Do your kids wear helmets when riding their bikes?

[rumrunnergirl]

.

 

[MaumeeMom]

Mine always wear them, even if we are just in our driveway. If they don't want to they don't ride, it is that simple. The police here hand out helmets at Safety City (for preK kids) and to anyone who can't afford them.

My DS (now 11) went head over handlebars one time and cracked his helmet. He had a slight bruise and some scrapes on his chin but he would have had a serious head injury if he hadn't been wearing his helmet.

Why take the chance?

 

[Mouse House Mama]

I don't think they are going to get hurt on the sidewalk or the driveway

Why? Is it made of nerf?

 

[Pigeon]

No helmets, no bikes (or scooters), end of discussion.

Dh is a teacher and has had a few kids over the years with traumatic brain injury from not wearing helmets. I can't imagine how the parents live with themselves. I've known two people who would have walked away from bike accidents had they been wearing helmets, but one died and one is severely mentally impaired because they didn't wear them.

Frankly, I can't comprehend how anyone would allow their kids to not wear helmets.

 

[happygirl]

Why? Is it made of nerf?

Yes it is.

I don't question how you raise your kids please don't question me, There is no chance my are going to get hurt. When they move on to bigger bikes then yes they will wear helmets

 

[Pikester]

Yes my kids wear helmets, even DH and I wear them. DH is a cyclist and Mountain Biker. We are big fans of Lance Armstrong (DH is watching the Tour de France as I write this) so it's cool to wear a helmet around here.

 

[Geoff_M]

If just cruising around no, if doing something dangerous yes. You can fall walking down the stairs or running around and hit your head and get brain damage.

I guess I'm missing your point here... Are you saying that since you can fall down a flight of stairs, then it's pointless or silly to take precautions when it comes to other activities???

My family doesn't need any prompting when it comes to precautions against head injuries. We have a friend and neighbor who slipped on some ice in a parking lot three winters ago and suffered a concussion that resulted in neurological damage that he still hasn't 100% recovered from. As an indirect result, he's since lost his engineering job and his marriage and now lives on SSI. Members of my family wear helmets when we mount a bike, when we ski, and I even wear one whenever I ice skate.

 

[lil mermaid]

Yes it is.

I don't question how you raise your kids please don't question me, There is no chance my are going to get hurt. When they move on to bigger bikes then yes they will wear helmets

I think that the poster was just pointing out how silly your statement is. Driveways and sidewalks are hard surfaces. Surely you can see that.

There is no chance they will get hurt? What in the world is the basis for that statement? And if you don't believe that they need helmets now, why will they wear them when they get bigger bikes?

If you don't want your kids to wear helmets, that is your choice I guess. But your reasoning is flawed.

 

[dogluva]

Sorry, that line of reasoning makes no sense at all. NONE.

I agree.

 

[dogluva]

I don't think they are going to get hurt on the sidewalk or the driveway

Why, are they padded?

 

[dogluva]

Are you mocking those who make their children wear bike helmets? Seriously????

What's next...make fun of babies who ride in carseats?

I worked at a Brain injured center for children when I was in college. So, yes, I make my children wear their helmets.

Maybe those that think they are not necessary should go visit one.

 

[schmitty]

I guess I'm missing your point here... Are you saying that since you can fall down a flight of stairs, then it's pointless or silly to take precautions when it comes to other activities???

My family doesn't need any prompting when it comes to precautions against head injuries. We have a friend and neighbor who slipped on some ice in a parking lot three winters ago and suffered a concussion that resulted in neurological damage that he still hasn't 100% recovered from. As an indirect result, he's since lost his engineering job and his marriage and now lives on SSI. Members of my family wear helmets when we mount a bike, when we ski, and I even wear one whenever I ice skate.

You miss the point. Everything is dangerous, some things are more dangerous than others. You use the proper protection when necessary. If you are doing jumps, riding downhill, or doing a race you need a helmet. If you are just cruising around the block you don't need a helmet.
The hockey player in your sig should be wearing a full face helmet to protect his face. I think playing hockey without a full face helmet, like a football helmet, is much more dangerous than riding down the street without a helmet.

 

[jodifla]

Ah, here's how these threads go. The true believers who can't wait to pounce post, a very few dissenters post and are shredded...

and the vast majority read, but don't bother posting, because they don't feel like being shark bait in the "you're a bad parent" feeding frenzy.

 

[lil mermaid]

Ah, here's how these threads go. The true believers who can't wait to pounce post, a very few dissenters post and are shredded...

and the vast majority read, but don't bother posting, because they don't feel like being shark bait in the "you're a bad parent" feeding frenzy.

I don't think anyone was called a bad parent.

 

[Darsa]

Those are horrible analogies and do not make sense for trying to prove a helmet should always be worn.

That's your opinion, and thank you for sharing. I think they were perfectly sound analogies that, in MY opinion, showcase how silly it is to think that a helmet is an unnecessary precaution.

As I mentioned before, JMHO.

 

[monkey68]

You miss the point. Everything is dangerous, some things are more dangerous than others. You use the proper protection when necessary. If you are doing jumps, riding downhill, or doing a race you need a helmet. If you are just cruising around the block you don't need a helmet.
The hockey player in your sig should be wearing a full face helmet to protect his face. I think playing hockey without a full face helmet, like a football helmet, is much more dangerous than riding down the street without a helmet.

So what happens when the kid cruising around the neighborhood hits a pothole or a rock on the sidewalk causing them to go flying off their bikes? And then they land upside down on their heads? Will you be able to live with yourself if that was your child and knowing that the injury might not be so bad if they were wearing a helmet? Or what about the kid cruising around the block when something jumps in front of them, and they have to swerve to avoid hitting it (maybe it was an animal, maybe it was a small child, whatever it was) and they fall off their bike and land on their head?

In many states, it is the law for children to wear helmets. I would be curious to see if there was any data on head injuries in children in those states compared to places where it is not the law so kids are not as likely to wear helmets.

As for the hockey player, I can only speak for the leagues my cousin has played in, but it is my understanding that full face shields are required through the college level. The one in her sig was probably a professional, and these are grown adults that know the risk they are taking and can make that choice for themselves. A child does not understand the risks of wearing a helmet while riding a bike vs. not wearing one.

 

[Geoff_M]

You miss the point. Everything is dangerous, some things are more dangerous than others. You use the proper protection when necessary. If you are doing jumps, riding downhill, or doing a race you need a helmet. If you are just cruising around the block you don't need a helmet.

I'd actually argue that you need a helmet only when you have an accident on your bike. The problem is knowing when you're going to wreck. While I agree that your odds of crashing are greater on any given bike jump than riding around any given block, the cumulative risk for causal riding is greater for most bike riders... kids even more so. The only time I've gone over my handlebars was when I was a kid simply "riding around the block".

The hockey player in your sig should be wearing a full face helmet to protect his face. I think playing hockey without a full face helmet, like a football helmet, is much more dangerous than riding down the street without a helmet.

I agree, I wear a full cage when I play.

Ah, here's how these threads go. The true believers who can't wait to pounce post, a very few dissenters post and are shredded...

and the vast majority read, but don't bother posting, because they don't feel like being shark bait in the "you're a bad parent" feeding frenzy.

Come now... No one's called anyone a bad parent. Hopefully someone you know won't have their lives turned upside down by head trauma in a "simple" accident so that you'll be turned into an insufferable "true believer" in the importance of head protection too. Quite frankly, I do view things differently now and take a little more caution when I do things like getting out of the shower, holding the hand rail on a flight of stairs (my father fell down the stairs at home last winter and fractured two of his vertebrae), walking to my car in a slick parking lot in dress shoes, walking out on a rink in street shoes, etc.

 

[TheNewman6]

I have to admit that mine do not always wear helmets but they SHOULD. It is really a safety issue. As a nurse who has seen kids come in with concussions and head injuries helmets are a beautiful thing.

 

[minniecarousel]

For the 20 of you who have so far answered "not usually" or "sometimes", please reconsider. My brother was a grown man (age 25) when he was hit by a car while riding his bicycle. That was 25 years ago and he hasn't been the same since. As a family, we have helped him live for the past 25 years. He lives alone - several of us pooled our $$ and bought a mobile home for him. He sometimes calls my Mom 5 times a day! He is mentally disabled, but doesn't look disabled. So that creates other problems.

Please - insist that your kids wear helmets - and wear one yourself when you ride!

 

[K and K's Mommy]

If anyone is interested, here is an experiment I did with my DS Cub Scouts a couple of years ago.

Drop a watermelon on concrete. It breaks.

Put another watermelon in a helmet. (I looked for a smaller one that would fit in a helmet.) Drop it all with the helmet hitting the driveway. Watermelon does not break.

I must admit I was nervous because I didn't test it since I didn't want to throw away two helmets! It worked, and we took the watermelon inside and sliced it for a snack. The plastic part of the helmet did crack.