Bike Helmets - are they required?

[BraveMom3]

I can't remember if I've seen this posted, but wondering if children are required to wear bike helmets when renting bikes at the VWL.

Thanks. Finishing up that packing list!

 

[jctwizzer]

It's been a year and a half, but they weren't required the last time we rented bikes...

 

[disneyberry]

hmm... even if they're not required, are you still able to "rent" a bike helmet at the time you go to rent a bike?
(i don't know if that's unsanitary or not?)

 

[chris1gill]

For young children, I think they are required, but they are provided at the time of your rental... I'd never thought about whether or not they were sanitary though, that's a really good question!

 

[Lew]

I can't remember if I've seen this posted, but wondering if children are required to wear bike helmets when renting bikes at the VWL.

With all due respect, BraveMom3, who cares whether they are required? Everyone riding a bike should be wearing a helmet!

If they do rent helmets, bring something to sanitize them prior to use...or bring helmets from home.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by Lew
With all due respect, BraveMom3, who cares whether they are required? Everyone riding a bike should be wearing a helmet!

If they do rent helmets, bring something to sanitize them prior to use...or bring helmets from home.

I am in complete agreement with you Lew.

Bring some Lysol and spray them if you are concerned about sanitation.

 

[laceemouse]

We lived in Florida for many years and there is definitely a helmet law for motor cycles. I am not sure if it is a law for bikes but I can tell you it really is expected and encouraged in school safety classes, etc. We moved to Illinois 3 and a half years ago and I was shocked that there is no law for motor cycle helmets and most kids don't wear them on their bikes. Our whole family owns and wears bike helmets and we tell our friends up here they should too. It is just not worth the risk.

 

[HookdonWDW]

We were just at VWL last month. The posted requirement stated that children under 16 (17?) must wear helmets when riding bikes. They did provide helmets for those renting bikes who did not have them. Adult helmets were available. We brought our own, because the thought of wearing someone else's hat was a little too icky for me... but my child has his own batting helmet for baseball too. HTH

 

[FredS]

I didn't know that there were any states which did not require helmets for motorcycles! Obviously a motorcycle is interacting with cars, trucks, etc. and is intended to be driven at speeds at which an accident can easily cause serious injury or death. Can't imagine why someone would ride one without a helmet.

Bikes, on the other hand, have the potential for being used quite differently, thus mandatory helmet use for every moment someone is on a bike seems uncalled for. For instance, we rarely use our bikes on or near a public road, but instead tooling around the clearings behind the house and in the woods. Not near cars, our maximum speed not much faster than walking, and if you happen to fall it is on grass or pine straw. As big a safety nut as I generally am, I think the govt forcing me or my child to wear a helmet in those circumstances would be silly. We do have a helmet for my son, and he has worn it on the occasions when he has ridden on our long driveway, where there is a greater possibility of speed, encounters with automobiles and hitting concrete (or whatever it's made of). We camped recently, not at Disney, and I was a little upset that there was a written rule requiring helmets, but several children were riding along the road without them. Parents need to use their brains.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

I didn't know that there were any states which did not require helmets for motorcycles! Obviously a motorcycle is interacting with cars, trucks, etc. and is intended to be driven at speeds at which an accident can easily cause serious injury or death. Can't imagine why someone would ride one without a helmet.

CT is one.

 

[Regina]

Thanks HookedonWDW. There's nothing better than firsthand knowledge.

Isn't it nice that DVCers take so many trips to WDW that someone always has the right answer?

 

[BraveMom3]

Thanks for all the informative responses! My children do have their own helmets, and I think I'll pack them since the idea of wearing rented helmets really doesn't appeal to me. I can only imagine how sweaty some of those heads must have been!!!

30 days and counting!!!

 

[sap1227]

Right around the same time they made bicycle helmets mandatory for anyone under 16, they made motorcycle helmets optional. Strange, I know!

 

[rtkane]

Originally posted by sap1227
Right around the same time they made bicycle helmets mandatory for anyone under 16, they made motorcycle helmets optional. Strange, I know!

Well, I guess they figure that people under 16 haven't matured enough to make a truly informed decision. Those old enough to ride motorcycles who choose not to use helmets are making an informed decision. It just happens to be a bad one, in my opinion. It's kind of a form of natural selection

 

[laceemouse]

Natural selection, very funny!!! You guys crack me up!!! Oh well, better go get some housework done now.....Lacee

 

[laceemouse]

BTW FredS, point well taken. I live in a very busy Chicago burb. There is no such thing as a dirt road or grassy field here (I grew up in Louisiana so I have a vague recollection) The front of my house is on a very busy boulevard with bumper to bumper traffic, so you can see where I'm coming from with my comments. The cars are flying by my house and kids without helmets are only a couple of ft. away on their bikes. Scary.

 

[Mary Ellen]

I didn't know that there were any states which did not require helmets for motorcycles!

Colorado