Originally Posted by ginger green
helmet - not helmut - sorry I have been playing a WWII game this week.
Hey - I judge the level of danger when I ride on busy roads to be high and or unpredictable - I always wear a helmet. When I ride 3 blocks to the park - I don't wear a helmet. My wife thinks I'm setting a confusing double standard for the kids. I think I'm using good judgement.
Some people drive in cars w/o airbags, some people don't wear lifejackets, some people use their weed eater w/o safety glasses. Life is full of choices and risks.
What's the big deal?
Ginger- Sounds like you've made up your mind. So, are you looking for reassurance, or a helmet debate?
1. Sure, nobody wore helmets when we (well, I ) was a kid. But I did have a number of concussions, including three resulting from falls off my bike. Would a helmet have prevented the concussion? Maybe, maybe not, but any reduction in the severity of the impact would have been appreciated at the time. Who knows what long term damage those head injuries caused, and how it affects me today?
2. Sure- there is less objective risk (risk you can't control other than by avoiding the acitvity all together) in your driveway than on the street, etc. But you can fall off you bike and break your head anywhere. Staying healthy, and productive, is about managing the subjective risks- what are the risks I
can address in the event of a wreck? Can I minimize my downtime in the event of an accident by wearing a helmet? Yep. Have I seen people disabled by hitting their heads? Yep. Is it worth the cost to me to wear a helmet? Yep.
3. Your kids may be masters at rational thought, but most kids I know, mine included, don't know how to compute the odds of a head injury in the driveway versus the street. My job as a dad is to teach my son and daughter methods of avoiding damage to themselves due to preventable accidents, until they are old enough and wise enough to make those assessments themselves. If my son falls off his bike without his helmet on during a ride (as I did at the age of seven), and suffers a blackout (no memory at all for 15 minutes before the event until nearly three hours later) because I showed him that it was safe to ride around the block without the helmet I would never forgive myself. I have control over this. It is one of the few things as a parent I do have control over.
You make your own decision. They're YOUR kids.