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Do your kids always wear helmets on the bike, or do circumstances dictate? what about on scooters?
Eldest (7) went to school on her bike today for the first time, in convoy with myself and her younger brother, without helmets. The route is about 200m of pavement, couple of kilometres of footpath/paths across common land. We all rode without helmets. Am I a bad parent?
Normally they wear them if we're riding anywhere other than stuff like this, by the way- should I make them mandatory on all journeys?
My kids always wear helmets when they're on their bikes or scooters. But that's probably as a result of their grandpa dying from the effects of a head injury after falling off his bike.
My lad won't ride his bike without one. Sometimes if I've forgotten his when we are out somewhere he will refuse to ride his bike. It's just become what he does, no big thing but if you ride your bike you wear a helmet. Why wouldn't you? My two boys although younger than yours can fall off on the pavement, footpath or anywhere you by not fully paying attention, I'm sure the helmets have saved them a few grazes and scrapes. Are you a bad parent because yours didn't wear them today.......nah
When I was younger (up to about 15 or so), when I just used the bike to ride around to my mates houses, around parks etc etc, I hated riding with a helmet, to the extent where I would leave the house with it on to keep mum happy, and then stash it in the neighbours overgrown garden. Just wasn't "cool".
Since getting into "proper" MTBing (15 I think), I always ride with a helmet. Well, pretty much all the time, probably wouldn't if I was riding 30 seconds down the street to a shop.
No, mine never did. It's a decade since he was a kid, I imagine there's more peer pressure now.
Mine always wear helmets when on bikes and never on scooters (littlest one complains he wants his helmet off as he's going on his scooter now). I appreciate the lack of consistency there!
There weren't helmets when I was a kid, and even m/c's didn't have to wear them.
When MTBing mine all wear a helmet, without ever been told. On the street, with friends etc mostly not, but then they're old enough to assess the dangers themselves.
I still though have arguments with my youngest (14) who won't wear one when on his scooter at the skate park.
The route is about 200m of pavement, couple of kilometres of footpath/paths across common land.
I wouldnt dream of wearing a helmet for that and therefore would not force my lad to either.
My kids aren't allowed on the road, and won't be without a helmet. I've just never really felt the need for one on a quiet bimble.
Mine (2 and 3) always wear helmets, as do the wife an I. Sometimes if we go to the park and the eldest takes his bike, the youngest refuses to leave the house without his helmet on even though he's walking!
My eldest is the helmet police. Won't ride his bike without one and asks us where people on bikes helmets are if he sees them riding without.
We started putting a helmet on both boys as soon as they touch anything with 2 wheels. Never had an arguement as a result thankfully. Our choice is 'No helmet no ride rule' for them regardless of how short the ride.
No helmet, no ride. And that goes for my 15 yo riding to school. It's the law in our house. I do however provide a nice selection of helmets. I also always wear one. Partly to set an example.
my son always wears a helmet when riding his bike and also when on his scooter...
my daughter will too when she is old enough to ride...
policy in our house is no helmet no riding...
No helmet, no ride, that goes for everyone be it scooters or bikes.
I [i]always[/i] wear a helmet, so so do my kids. Dems da rules!
No helmet, no ride-y in our house.
Not an issue as it's always been that way so it's just the norm now.
Might be different when they get a bit older (currently 7 & 9)... peer pressure & all that
Binners +1.
Always has been from the moment they got a bike.
My lad always wears one and points and shouts at people who don't.
He understands though that its everyones choice and there's no need for one unless you fall off and bang your head. And he understands that you don't always know when you're going to fall off...
Completely agree with the majority of sentiments in this thread, but am amazed and impressed at the change in helmet culture round here in a short time.
Hypocritical to make them wear one and not wear one yourself. Sends out the wrong message.
Had a very close call when I was younger and always wear one now, so do my boys. It is second nature for all of us.
Helmets and gloves and ready for action... 😀
[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8028/7675797716_b7a0295af3_c.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/14162682@N00/7675797716/ ]Untitled[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/14162682@N00/ ]binlidski[/url], on Flickr
No helmet, no ride in our house.
A couple of weeks ago my 4 year old daughter gave a bloke a right bo!!ocking in the park for riding without a helmet 🙂 I had a right good chuckle to myself after that !
My 19 month old won't go anywhere with her bike helmet and wellingtons. Whether she's on a bike or not. Hopefully she'll grow out of it as she needs a hair wash.
My daughter wears a helmet when we go MTBing any other timeshe doesn't bother. Same for me except I always wear a lid on the road.
Completely agree with the majority of sentiments in this thread, but am amazed and impressed at the change in helmet culture round here in a short time.
I wear a helmet, and so will my daughter when she's old enough. But it's one piece of safety equipment among many, that is effective in a limited range of circumstances. Important to remember if tempted to be the helmet police!
Always been the rule in our house: if you're on bike / scooter then you wear a helmet.
Very glad of it too. At Christmas lad lost control of his bike, hit a neighbour's garage door at about 20mph. Smashed his helmet to bits and put a massive dent in the door (which we need to replace). A&E confirmed he was fine other than a bit of a battering.
Next day, went to Halfords and found a perfect Met helmet a bit like mine that fits a treat and cost £5. At that sort of money, you'd be a bit mad not to wear one.
I do wish I could get a garage door for £5 tho....
Mine always do but I've caught one coming back from school a few times with it tied to his handle bars. The other day out with me he rode into the back of a parked car 🙄 , the helmet took most of the impact.
I always wear a helmet as does my wife and daughter - even if it's just her riding around the pavement outside the house.
No helmet, no riding.
I've never worn a cycle helmet, and as pavements don't seem to have got any harder, and at least our heads haven't got softer, neither do any of our kids. Youngest was very glad he didn't wear one when he cycled the 3 miles to his new school; no one else wears one either.
My lad always wears one and points and shouts at people who don't.
Does he do the same to people jogging?
Hypocritical to make them wear one and not wear one yourself. Sends out the wrong message.
I always wear one when riding a bike, but not when riding a uni on the school run (or indeed any other time when I'm using one for general short distance transportation). Neither of my kids has yet complained.
More to the point - why wouldn't you? Short drive to the shops do you not wear a seatbelt? Or strap kids in car seat? Irresponsible parenting imo
...and yet we could save more lives by insisting children wore helmets when they are pedestrians, and when they travel as passengers in cars.
Fannying about with helmets ignores the big fat elephant in the room; the motor vehicle.
http://adc.bmj.com/content/90/11/1182.full
Until we accept that the price we pay for the convenience of the car is measured in lives, we will never change.
I'm with you on the relative risk there, and accept that there are downsides to helmet wearing, but on balance I think it's a good thing my kids wear one.
Also to be fair, we don't encounter too many vehicles on the shared footpath on the way to school (or on all the pavements my kids illegally ride on to get to the bit they can legally ride on).
Mine always wear them except in the rare cases where we forget and then we don't stress, just get on with it. If I had to choose I would rather they always wore their hi-vis vests but fortunately I don't so usually it is both
Edit: and binners photo is fantastic
binners - your daughters have better bikes than you!!! 😆 😆
The route is about 200m of pavement, couple of kilometres of footpath/paths across common land.
What difference does it make how far it is?
You don't need a long ride to fall off.. the chance of falling off is a fixed thing on certain terrain, the fact it's close to your house makes no difference at all. Your 10 short trips a week have the same chance of accident as one long one at the weekend.
My kids always wear helmets, because I want to make a habit out of it. Otherwise, if we start trying to decide whether or not it's worth a helmet, they'll end up just popping down to a friends' house on a bike and being taken out by an erratically weaving car as soon as they step off the kerb.
As for what happened in the 80s without helmets? Kids used to get killed. My mate's best mate was wiped out on the road outside my mate's house, and died.
gonzy - I know! Even more galling is the fact that they're far better riders than me 😀
Note them also being educated in the rules of riding cheeky trails 😉
You don't need a long ride to fall off.. the chance of falling off is a fixed thing on certain terrain, the fact it's close to your house makes no difference at all.
I just don't get this notion that just because you're 'just popping out' then you don't need a helmet etc. Surely the nature of accidents is the fact that they're utterly random and unpredictable. They're as likely to get you 100 yards from your house as anywhere else, surely?
Even more galling is the fact that they're far better riders than me
They could hardly be worse!
Very true. They get regular demonstrations of how [i]not[/i] to do it
Surely the nature of accidents is the fact that they're utterly random and unpredictable. They're as likely to get you 100 yards from your house as anywhere else, surely?
I believe it's worse than that, most RTIs happen within half a mile of your origin or destination. So not utterly random.
Anyway,it's all about a risk assessment that everyone automatically does in their head before setting off. In my case I'll wear my helmet if it's a relatively long jouney and I'm on a full size bike. I don't wear one when using my folder because I don't deem it practical to carry around (or I'm just lazy, the choice is entirely perception!).
Sorry, forgot to add. Kids are very young, one has a helmet but can't ride a bike yet. Will have to see what happens when he can!
I don't know if it still happens: I didn't want a lawyer using a contributor negligence argument if something bad happened. Me and junior wore ours. He still does at almost thirty.
The strange attitude I see locally is helmeted children with bare-headed parents on the ride to school.
The strange attitude I see locally is helmeted children with bare-headed parents on the ride to school.
I concur, don't understand these double standards.
I didn't want a lawyer using a contributor negligence argument if something bad happened.
Sadly my top reason for wearing a helmet when road riding 🙁
My kids were none too keen on the helmets, so didn't force the issue, was happier to have them out riding than not, I've always tended to focus on avoiding accidents in the first place rather than being overly strict on the wearing of helmets.
Are you a parent or friend - if the former then toughen up! "none too keen" - you are a parent ffs you know best! It's attitudes like that which allow peer group pressure to build up so other kids don't want to wear them because yours don't!