DS Refusing to wear a bike helmet to school

[mymadworld]

Ds (13) has lost his bus pass and is currently cycling to school but refuses to wear his helmet. Aside from locking up his bike and making him walk the 4 miles, any suggestions? I've tried reasoning with him, explaining the dangers etc but he's just not interested and he cycles on busy roads so I'm really worried about him coming off with no protection.

He will only walk once

Thanks for the ryansmith link. Please can people sign the petition.

I think you did the right thing
2 kids at the school dd attends died a couple of years ago in cycling accidents - head injuries, no helmets. They were 16 & 12

Great idea for schools to be involved - if more schools did this as standard it would just become the norm

This would be a really useful thing for schools to enforce, rather than ever-so-slightly-the-wrong-style-of-shoe.

Google James Haskell video on YouTube . Without a helmet he would be dead and he's a very strong sportsman

FWIW when I taught at a middle school ( yr 5-8) we enforced a helmets only policy.

I work in insurance and deal with injury claims. Cycle helmets do make a difference. I dealt with one claim where a bus hit 2 boys on their bikes, one sustained a serious brain injury amongst other injuries and the other one only sustained a fractured leg (his helmet had a massive dent in it). No helmet, no bike has always been the rule in our house.

Having cared for my husband whilst dying from a brain tumour you realise how precious that brain is. If he won’t wear a helmet he walks simple.

Aside from the helmet issue, the one replacement pass per year seems a bit ridiculous. I would be tempted to get your local msp involved or contact the council in writing and list your concerns about him walking on roads with no pavements etc and highlight your concerns about him walking to school. Surely in this case they would reconsider.

@mimibunz

Lock up the bike and give him several Saturdays cleaning the house for refusing to do as he was told.

This

13 is old enough to work. Tell him to get a job and pay for a replacement pass, or walk. If he has to pay (literally) for his careless mistakes you'll probably find he doesn't repeat them. If he can't find a job at McDonald's or similar he can mow people's lawns or do babysitting.

When I was ten I was hit by a bus while cycling to school. My helmet saved my life, all I got was a few bruises and scrapes. The helmet had multiple orange-sized dents in it, and my school kept it to use in cycle safety talks.

Day 3 and he's still walking . To be fair he's not moaning about it too much so I'm keeping quiet as whilst a hefty walk, it's perfectly doable as long as it's light and he's careful.

Bike helmet is a must. At least one child a year here is knocked off their bike, going to/from school, and is killed! The worst thing for the parents is the helmet is, usually, hanging from the handlebars.

Teenagers will be teenagers!

My dad would be dead if he hadn't been wearing a helmet. Cycling at a steady speed down a straight road, hit a bump, fell (almost in slow motion) to the side, hit his head. Catastrophic bleeding on the brain. Helmet was the only reason he served.

*served=survived

Another no helmet no bike person.
I was going to put on the link to the Ryan Smith foundation but someone beat me to it!
I love the idea of schools enforcing the rule. I wish it was illegal to ride a bike without a helmet.

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/252883

I wish it was illegal to ride a bike without a helmet.
It is here :) (Australia)