wear one, my kids wear one, beyond that, not my business. I don't tell people off for smoking or drinking either?

I don't tell people off I just think people would think of safety first.

So why aren't you starting a thread about other lifestyle choices you dont happen to agree with. Very few wear them in holland

Studies of helmet effectiveness, especially in preventing paediatric injury, are ambivalent. Only approximately 2% of paediatric head injury admissions to hospital are a result of cycling related head injuries to an area of the head that a helmet would protect. Conversely, 60% of admissions are pedestrian or fall related, but we don't require kids to wear a helmet as they go about their daily lives. Studies from the mid 2000's have also found similar percentages of head injuries occurring to cyclists, pedestrians and occupants of cars. However, you don't make your kid wear a helmet when they're in the car either?

The way to make cycling and scootering safer is to have more people cycling/scootering, control traffic speed effectively and have clear differentiation of space between motorized traffic, pedestrians and cycle/scooters.

I just saw a lady today who was bleeding from the head, having come off without one. Her handlebar hit a railing and she disbalanced. She was barely conscious so I would strongly recommend wearing one if you value your brain.

I've seen road traffic accidents where peoples heads are smashed, no bikes involved

I bike about 45 miles a week for work commute. I wouldn't dream of not wearing a helmet. I'd prefer something else to hit the concrete before my skull.
About 5 or 6 people at work wear helmets.
Each to their own I guess.

All of this. While wearing a helmet can give protection against head injuries vs not that is true in a wide range of scenarios. In most cases we would never realistically consider putting on a helmet. I believe one of the riskiest activities was walking down stairs.

She was on a cycle path and can't have been going fast, as the path had narrowed due to some building work. She would have been better off with a helmet.

Different strokes for different folks.
Helmets are only designed to protect a head injury from a low speed glancing blow.
Behavioural studies show drivers take more risks around cyclists wearing a helmet, than they do when passing a cyclists without one.
A helmet doesn't make cycling any safer.

A helmet wont save your life if you get caught under the wheels of a lorry

What have other peoples choices got to do with you?

Now i always wear one but it shouldn't be compulsory, we have freedom of choice.. & wont protect you if hit by a car at 60mph.. which is the real danger for cyclists children walkers etc etc.

When I worked for a bus company two children on bikes were hit by a bus. Impact was very low speed. One child died and the other one was relatively unscathed. The one who died was the one who wasn't wearing a helmet. Of course, we will never know if the helmet would have made a difference, but it couldn't have made it worse.

No, you’re not being reasonable, unless you think the occupants of motor vehicles should also wear helmets. This would likely prevent a lot more injuries and deaths than would all cyclists wearing helmets.

My son tells me off for not wearing one. I'm glad he's smarter than me.

This sounds crazy, but I'd rather wear gloves than a helmet. I mostly cycle off-road. The most common injury from falling off a bike is gravel in the hands.

I think I remember seeing a stat once, that if all drivers wore helmets when on the motorways, it would save 1,000s more lives than if all cyclists wore helmets.

I wonder how many lives could be saved if you had to wear a helmet to go downstairs?

To me, it's about the potential for a helmet to better protect your skull in the event of some types of cycling accident.

Having seen the state of my boss's helmet after he was involved in a cycling accident, I would never not wear one again. That would have been his skull otherwise. No, it won't save your life in every scenario but it will in some, or certainly prevent a more serious head injury. I have no idea why people are willing to risk that when they could reduce it by wearing a helmet.

I feel like with these kind of questions people never change their mind. Some people are very much in a place where once they classify something as a danger they’ll do everything possible to minimise it (very reasonable position) so they will be very fixed on wearing a helmet. Others will look more at risk and think I’m fine with taking a normal level of risk with all my activities so might be of opinion helmet at skate park or mountain biking when risk of the type of fall where I’d hit my head is increased but not day to day riding where risk is similar to jogging/walking/car travel (also reasonable position). Neither is right/wrong. Both seem very acceptable/normal viewpoints.

I grew up not wearing one - not sure they even existed in my youth. As soon as I had DCs, I never went out on a bike without one and I managed to persuade DH to wear one as soon as DC were old enough to ride a bike too, to set a good example.
I would never dream of riding without one now. We always ask for them when hiring bikes abroad, seemingly to the amusement of the bike hire companies. But they do have them available!

I've never worn a helmet and never will. My kids don't wear helmets and never will.

If you want to wear them feel free... everyone is allowed to make their own choice.

I agree with you, I think if you are on public land you should wear a helmet, I also think adults (possibly younger) riding on public roads should have 3rd party insurance in case you cause an accident (could be via house insurance perhaps.)

I wear one and will insist my children wear helmet when cycling or scootering. I also have cycling insurance. I know in Holland barely anyone who commutes wears helmet, but they are often using cycle lanes separated from car traffic and in general there is no hostility towards cyclist comparable to the UK. Once they change to road cycling they do wear helmets quite often.

Those of you who think people need to wear helmets should visit the Netherlands. Very few of them do. And before you say "well they have separated infrastructure" - (I see a pp already has) they do, but have you seen the way they ride? And they have mad Deliveroo e-bike riders too. And (small) motorbikes on the cycle paths.

I do agree with helmets for mountain biking in case you collide with a tree, but if a car squashes me, a helmet won't save me.

The only time I have hit my head, I slipped over on some ice. So maybe all pedstrians should wear them when it's slippery.

Also, 90% of cyclists don't wear them on their heads properly.

If you drive, take care, and you won't hit a cyclist and they won't need a helmet.

I wear one but only to stop people moaning at me. Not because it will save me if an idiot driver knocks me off my bike,

I do think cyclists should make sure they are visible though - so hi-vis once the clocks go back. But that also applies to pedestrians.

I also have insurance via my membership of Cycling UK.

But I think the danger of me hitting anyone is far outweighed by the danger of a car driver hitting me.

If we are going to campaign for something, I want idiot drivers to stop parking on pavements (and in the cycle paths that do exist).

For the type of cycling the DCs and I do, a helmet is more likely to be of benefit than a hinderence. For cyclists on busier, higher speed roads a helmet won't necessarily be so helpful against higher impact injuries and is limited to head impacts.

My DCs have grown up with a culture of wearing one and I'd rather they see one as normal and evaluate when not to wear one, than to be anti wearing one. I don't think it's proportionate to see them as compulsory though.

Cars have got safety features designed in such as crumple zones, seat belts and air bags. The biggest mitigation is being an observant driver.

When walking/ running, the best mitigation is picking safe pedestrian routes, places with good visibility/ lighting. Picking visible clothing and torches might help- this applies to cycling too. It's not a total solution, but gives idiots less excuse to collide with you!

Nothing is totally safe and no one measure will avoid all risk.