Do your DC wear bike helmets ?

[Tipsykisses]

My Ds has always worn a helmet , he's 7 now and rides really well so now rides to school with Dp (his dad) .

The bikes are kept in PIL garage a few doors down from us as we don't have room at our house , all our nieces & nephews are in and out regularly and ds helmet couldn't be found this morning .

I've told Dp he either needs to find the helmet or we need to buy a new one if Ds is going to continue to ride his bike but he thinks I'm over reacting & says that plenty of children ride without them .

Am I over reacting ?

I fell off onto my head wearing a helmet on my way to work. i can't remember that shift at all, but I am still here.

I wear this damn fine hat (That's me outed then, there can't be that many of us)

I noticed my son was out on his bike without his helmet on the other day. He wasn't out for long.

my chosen head wear for heavy traffic

I wouldn't stop them riding if they couldn't find a helmet. Sedentary lifestyles are bigger killers than cycling injuries - which is a fairly safe activity in reality. But I would get a new helmet as soon as I could.

What style of helmets do you have as adults?
I like the trendy, full head ones but are they available in grown up size for less than £30?

trendy? Do you mean those BMX helmets?

What is the law in the UK re helmets? Here, it's all under 13's have to wear them. I think that's a really good idea, as then it just becomes second nature from a very young age.

it's a really bad idea, because it means it's second-nature not to ride a bike. All countries with compulsory helmet laws have shitty bicycle safety records, and shitty bicycle usage rates too.

My kids have to wear helmets - my rule. When they are 18 they can make their own decision. My DH is a serious cyclist and has views not unlike AgaPanthers but I am comfortable with my decision re the DCs and he does not argue it - their skulls are not as thick as ours . I usually wear a helmet, not always; DH always wears one on a serious ride or on his commute (also a fairly serious ride), but not on a basic ride to shops or out to a restaurant.

I'd be happy if helmet laws applied only to the under-18s. I agree with those who say that driver education is the most important safety issue for cyclists and I think that more cyclists on the road is a better thing; helmet laws for adults destroy any chance of a public cycle programme (like London's) working.

Maybe I've missed something but I've biked with my kids since they were tiny. We had No 1 doing a 10 mile loop regularly at 7, whilst Dad tried to keep up with No 2 on a tandem bike and me, coming up in the rear, with 2 little ones in the trailer.

Every single child wore a helmet and that was 10 years ago.

I don't get what the big deal is by saying, from birth, "Here's your bike, here's your helmet".

I'm starting to wonder if AgaPanthers is my DH

DH was hit by a car not long ago - he's okay, some broken bones, yes he was wearing a helmet, no he didn't hit his head on the road so it didn't really make much difference, etc. But of course every single person we told about the accident gasped: "Was he wearing a HELMET?". As though that is a guaranteed life-saver. It isn't. A few days after the accident he was talking to someone - who also asked about the helmet - and she then mentioned her own recent accident, where she was running along a pavement and tripped and fell and bruised her whole face and head. DH gasped: "But were you wearing a HELMET??". She was not, of course, and was baffled that he'd even ask - even though she'd sustained worse head injuries than him. That's why many cyclists get irritated by the helmet question. They do have a point.

Those who cycle in traffic without helmets, do you feel that motorcyclists shouldn't have to wear helmets either? If not, why not? What is the difference? I live in a state in the USA where motorcyclists are not legally obliged to wear helmets and many don't.... Still can't get used to seeing that.

But, butterflies, do you watch those motorcyclists barrelling down the highway doing 65mph+ on their cycles and think, "Gosh, what they're doing would be SO MUCH SAFER if they had a helmet on"? If you do, well, gosh. I just don't know what to say. I also live in a US state and I am not sure of the helmet laws for motorcyclists (we don't ride them). I frankly can't see the point, over about 40mph.

Helmets are great at slow speeds, (generally) short distances, very specific collisions. They don't stop your neck from being broken or your ribs, collarbone or hip from being crushed. If you are thrown at speed from your cycle and land on your head and crush your spinal cord, they will not stop you from being paralysed or killed. They prevent a specific type of injury and that's it.

We all wear helmets, it's non negotiable.

I fell off skidding on ice a few years back and knocked myself out despite wearing a helmet. I recall nothing of the accident but you only have to look at the cracks in my helmet to know I took a big blow to the head.

I've kept that helmet for the day my children decline their helmets. I still have a large haematoma on my thigh and scar on my hip from that accident and for me cycling has never been the same since. I'm not quite as tough as the Grand Tour riders

Of course helmets are just a small part of cycling safety, but I try to teach my boys good road skills as well.

I'm going to put my head above the parapet here, and say that in our family no-one wears cycle helmets.

We all cycle every day. DH does an 18 mile round trip to work, and the DCs do a five mile round trip to school, and I do a combination of school runs, and cycling around the city. We don't have a car so cycling is our main mode of transport.

DH and I have discussed it at length, and we've looked at a lot of research, and we're not convinced by the arguments. Since reading the thread again I looked again at a review of the research commissioned by the Dept for Transport in 2008 which recommended the wearing of cycle helmets. But the case is really not clear cut. For example, in hospital studies, which tend to show a stronger predictive protective effect of wearing a helmet (so they look at cyclists admitted with head injuries and say, this one may have been prevented by wearing a cycle helmet), there is no data on whether the cyclists were actually wearing a helmet anyway. So it is a prediction of what may have happened based on incomplete information. In hospital studies, around 10% of cyclist fatalities had head injuries which may have been prevented by wearing cycle helmets. When you extrapolate those figures to the general population of cyclists (ie how many fatalities there are per population of cyclists, or per miles cycled), you are looking at a fairly small predictive effect.

FWIW both DH and I have had accidents of the kind where a helmet might have a protective effect (I was knocked off my bike by another cyclist, toppled sideways and hit my head on the kerb, DH went over the handlebars) and both of us were fine. Our perception of risk is obviously influenced by our own experiences. In general we want to teach our children that cycling is a safe activity, but that roads are dangerous, and we are very keen to teach them good road skills. Wearing a cycle helmet, we feel, gives them the message that cycling is dangerous but that a helmet will protect them, which, in a road situation, is simply not the case.

If I didn't make my daughters wear a helmet, I'd spend my entire time telling them to slow down, be careful etc. Which is far worse in my view as I'd like them to have fun while cycling and be able to take risks.

No - in the event of a serious road accident it is unlikely to make a huge difference, but for everyday riding it can certainly mean the difference between a nasty bump/gash to the head or just being a bit stunned. It's a no-brainer for me.

DH commutes by bike in London and wouldn't consider riding without one. He does cycle like a lycra clad, speeding loon though and has had several falls so much like the OP's DP, while he didn't grow up wearing one and would feel like a bit of a twat on a quiet bike ride with kids, it's the most sensible course of action.

Buy your kids something cool with helmet lights so it's not such naff thing to wear
www.xsportsprotective.com/when-to-replace-bicycle-helmet.html

My 7yo DS always wears a helmet and has never quibbled about it - it was a done deal that if he went on his bike, he wore his helmet and that was that. Luckily he loves it and will often leave his bike and go to play in the playground in the park still wearing it! The last time he encountered a child on a bike without a helmet, he asked 'Don't you want to be safe?'

TipsyKisses, my way of thinking is that as a parent you assess the risks to your children, and you decide what action to take. You have to be true to yourself, because you are the person who best knows the specific situation.

Myself, I do not wear a lid when cycling, and neither do I require any children that I am accompanying to wear one, (unless their parents require it).

I don't discuss my thinking, except to say it is a conscious decision.

BUT I would say stick with your current strategy, tell your DH that this is the approach you have always taken and if you do decide to change it, then you need time to think it through thoroughly, and how you are going to explain to your kids that the rules have changed and why. If you've always said, no lid no bike, then it's no bike until you've found/ replaced the lid.

Is there any research - or statistics like the ones Aga shared - where the risks to under 18s or under 16s is split from the risks to adults? It seems intuitive to me that the risks would be quite different and so hard to make an evidence based decision if the info isn't there.
The argument that drivers take more care around cyclists without helmets, whether true or not, surely can't apply to kids? Surely drivers when they see a kid on a bike is going to be more careful, whether they're cycling on the road or pavement? Of course once they're adult height things would be different.

And I agree with others who say visibility is equally important. Driving home from work on dark evenings I can't believe the people - often teenagers - cycling on the road with no lights, some without even the basic reflectors that come with every bike, usually dressed in dark clothes. Such a stupid pointless risk. There's so many cheap bike lights out there and reflective clothing - if they don't want to wear a waistcoat then there are stickers and strips for their bag or bike which look completely unobtrusive in daylight but could mean a driver seeing them a lot further down the road which could make all the difference.

Review of research commissioned by the Department for Transport.

Essentially, there isn't separate research on children.

We are a very keen cycling family. My daughter is nationally ranked for road racing and my son regularly does time trials. We are all members of a local cycling club.

I have told this story before here, but several years ago we were cycling down a wide foresty commission track. Ds was in front of me. For no reason that I could see he fell off. I waited for him to wail (he is not known for his stoicism) but, instead, there was silence. Ds had hit his head, just above his right ear on the only rock in sight and was unconcious. When the ambulance came (nearly an hour later because of where we were) he was still incoherent and one of his pupils was blown. They refused to take him and said he needed to be air-lifted to a specialist head trauma unit. DH flew with him in the helicopter whilst I sorted dd and then drove the miles to the hospital. I will never forget being taken to a relatives' room when I arrived to be told my son was in a coma.

DH and I sat by his bedside for days reading to him and holding his hand. Not knowing if our beautiful boy would ever come back to us.

He did. He is fine. He was wearing a helmet. The neuro-surgeon who treated ds was adamant that if his skull had sustained the impact in the location that his helmet did (which was crushed), ds would have died on impact.

NO HELMET, NO BIKE.

you are not overreacting. Kids often take stupid risks, they hesitate, they lose concentration. Mine aren't allowed near their bikes without helmets. I don't wear a helmet if I am sticking to cycle lanes as I am 35 and tend not to fall off my bike. If I am going on the road I do wear one. My 10 year old twins are brilliant cyclists, they can easily handle rides of up to 20 miles and probably more, and negotiate heavy traffic and junctions perfectly. But it is still a risky sport!

How the fuck can going downhill at 20mph be no more dangerous than walking?!! Most usual kids activities, they isn't going to be at that risk of hitting the ground at that kind of speed with their head. Even a scooter, you are lower to the ground, less likely to land on your head. Put them on a bike and it is SO easy to fly over the handlebars and land head first.

You wouldn't let a child ski, or ride a horse without one, so why cycle?? I'm sure broken arms and legs are more common with those activities too, but it doesn't mean you forgo the helmet! Every injury we have had cycling has normally involved ribs, but it's easy to bounce back from some bruised ribs. Concussion can take a lot longer to heal. I really don't get why it is so normal to put a helmet on for riding or skiing but cycling causes a huge debate.

GooseyLoosey - your poor boy! Hope it didn't put him off x

Same thing happened to a friend of mine too - hit by a lorry in London, helmet saved her life. I think these facts don't get collated well enough.

Goosey how terrifying for you all.

Helmets are non negotiable here too.

Teaching safe road skills and wearing a helmet are not mutually exclusive. Mine have learned that helmet wearing protects you more against some things but not everything.

Our friend, an A&E consultant at a major trauma centre in London, is one of the most laid back parents we know. However, she insists on helmet wearing for cycling or scooting because she has seen the difference a well fitted and correctly worn helmet can make to some injuries.

Absolutely bike helmet and have to wear it for going on the scooter too. When we moved here they were the only kids who had to wear helmets for scootering now they are a lot more common.

I like to think we have started a trend

I keep seeing dumb things around and I wonder why
Eg father near here puts his 2 kids on some thing he crafted in the shed on the back of his bike (both late primary) they have helmets he doesn't, saw a mother with an infant in a baby carrier on her back neither wore helmets, he/she (baby) had no neck support head and neck lolling around the whole time. Made me cringe.

non negotiable in this house
no helmet - no bike/scooter