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Comment by ronnier | Hacker News Reader

This reminds me of something related. I don't force my children to wear helmets when they ride their bikes. When we are out, people yell at me "Where's their helmet dad?". These are the same type of people who force the removal of swing sets at the parks in my area.

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Helmets are a bit like bullet proof vests. If I was to be sent to some unknown part of Afghanistan and I had the option of placing a bullet proof vest in my luggage I would probably take it, just in case I needed it when I got to wherever it is in Afghanistan. However, for a gentle stroll to the shops or a trip to the back garden I probably wouldn't think to wear a bullet proof vest. Yet, actually, only last week some girl got hit in London by a stray bullet and, with her life being a mess right now, I had really better go for the bullet proof vest. Had she been wearing one then she might have avoided that neck injury.

Personally I do not wear a bike helmet, however, if some of my former mountain bike friends called up and took me out riding all day on trails I did not know then I would find a helmet and make sure it was properly fitted to my head. So I am not absolutist when it comes to helmets.

As it happens I have sold thousands of helmets and fitted a few hundred for people. Along the way I read the instructions and you do need helmets to fit properly, i.e. with the straps tight. I have also noticed that most cyclists including those in the peleton ride along with the straps somewhat less tight than they should be. Hence I suggest that rather than have helmet debates with people you helpfully point out to them that (if they are wearing a helmet) that the straps are dangerously done up. Point out to them that they could get strangled by their helmet in an accident if, due to the straps not being very tight, the helmet slips back. Assist them in getting their helmet setup properly, by which time they should not be able to move their jaw and give you any more lip :-)

While I am absolutely against the cotton-wool wrapping of kids we see I would disagree on this. I always make my kids wear helmets when riding bikes, whilst still allowing them to do jumps and race down the hill etc. The way I see it, the helmet reduces the risk of serious long term injury and doesn't take anything away from them pushing their safety boundaries when riding about.

I would, because I've seen what happens when kids fall off their bikes and hit their heads on the pavement. :(

Agreed. IMO helmets are one of those treatments against a low-likelihood, high-consequence risk. The treatment also comes at very little inconvenience, so it's a no-brianer (pun not intended) to choose to do so.

Banning kids from riding bikes around cars? I can understand why that's considered a bit too overprotective, but helmets to me seem like a common-sense method of resolving a significant risk with insignificant inconvenience.

You can learn to fall / jump off a bike properly as well. Watch some videos of dirt jumpers, despite doing backflips, a lot of them go without helmets.

Yeah, look I agree with the general sentiment of letting kids take risk and learn responsibility, but my two small kids (who do skateboarding, BMX racing, surfing, rugby and a lot of general "rumbling") are NOT allowed to ride without helmets and I wear one too. I survived not having one as a kid (nobody did then), but I wear one too now, and seriously the upside/downside equation here is a no-brainer.

Other than that - let 'em at it!

Keep in mind, my kids are riding with me walking right next to them. They are still using training wheels.

I get where you are coming from, but you want to associate bike riding = helmet wearing.

From training wheels to full-speed downhill riding should only take 6 months. You want to encourage helmet wearing as a habit before that progression occurs.

My child had a very large crash that occured because he went down a hill and got confused as to which side of the bike the brake was on, because he was riding an unfamiliar bike. He had ridden down that hill many times. He crashed heavily at a high speed, enough to knock a tooth out and lost a lot of skin on his face, elbows, hands and knees. The helmet had serious damage and had to be thrown away. I don't want to think what would have happened had there been no helmet. He was 4 at the time.

I let them ride down hills to get used to the speed as part of learning, so that when they do get older they don't make bad mistakes. I also ride on the road with them to develop their traffic awareness. But helmets are a vital part of that.

I had several high speed crashes on my bike during school years. It was only luck that meant I didn't hit my head hard.

Please start making them wear helmets.

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