<p>We are looking forward to a week’s vacation in New England, and younger S. (HS freshman) is balking at the mention of bike helmets. We rarely ride here at home (live on a main road, too much traffic, no bike path) so it’s a treat up there.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, helmets are not the norm around here. Well, maybe they are for the packs of racing bikers (that enjoy riding 3 and 4 abreast across the road), but with local kids it’s a different story. I rarely see a helmet on anyone who looks over the age of about 10… I wish helmets were required for ALL bike riders, regardless of age.
If he is stubborn enough to miss out on biking because of the helmet issue, then so be it, but if some parents have any persuasive stories or advice, I’ll pass them on. Thanks</p>
<p>lspf72,
They definitely make some cool looking bike helmets (I have a high school freshman son who loves to ride) and perhaps you can show him some to be persuasive that they aren’t dorky looking. In our area a helmet is mandatory by law.</p>
<p>I’m a teenager and I always wear helmets and get a little sad when I see so many teenagers riding without them. My boyfriend promised me he would always wear a helmet, too. Do you know any teenagers or younger adults whom he may be more receptive to?</p>
<ul>
<li>Almost three-quarters of fatal crashes (74%) involved a head injury. </li>
<li>Nearly all bicyclists who died (97%) were not wearing a helmet. </li>
<li>Helmet use among those bicyclists with serious injuries was low (13%), but it was even lower among bicyclists killed (3%).</li>
</ul>
<p>Apparently, the only state in New England without a mandatory helmet law that effects your son is Vermont. Now if I could only get my college student daughter to wear a helmet when riding her bike in Brooklyn.</p>
<p>It amazes me that parents go to such lengths to protect their kids from perceived dangers (abduction by strangers, etc) and yet will not stand up to their kids when REAL dangers are close at hand (not wearing a helmet, not wearing a seat belt, etc). </p>
<p>Sorry, but that would be non-negotiable. Fortunately, so many of the older kids around us are mountain bikers and helmets are cool. My kid had an accident which would have been much more serious without a helmet. It led him to request a full-face helmet after that (his face got fairly scraped up).</p>
<p>This was about skateboarding, not biking, but I saw a very compelling video last year about a teenage boy who injured himself riding down a steep roadway. Just hit some gravel and he was head over heels, hit the concrete hard without a helmet. Sure, that had “Jackass” laugh potential…until the video continued with an interview with him after he got out of the hospital. The brain damage was permanent, and heartbreakingly obvious. The health teachers at our h.s. showed that video to every class. I’ll see if I can find an online version. </p>
<p>Another story: a colleague of my husbands bikes a lot and was recently released from a three-week stay in the hospital after he hit a small pothold and flipped. Doctor said he would have died if he wasn’t wearing a helmet. It’s really, really, not worth the risk.</p>
<p>Bike helmets are like seat belts in the car. Non-negotiable.</p>
<p>Fortunately, your son is old enough that he can stay in the hotel room or wherever when the rest of the family goes biking, so he does have a choice.</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone - the stories and statistics are very helpful (and sobering).
And you’re right, un-soccermom, it’s Cape Cod. Helmet required for 16 and under - not negotiable (this makes my job easier). Last year he gave us a hard time about the helmet, and I can see it coming again. There are some great bike paths, but you have to ride a ways to reach them.</p>
<p>The helmet is just as necessary on the bike paths as on the road. Head injuries don’t just happen in collisions with cars. They can happen in falls, collisions with other bikers, or other types of crashes as well.</p>
<p>update-
Just spoke with son again, and passed on a lot of this info. He then replied “I never said I WOULDN’T wear a helmet” (cue to sound of me tearing hair out). Alright, maybe he hadn’t refused outright, but the silence and rolling of eyes when the topic came up yesterday had me preparing for a showdown… </p>
<p>This is good information, though, and I bet I’m not the only one who’ll be having this discussion with their kids this summer.</p>
<p>He has also been promised a new helmet- one with more air vents-</p>
<p>When they made them mandatory for even off street riding I sold my bike. Less than one death and 300 injuries per million bike trips does not seem that scary. Especially if you stick to bike only trails and do not ride in traffic.</p>
<p>This is interesting. California law requires helmets up to age 18. For my daughter’s 18th birthday this fall she was thinking she wanted a bike. Now, she hasn’t ridden a bike since 7th grade, what in the world changed her mind about bikes…the helmet law. She only gave up bikes because she didn’t like wearing helmets. I hope that isn’t the explaination for rising obesity rates amongst children.</p>
<p>I admit, I wear a helmet when I’m on my road bike and likely hitting speeds over 25 mph. When I’m toodling along on the bike trails or quiet streets at 8 mph I don’t wear a helmet. But then again, when I’m jogging along on these same streets or trails at 8 mph I don’t wear a helmet either. I’ve actually fallen and hit my head once while jogging. Never while biking.</p>
<p>If you want someone to wear a helmet esecially teenagers, get one of those nicer helmets (although sometimes expensive) such as Giro (<a href=“http://www.giro.com/main.html[/url]”>http://www.giro.com/main.html</a>). These helmets are very comfortable to wear. And honestly, they look rather cool, not dorky like those old helmets back in the days.</p>
<p>What’s crazy is that when I was in urbana,il for my sister’s graduation, not one person was wearing a helmet on a motocycle. crazy!</p>