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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to not let ds cycle without a cycle helmet?

34 replies

Idobelieveinfairies · 23/09/2008 17:06

DS is off to a sports complex to play footie etc..his friend has just bought a new bike and wants to ride(he dosen't have to wear a helmet).....my dc have never been much into bikes but last year ds1 went through a phase of wanting to ride to school but i would not let him unless he wore a helmet he eventually gave up asking. Looks like it is back..but i am not giving in...so he has gone off in a walking huff.

Is there a low in the UK for cycle helmets?? there isn't here but really wish there was-would make parenting wannabe cyclists easier!

OP posts:

sarahmikeharryandrosie · 23/09/2008 17:20

don't know about a law, but i totally agree my DS will not ride his bike without a helmet, no matter what his friends are doing!!!

Original poster

Idobelieveinfairies · 23/09/2008 17:27

gosh-i did mean law!..lol you know what i mean.....so hard when friends are allowed to do different things..talk about pressure!

OP posts:

silvercrown · 23/09/2008 18:00

We keep hounding our children to wear theirs - LO kept refusing but then fell off her bike and smacked her forehead really badly bruised - yet she STILL forgets but will come back and put it on if I shout loud enough. Other kids tease them - even one who has to wear a helmet as well because his mum says so!!!!

SaintRiven · 23/09/2008 18:05

I don't wear one. DD doesn't wear one when she's on the back of my bike.

sameagain · 23/09/2008 18:09

I'm sure I read somewhere that the BMA isn't in favour of them. Yhey put people off riding thier bikes and overall it is far more beneficial for people (including kids) to cycle, than the relatively few serious injuries that would be prevented by wearing a helmet.

I know some of you will have horror stories about the injuries, but it is a fact that we all need more exercise and if peer pressure re hats prevents your DS riding his bike, that is harmful too.

noonki · 23/09/2008 18:12

my friend fell of her bike last year on a road with no cars on. She is a regular cyclist and was just unlucky (hit a bump badly in the road)

she fractured her skull, has continous headaches, has had to stop working full time, can't drive, has got very snappy and is sometimes confused....

so imo I would make in wear one.

Upwind · 23/09/2008 18:13

Depends on his age.
If he is 6 YANBU
if he is 36 YABU

debzmb62 · 23/09/2008 18:19

YANBU
i 100% say yes you should make him wear one whatever age be it 6 or 56 helmets save lives my freind lost her son when he did;t wear a helmet he was 12 !!please don't give the option !!

SaintRiven · 23/09/2008 18:34

Thing is, we can all produce sceintific evidence to back up each argument.
Cycling is safe.
Car drivers get head injuries in car crashes, pedestrians when they are hit by a car. They aren't wearing helmets yet it would apparently save many lives.
DD can't wear a helmet as they don't design them for kids who can't hold their heads up.

ComeOVeneer · 23/09/2008 18:39

DH won't let me out in the evening on my bike if I don't put mine on. All of us have them and don't get on a bike without them. Don't know how much protection they give, but surely better than a naked head hitting the road. My children have never known anything else, and all ther freinds always wear theirs to (however mine are 3 and 6 so easy atm).

Clure · 23/09/2008 18:42

WEAR ONE ALWAYS. My DH got knocked off his bike, didn't think he'd hurt head, (broke his elbow tho) he was wearing helmet. When he checked his helmet afterwards it had a huge crack in it. You can never allow for the stupidity of some drivers

muggglewump · 23/09/2008 18:54

DD doesn't wear one but she only plays in the street on her bike and can't ride without stabilisers yet.

Original poster

Idobelieveinfairies · 23/09/2008 19:51

DS is 13...so the majority of you would do the same as me then-it's good to get other peoples opinions on these matters!

So hard when others don't have to wear them...but knowing how accident prone ds seems to be i think it's him that would end up being hurt or worse.

Thank-you!

OP posts:

loobeylou · 23/09/2008 20:11

Just tell him that maybe friends parents don't love the friend as much as you love him.

It makes me feel sick evey time i see anyone, but particularly a child, without a helmet. There should be a law, whether kids are cycling "long" distance or just mucking about in their road after school - a simple helmet CAN save a life - so why take the risk?
(this could go the way of the kids n no car seats thread from last week)

DH cycles 5 miles to the station every day, he never used to wear one before we were married then i bought him one. he would be in serious trouble if he forgot to wear it (he has about twice in 13 yrs, came back for it both times). Its more than just setting a good example to the kids (who ALL wear them and have had no problems since age 2 understanding the importance)

its about being sure he does all he can to make sure they have a daddy for many yrs to come

falcon · 23/09/2008 20:16

YANBU. IMO everyone should be required to wear them, just as seat belts as required by law.

SaintRiven · 24/09/2008 08:42

thank goodness there isn't a law. Evidence from Australia and New Zealand shows cycling goes down when compulsory helmet laws are introduced.
Have none of you ever been to the Netherlands? No helmets, normal clothes, bikes everywhere and the drivers there are used to bikes and drive accordingly. Unlike our drivers. More bikes = safer roads.
DH does wear his when he cycles to work but then he cycles at 30 mph. He's fully aware that the helmet will do fuck all if he's hit by a 4x4 or lorry. I don't wear one and potter along at 10 mph.

tarantula · 24/09/2008 09:09

I'm glad there isnt a law too cos if I go head off in the mornign without my helmet I sure aint going back. Dp doesnt wear a helmet but then toddles along slowly with dd on the back. Many studies have shown that helmets do not give the protection that people think they do adn have very little impact on death adn injury rates and in fact have been known to contribute to injuries in certain cases.

www.cycle-helmets.com/helmet_damage.html Interesting reading this.

TheRedQueen · 24/09/2008 09:11

My husband and I always wear a helmet out on our bikes and DD (aged 3) wears hers in the bike trailer and on her bike. She's getting a scooter for her birthday, and she will also wear it on that. She?s never known anything else though, so is happy (so far at least!) to do so.

This is one issue about which we are also strict with regards to other people?s children. Basically, if they come out with us on their bikes or in the bike trailer, they wear a helmet or they don?t come. I once also made a friend?s son walk the mile home from school pushing his bike because he refused to put his helmet on. Yes, it makes me sound like a right witch, but he was in my care and I consider it as essential as wearing a seat belt in a car.

Original poster

Idobelieveinfairies · 24/09/2008 09:16

I have never seen evidence from Aus or New Zealand..but i have never looked, but i will do. Never been to the Netherlands either!

Would be great if there was more bikes than cars for sure, we are on a small island and the amount of cars here is unbelievable!

DS would be cycling to school amongst an horrendous amount of traffic, i trust him (i think)but other peoples driving is what worries me!

There are signs all over the A&E dept here suggesting helmets so as long as they are i will be!

When DS was smaller i let him play just outside our house on a very safe lane on his bike (without a helmet) he was about 6 or 7. He fell off-wasn't going fast and needed proper stitches on his forehead. Big scar there now,(seems to be growing as he is getting older!) i know if he was wearing a helmet then he wouldn't have wacked his head there, it would have been protected.

OP posts:

babymt · 24/09/2008 12:22

I would make mine wear a helmet no matter what. It wouldn't even allow to be an option. And i fully intend to spy on them when they're older and go off with it on to find out if they take it off when out of sight and will be grounded if I find them cycling with it off.

Yes that sounds strict but I'm not messing with safety. And of course its safer. Why anyone would want to cycle without one I don't know!

Evenstar · 24/09/2008 12:26

I wish there was a law, my 18 year old DS refuses to wear one now unless he is going off-road. It is a worry, but you really can't make them once they reach that age, I always hoped that the fact he had always worn one before, even riding on the patio with a scooter would have ingrained the habit for life.

mamaspanx · 24/09/2008 12:32

get him a cool tony hawk skateboarding helmet!

Sawyer64 · 24/09/2008 12:35

I agree they should wear one. My DS tried to avoid wearing it as friends didn't.My answer is always No helmet No bike,and when the whingeing starts I say that maybe they are allowed as their parents don't care if their head gets smashed up in an accident! Harsh but true.

If you'd worked in A&E and seen Head Injuries,you'd never allow your DC'ren get on their bikes without one.

The only "restrictions" that I remember anyone having with Cycle/Crash Helmets is in the event of an Accident you only remove a helmet if there is an obstruction to their airway,otherwise leave it on until the A&E staff assess their injuries properly.

Scotia · 24/09/2008 12:38

YA definitely NBU. I've said before on here that my brother would not have been killed on his bike if he had been wearing a helmet. The injury that killed him was a bump on the head. My parents will never recover from the guilt they feel about that. Please stick to your guns.

Scotia · 24/09/2008 12:41

And Sawyer, my parents most definitely DID care if his head got smashed in. He was made to sit his Cyclig Proficiency Test before being allowed on the road on a bike in the first place. Helmets were not available at the time of my brother's accident.

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