drumbum

Just came back from riding a pretty popular trail at Ohiopyle (30 miles or so). I was at a pretty good clip going maybe 30 MPH, so I was passing alot of people. During this hour ride, I passed no less than 40 families. I couldn't help but notice that almost none of the kids in these families were wearing helmets...in PA, anyone under 13 MUST wear a helmet. Next time I ride this trail, should I stop and let the families know of this law?

Allister

Yeah, do that. People love it when complete strangers come up and tell them what to do.

BrenHébert

It's a national stupidity issue. lol Most communities and/or states have a regulation that kids under the age of 14, 16, or whatever MUST wear helmets. The problem? No one ENFORCES it.

Police have better things to do. Parents either don't care, don't know, or their words fall on deaf ears. And most kids just think parents are being overprotective (IF their parents actually TRY to get them to wear helmets). Believe me, I even have to struggle with my two (my son has been wearing a helmet since he was 20 months old, my daughter since she was 3 months old) to get them to wear their helmets. ~~Bren

flaming_burrito

You're right that this is a stupidity issue that noone enforces, and I wear my helmut during every bike ride. I have in fact though, made the stupid mistake of riding my dirt bike without a helmut and should thank my lucky stars that I haven't ate it yet. The reason I haven't been using a helmut on my motorbike is cuz I can't seem to find it amidst all the stuff we moved out of the house to do remodeling. Yes I know it's a stupid reason and wish I could kick myself for doing it. PUUUUUUUULEASE do let people know of the helmut law because I can think of more than one occasion when a helmut has protected my from head injury (though they wouldn't have been much of nothing, but no injury is better than even a small one).

John E

Just as bad are parents who tell their kids to wear helmets (because it's the law), but who do not wear helmets themselves. What kind of example does that set?

It's a little more complicated than the old politically-incorrect adage, "It's OK for an adult to go helmetless because he's an idiot, but it's not OK for Junior to be an idiot because he didn't wear a helmet."

Pedal Wench

Two personal pet peeves.

1. Parents riding with little tots in one of those trailer thingies without putting a helmet on the kid. Like that mesh cage is really going to protect the kid's head.

2. Parents riding without helmets while their kids are wearing one. So, if the parent crashes, this 12-year-old kid is going to spend the rest of their life taking care of their brain-dead parent. Nice.

I think I convinced a guy at my LBS to wear a helmet. I batted my eyelashes at him and told him that girls don't make passes at guys in comas.

Edit: My boyfriend, when I first started riding, told me that the lastest Playboy survey said that brain-dead girls are a definite turn-off. Bought my first helmet that day! It works both ways!

flaming_burrito

nice

it would certainly work on me if i didn't wear a helmut (which i do), cuz chics dig scars (and helmuts)

BrenHébert

FYI -- I do wear my helmet, too. ) And when I see kids wearing helmets, I try to give them encouragement and tell them "Way to use your head!" ) ~~Bren

Chris L

You're better off just letting the cops know what's going on. I've tried reasoning with idiots in the past -- it's a futile pursuit. Considerably more pointless than p!ssing into the wind.

You know, for all this talk about helmet wearing, I notice that nobody has brought up the issue of wearing a helmet properly. Here in Australia there is a mandatory helmet law (although laws are rarely enforced on the Gold Coast). However, it's all pretty pointless if someone is wearing a helmet overly loosely because "it might mess up my hair".

I was going to say that I find helmet hair a turn-on. However, that would probably just scare females away from wearing helmets.

Stregone

Yeah I know what you mean. On the way to the trailhead near my house I saw a bunch of kids on bikes and scooters going around the cul-de-sac. One of the kids on one of those little scooters just fell right over and slid to a stop infront of me. After I asked him if he was okay (he was) I said nice and loud that he should wear a helmet, so that the group of adults sitting on the porch across the cul-de-sac could hear

Have you ridden these scooters? The ones with roller blade wheels. They are twitchy as &#%$. I don't see how anyone let alone a little kid can ride those and not wreck every 20 feet.

oaxacarider

why do you care?

Big Helmet

Basic human nature -- people just luuuuuve to tell other people what to do.

forum*rider

Like Chris L said, it's a futile pursuit. I used to try but more often than not I got a "F*** off kid, it's none of your business!" from the couples with no kids.

The people with kids are generally a bit more polite as they don't want their children to hear that kind of language.

Sometimes if I see a family riding without helmets I just wave then tap my helmet. I don't know if they are getting the message but I usually get some sort of reaction from them.

caloso

You covered 30 miles in an hour? Very impressive. Seeing as how Tyler Hamilton won the Olympic TT gold with an average speed of 50.060kph or 31.1 mph. And he was doping, apparently.

Anyway, I'm as pro-helmet as they come, but I can't say I'd be all that receptive to a lecture from somebody riding 30mph on a trail full of young kids. But that's just me.

Alex84

Kids don't wear helmet because all the cheap kid helmets look ugly. Give them a helmet with lots of vents likes the ones that racers use and they'll love it.

Chris L

Better yet, give them a helmet that has satanism, radical politics or heavy metal painted on the shell. The helmet to which the parent says "I'm not having you go outside in that!" is the one the kid will wear everytime.

mishaweis

That's the point really. I don't wear a helmet because cycling is not that dangerous--we should be wearing helmets into the bathroom, since more fatal head injuries occurred in the bathroom last year than cycling. It's all about fear, and you're perpetuating it. Cycling would be an excellent alternative transportation: it's exercise, it saves energy, it's fun, but people have come to believe this propaganda that it's dangerous. It's not. If darling little Virginia needs to be protected, put a helmet on her as soon as she wakes up. Oh, and by the way, helmet-wearing doesn't prevent accidents, following the rules of the road does.

Hopper

This has to do with the topic but it sure as hell scares me.

I ride DH so I wear a fullface helmet pretty often. Any way, on the way to the DH track I was wearing my fullface helmet and WAS riding on the road. Well a cop asked me to stop and when I asked why, he said something like, "that helmet your wearing is dangerous as it wrap all the way around your hed and lowers your peripheral vision." I said that it is exactly like a MX helmet therefore gives me more protection, the way it's designed I don't loose any peripheral vision and lastly I can see better out of this helmet than most people on motor bikes. He then said that he didn't care and that I was in the wrong and told me not to do it again or I could get fined (which I highly doubt is possible).

This really scares me as a cop actually said it was dangerous I was wearing a helmet.

BTW I still wear this helmet anyway without any other problems.

drumbum

No, it was 30 miles round trip...15 miles a way. I'm not that super

I've had kids tell me it's uncool to wear a helmet...how do you get by that?

larue

just tell them a story about a guy you know who crashed without a helmet and now is in a coma or lost his eyesight or something, make it up.

John Ridley

Exactly. Similarly, I talk to people sometimes that say they don't force their kids to buckle up because the kids have a fit and complain, or they don't like helmets because they're not cool.

My kids have NEVER seen either of their parents in a car out of a driveway without seat belts. They've NEVER seen either of their parents riding a bike without a helmet. They've never ridden in a car without wearing belts, they've never ridden a bike without a helmet. It is NOT an option. The car will not move until everyone is buckled up. If you won't wear a helmet, I'm damn well selling your bike and you can walk. We'll see how "cool" that is. Way cooler than lying in a coma.

Know what? They have never complained ONCE about buckling up or wearing helmets. In fact, my 7 year old yelled at me for riding up and down the paved driveway helmetless while testing my brake adjustment earlier this year.

Kids are all about exploring limits. If they detect that you might budge on an issue, they'll never leave you alone on it. Once they realize that there is absolutely NO wiggle room in a rule, they'll find something else to bug you about.

All that said, I won't tell anyone else what to do. I weep for the kids (often literally, when I hear of a tragedy on the radio) but I figure leading by example is the best way. Occasionally I'll have a kid ask me about wearing a helmet. I generally say something along the lines of "I kind of like my brains, and feel they're worth protecting. If you don't think they're worth protecting, then riding without a helmet is OK, I guess."

FXjohn

heh heh...good reply!
It's really none of our business if anyone else wears a helmet or not.

IronHorse

Start 'em young.
My 20 month-old daughter brings me her helmet and shouts "Bike! Bike!" when she wants me to take her out for a ride.

It's also getting increasingly difficult to get her to take the d@mn thing off when we get back :-)

Map tester

It is our business if that person is injuried and we have to pay for their medical care through higher insurance rates and/or high taxes. If they want to sign a wavier that any injuries sustained because of the lack of a helmet will be paid out of their own pocket, fine my me, don't wear a helmet.

operator

What ChrisL said. No point telling peeps to wear their helmets. Even when you get down to the couple or so kids that actually wear their helmets, a great majority of those aren't wearing it properly. Wearing a helmet properly doesn't 'just happen'. I highly doubt it would 'just happen' for kids whos parents have no clue either.

The only real time I see kids with properly adjusted helmets is when they're with their parents who are obviously "real" cyclists.