Recreational & Family - Father teaches kid to ride without a helmet

So I'm walking my dog and kid (in a backpack) the other day. We're walking down a VERY wide street, quiet for the most part but a long straightaway, so cars can tend to go REALLY fast, +35MPH. From a distance, I see a little girl (5 or 6 maybe) riding a bike, albeit a little wobbly. I gather she's just learning. All of sudden she picks up speed, heads for the curb and hits it dead on, falls off the bike. She's w/ her dad, who props her up on the curb and talks to her. I'm walking closer and notice, SHE'S NOT WEARING A HELMET. She hit the curb and fell w/o a helmet on. The father proceeds to coax her on and she rides up and down the street, not even in the bike lane but the middle of the street. I was so closely to chewing him out, not her fault that she'd have to suffer for his bout of Darwinism.

But I kept my mouth shut. I don't think the message would've been received. God bless that kid...

i learned to ride with no helmet, wasnt even heard of when i learned.

- didn't make bike helmets for kids (or even riders) when i started riding...

- i've never spawned, but if i had and my miscreant, feral street urchin of a child wanted to learn how to ride a bike, you bet your booty he/she would have a helmet on!

:-)

I took my kiddo in for his 6 year-old medical check up here recently. The check up package that we got to fill out ahead of time from his pediatrician actually included a written agreement that I had to sign saying that I would provide him with a helmet if he were doing anything that involved wheels. During our visit I ask her what would she do if a parent didn't want to sign it. She said that she would refuse to treat their child. Then she reached into her drawer and pulled out a how-to-buy-a-helmet spec sheet that included some nice discount coupons good at just about any of the local bike shops and discount stores. Pretty cool!

- didn't make bike helmets for kids (or even riders) when i started riding...


Yep, same here. Somehow I survived, but ...

My daughter ALWAYS wears a helmet.

I've forgotten my own helmet a couple times, and she gives me hell for it :)

Neither do I recall using seat belts until the 80's.
I think one was able to climb all the way up to the top of a ladder until around 83.

Every morning I am about 45 minutes late getting started on my ride. There's a little white sticker on the top tube that says read owner's manual before riding.

Oh, and I always wear a seat belt when in a moving vehicle and always wear a helmet on the bike.

i learned to ride with no helmet, wasnt even heard of when i learned.

Good point - look at the rocket scientist you turned out to be! :D

skydive69,

All the posts I have read from you are very condescending. Aren't you quite the internet warrior. What a disgrace to the human race.

skydive69,

All the posts I have read from you are very condescending. Aren't you quite the internet warrior. What a disgrace to the human race.

Get a life dip****, and don't take up rocket science!

Don't over react to the helmet thing. I was an adult before I saw my first bicycle helmet. Bell tried to sell them in the '70s and couldn't give them away. Unlike motorcycles where head injuries in the event of a crash are common and often severe, I can personally vouch for experiencing dozens and seeing maybe 100's of non-helmeted bicycle crashes without a single head injury. I probably still have gravel in my knees and elbows from all the crashes I took as a kid.

Bike helmets didn't become popular until municipalities started mandating their use. I wouldn't be surprised if the helmet manufacturers saw the success manufacturers of car seats had after they were made mandatory and lobbied for the same. Maybe even a little kickback money to the legislators, in NY that wouldn't surprise many people.

I remember when the legislation was first talked about in my area there just weren't the statistics to back it up but people generally thought "can't hurt". Then there was an outcry that it would be a burden on the poor to have to purchase helmets so the "state" provided them. It's been a good business ever since. Helmets don't cost that much, at least sensible ones, and we all get ripped off in bigger ways so not a big deal.

I wouldn't get too exercised at the dad about the helmet. The traffic on the other hand...

I know a bicycle will not go the speed of a "dirt bike" but fall once the wrong way and it's over- -the father should see that once and the helmet would be on before a leg goes over the bike..I will never for get it..

I took my kiddo in for his 6 year-old medical check up here recently. The check up package that we got to fill out ahead of time from his pediatrician actually included a written agreement that I had to sign saying that I would provide him with a helmet if he were doing anything that involved wheels. During our visit I ask her what would she do if a parent didn't want to sign it. She said that she would refuse to treat their child. Then she reached into her drawer and pulled out a how-to-buy-a-helmet spec sheet that included some nice discount coupons good at just about any of the local bike shops and discount stores. Pretty cool!


That is fantastic.

Hope the doctor also stops treating any kids that their parents will not sign a contract agreeing to put the kids on a vegetarian diet and prohibiting deserts. Maybe she could also mandate putting SPF 95 sunscreen on the kids every morning, even rainy days just in case the sun comes out later. How about a contract that parents only buy Volvos since they are the safest cars. How about a contract that requires each parent to put a $1,000 water filter system in their homes. And certainly the doctor would like to see the kids toes protected, so parents you need to sign a contact that your kids will only wear steel toed boots and never be allowed to go outside the house barefoot. We all know that mosquitoes carry disease, so each kid should be covered in netting to protect them each time they go outside.

I was visiting my mother's place last week and the kids called me an "old fart" because I wore a bicycle helmet. They said "nobody wears those anymore!" Good thing I'm immune to teenage peer pressure in my old age. :D

I'm 16 and i wear a helmet... and i get so much stick for it, i stop at school and all the other kids start on about the helmet "being for babies". It is so stupid, I went out once and my mum made me wear one. I fell off and broke my arm, my helmet was smashed. Afterwards i realised that that would have been my head. Now i never go out without one. Yer, i think i'm immune to the peer pressures now too....

Oh yeah! i even have arm braces, but i never wear them... i kinda like the pain.

I sometimes challenge them to see whos head is harder. I really would like to show people the benefits of wearing a helmet. Oh yeah, they normally finish up unconcious.

I'm gonna stop now

That is fantastic.

Hope the doctor also stops treating any kids that their parents will not sign a contract agreeing to put the kids on a vegetarian diet and prohibiting deserts. Maybe she could also mandate putting SPF 95 sunscreen on the kids every morning, even rainy days just in case the sun comes out later. How about a contract that parents only buy Volvos since they are the safest cars. How about a contract that requires each parent to put a $1,000 water filter system in their homes. And certainly the doctor would like to see the kids toes protected, so parents you need to sign a contact that your kids will only wear steel toed boots and never be allowed to go outside the house barefoot. We all know that mosquitoes carry disease, so each kid should be covered in netting to protect them each time they go outside.

Simple rule for effective sarcasm—less is more. Here, watch this:

It's good to see that living in the tropics keeps you so relaxed.

I know a bicycle will not go the speed of a "dirt bike" but fall once the wrong way and it's over- -the father should see that once and the helmet would be on before a leg goes over the bike..I will never for get it..

Bikes can go as fast as you want them to. Mountain descents 90kph+.

I never had a helmet as a kid (41 now). My buddies and I did our own imitations of Evel Kneivel and never got hurt too bad either. Now that I'm older and wiser, My son has always and will always wear a helmet, as do I.

As a matter of fact, my son got "pulled over" by the cops many times and was given a certificate for a Happy Meal or a DQ Ice Cream for wearing it.

Now it's a habit for him.

Oh, and I always wear a seat belt when in a moving vehicle and always wear a helmet on the bike.

I do not have to wear a seat belt in my car (58 bug) so does that mean I do not have to wear a helmet (j/k) ?

Any parent nowdays should have the common sense to put a helmet on their kid, enough said!

skydive69,

All the posts I have read from you are very condescending. Aren't you quite the internet warrior. What a disgrace to the human race.
Think he's bad? Try getting on my bad side. http://img63.echo.cx/img63/1225/firedevil2la.gif
His comment was a joke - you know :lol: ?

I never had a helmet until I had been riding for like 5 years (I am 19 now). I didn't start until I started riding on the highway.

I only wear my helmet about half the time -- only when I'm on the road. I don't bother when I'm just riding in my yard or on campus.

I never where a helmet either. Noone ever even suggested it to me until a year ago - and I have been riding bikes for sixteen years. Are some better than others? For instance, if a normal bike helmet is good, wouldn't a motorcycle helmet be better? It seems like they wouldn't make that much of a difference, but then Mad Mike knows better from experience. . .

I do not have to wear a seat belt in my car (58 bug) so does that mean I do not have to wear a helmet (j/k) ?

Any parent nowdays should have the common sense to put a helmet on their kid, enough said!

'58? mmm, I miss my '62 Cal look.

I knew this thread would do this...

That is fantastic.

Hope the doctor also stops treating any kids that their parents will not sign a contract agreeing to put the kids on a vegetarian diet and prohibiting deserts. Maybe she could also mandate putting SPF 95 sunscreen on the kids every morning, even rainy days just in case the sun comes out later. How about a contract that parents only buy Volvos since they are the safest cars. How about a contract that requires each parent to put a $1,000 water filter system in their homes. And certainly the doctor would like to see the kids toes protected, so parents you need to sign a contact that your kids will only wear steel toed boots and never be allowed to go outside the house barefoot. We all know that mosquitoes carry disease, so each kid should be covered in netting to protect them each time they go outside.

That is a GREAT post.

OTOH, the dorktor has the right to choose who she wants to treat... but she wouldn't treat my kid.

He wears a helmet (he's 1, it's a Bell with cute little bugs all over it) and will until the day he's 18, but it's not her job to dictate to parents what they do with their kids.

I learned without a helmet, and they were unheard of. Likewise, sunscreen. But wait, it gets better! We skateboarded with no pads, no helmet, and BAREFOOT! People forget it was often done that way in the 70s. And no one ever got hurt, that was the weird thing, we wiped out all the time, jumped ramps and did crazy stuff, and no one got hurt.

Once I jumped down out of a tree house onto a board, that had a nail on it. That time, I got hurt lol. Oh yeah, treehouses were sort of, the higher the better. We had some that would have had various neighborhood parents jailed for child endangerment lol.

Helmets were unheard of when I was growing up. I read an article about head injuries in a bicycling mag one day and went right out and bought one. Most people weren't wearing them in those days, (mid-eighties), and my wife refused to wear one for months because she was afraid of being laughed at. She eventually started wearing it. My son has never been on a bike without one.

I learned without a helmet, and they were unheard of. Likewise, sunscreen. But wait, it gets better! We skateboarded with no pads, no helmet, and BAREFOOT! People forget it was often done that way in the 70s. And no one ever got hurt, that was the weird thing, we wiped out all the time, jumped ramps and did crazy stuff, and no one got hurt.
:lol:

Yeah, it's amazing. They invented car seats, seat belts, knee pads and helmets for no reason at all - no one ever got hurt back then. Amazing!

Annual skateboard injuries requiring an ER visit: 50,000 (source: AAP)
Annual skateboard injuries requiring hospitalization: 1,500

Of course, people who grew up before helmets were widely used sometimes think that means they're unnecessary.


Bicycling and basketball were associated with the largest number of 1998 baby boomer sports injuries treated in hospital emergency rooms. Of special note (see below), baby boomers suffered a relatively high number of head injury-related deaths while bicycling.
...
For three sports, there were large numbers of deaths reported to CPSC. These were: bicycling (290 deaths a year, all but 35 motor vehicle-related); swimming (67 deaths a year associated with swimming pools); and skiing (7 deaths a year).

Baby boomers who rode bicycles died from head injuries at nearly twice the rate as children who rode bikes. This difference is likely the result of greater helmet usage among children. According to CPSC, 69% of children wear helmets when bicycling compared to only 43% of baby boomers.
http://www.cpsc.gov/library/boomer.pdf

:lol:

Yeah, it's amazing. They invented car seats, seat belts, knee pads and helmets for no reason at all - no one ever got hurt back then. Amazing!

Annual skateboard injuries requiring an ER visit: 50,000 (source: AAP)
Annual skateboard injuries requiring hospitalization: 1,500

Of course, people who grew up before helmets were widely used sometimes think that means they're unnecessary.


http://www.cpsc.gov/library/boomer.pdf

I think you're missing the point. I never wore a helmet on my bicycle when I was a kid - nobody did. I had countless accidents on bicycles including 3 encounters with cars, and never sustained a head injury. Yes, you can get a head injury when riding a bicycle, but the point is that the odds are still pretty well in your favor. I wear one NOW, but not anytime from 1974 to 1994 (when I quit riding for a while) but I got one when I picked biking back up in 2000. Comprende?

For three sports, there were large numbers of deaths reported to CPSC. These were: bicycling (290 deaths a year, all but 35 motor vehicle-related); swimming (67 deaths a year associated with swimming pools); and skiing (7 deaths a year).

Your own post makes my point...

290 deaths in HOW many millions of bike riders? How many vehicle miles were traveled? Granted, wearing a helmet helps some, but c'mon - it's a styrofoam hat.

Your own post makes my point...

290 deaths in HOW many millions of bike riders? How many vehicle miles were traveled? Granted, wearing a helmet helps some, but c'mon - it's a styrofoam hat.


According to this site (http://www.bicyclinginfo.org/insight/fact_sheets/), about 60 million people rode their bikes during the summer of 2002.

This site (http://www.ibike.org/library/statistics.htm) has a table relating cycling deaths to kilometers traveled. (among other things)

Some examples from the latter:

Great Britian, Cycling km per person per day: 0.1, Killed Cyclists per 100,000,000km: 6
Italy, Cycling km per person per day: 0.2, Killed Cyclists per 100,000,000km: 11
The Netherlands, Cycling km per person per day: 3, Killed Cyclists per 100,000,000km: 1.6

According to the table, The Netherlands has the least cyclists killed per 100,000,000km, and Italy has the most.

Lets say the US has twice as many cyclists killed as Italy per 100,000,000km.

100,000,000km / 1.6 = 62,500,000mi

62,500,000mi / 22 Cyclists Killed = 2,840,909 miles per cyclist killed

Of course, this doesn't take into account a lot of things, such as: not all cyclists killed were without helmets, not all cyclists killed without helmets would have been saved by a helmet, etc.



Helmets are a good thing, and should be promoted/recommended, but c'mon give the folks that dont wear them a break.

I'm sure you could find some statistics saying that you're more likely to get a head injury doing something that most helmet enthusiasts wouldn't think twice about doing without any kind of safety gear.

290 deaths a year, 1,500 hospitalizations, and 50,000 ER visits, with ~60,000,000 people cycling just during the summer - I'd say the statistics are very much in favor of not wearing a helmet, but the old saying "better safe than sorry" is certainly applicable.

EDIT: I just realized this thread is over 5 months old. Sorry...

I took my kiddo in for his 6 year-old medical check up here recently. The check up package that we got to fill out ahead of time from his pediatrician actually included a written agreement that I had to sign saying that I would provide him with a helmet if he were doing anything that involved wheels. During our visit I ask her what would she do if a parent didn't want to sign it. She said that she would refuse to treat their child. Then she reached into her drawer and pulled out a how-to-buy-a-helmet spec sheet that included some nice discount coupons good at just about any of the local bike shops and discount stores. Pretty cool!

So, if the parent refuses to sign, the kid receives no medical treatment....that really shows the parent!

Yeah, so we didn't wear helmets when we were growing up. But the only ones here to talk about it are the ones who survived. When we were growing up, more kids died or were brain-damaged from not wearing helmets. So what's the point of saying we didn't used to use them? We should have! And now that we're smarter, we should put helmets on our kids.

So, if the parent refuses to sign, the kid receives no medical treatment....that really shows the parent!

It's not to "show" the parent, it's to make the parent realize how serious it is. The doctor's only doing what she has the power to do, since she can't force the parent to put the helmet on.

I think you're missing the point. I never wore a helmet on my bicycle when I was a kid - nobody did. I had countless accidents on bicycles including 3 encounters with cars, and never sustained a head injury. Yes, you can get a head injury when riding a bicycle, but the point is that the odds are still pretty well in your favor. I wear one NOW, but not anytime from 1974 to 1994 (when I quit riding for a while) but I got one when I picked biking back up in 2000. Comprende?

One person does not constitute a good sample size for a valid experiment in helmet safety.

The only reason we don't hear from people who didn't survive is because, well, they're dead.

In Sri Lanka, no one wears a helmet. I don't think stores even sell em. Oh and there arn'et crazy idiots speeding either. I Don't even think ppl ever exceed 50 mph there, it's that small of an Island...

She hit the curb and fell w/o a helmet on.

And yet somehow she lived in spite of this serious safety oversite. Thanks for exposing the myth that helmets save lives.

The only reason we don't hear from people who didn't survive is because, well, they're dead.

I take it you advocate helmet use for basketball players and car passengers too? Their risk for head injury exceeds that of cyclists.

The idea that those who dies from bike accidents are filtered out is absurd. Unless of course you postulate all those who died had absolutely NO friends. This is most true of incidents that happened during someones childhood. I know from experience as one of my borderline friends (e.g. more a friend of a friend) suffered a horrible head injury in a motorcycle accident. Brain damage left him halfway to being a vegetable.

OH almost forgot, he was a passenger in a car that was hit by a motorcycle. Guess he should have been wearing a helmet.

Probably a good idea, but nobody would want to look so uncool. On the other hand, with all the Nascar fans around, it might catch on).

I take it you advocate helmet use for basketball players and car passengers too? Their risk for head injury exceeds that of cyclists.

Does it?

In any event, I didn't say we should wear helmets everywhere. I said the argument that helmets aren't useful because people didn't use them in the past is not logical.

The idea that those who dies from bike accidents are filtered out is absurd.

No, it's not. If it were, we wouldn't be hearing all this blather about "I never wore a helmet." You or your circle of friends do not consitute a valid sample for a scientific study on the effectiveness of helmets. It's like saying "I used crack a few times and didn't die, so crack won't kill you."

And yet somehow she lived in spite of this serious safety oversite. Thanks for exposing the myth that helmets save lives.

I hope you're joking. How many times do people hit their heads in bike accidents every year throughout the country, do you think? 10,000 or so times? Tell you what - go bang your head on the pavement 10,000 times. If you don't die, then we'll talk.

Helmets are a good thing, and should be promoted/recommended, but c'mon give the folks that dont wear them a break.

Sure, but not parents who don't put them on their kids.

Sure, but not parents who don't put them on their kids.

Fair enough. I guess I forgot that's what this thread was about and got sucked into the 'great crazy helmet debate.'

Also, I agree that "me and my friends are ok and never wore helmets" is a pretty lame argument.

If you dont like helmets, or dont like pro-helmet folks, and are really looking for a way to justify it, find yourself some statistics.

I have never been in a car wreck, and dont plan on being in one, but I still wear my seatbelt in case of an accident. The chance of a head injury or death from a head injury may be small on a bike, but unless you're out to proove something ("i'm cooler/more rebellious/more dangerous than you" or whatever), get yourself a cheapo styrofoam hat and wear it when you ride your bike. Or if you dont like the cheapo styrofoamness of cycling helmets, get yourself a motorcycle helmet or a football helmet or something. :)

Be safe, be happy, dont die. ;)

OTOH, the dorktor has the right to choose who she wants to treat... but she wouldn't treat my kid.

He wears a helmet (he's 1, it's a Bell with cute little bugs all over it) and will until the day he's 18, but it's not her job to dictate to parents what they do with their kids.

Sure it is. She tells them to get their vaccinations, what to feed them when they're throwing up, what medicines to give them, on and on. It's not "dictating" but it's advice on how to keep the kid healthy. If you don't like it, you take your kid somewhere else, which is what you'd do. I have heard of parents who fear vaccinations and refuse them for their kids, and there are doctors who will refuse to take patients who do that too. Same situation.

Sure, but not parents who don't put them on their kids.
I wouldn't have picked you for a helmet nazi...

Neither do I recall using seat belts until the 80's.
I think one was able to climb all the way up to the top of a ladder until around 83.

Every morning I am about 45 minutes late getting started on my ride. There's a little white sticker on the top tube that says read owner's manual before riding.
:roflmao: :roflmao:

Darn those stickers...

Yeah, I learned to ride without a helmet too... and lived to talk about it... recall crashing into curbs and flying several times too. Was standard fare in my yout!

We used to climb trees and jump out of swings too.

My son has several helmets... depending on the sport. Have kids become more fragile?

I wouldn't get too exercised at the dad about the helmet. The traffic on the other hand...


Well maybe you have a point and aren't quite aware of it... seems like the more safety we wrap around, the less careful folks become. That traffic problem is probably more outta the isolation the drivers feel in their cushy comfort interiors while being held securely by their seat belts while surrounded by all kinds of air bags. Roll down a few windows, put metal back into the dash board, and remove some of those restraint systems and watch the motorists slow down.