Originally Posted by
Polaris OBark
Here is an "ethics" question:
I have the helmet (and bike) of my kid's 18yo friend in the garage. He crashed. I went over the bike fairly thoroughly and paid to have it inspected and the wheel re-trued. His helmet has a big crack in the (replaceable) jaw guard. He was out cold, and spend 6 or 8 hours in the ER, before being discharged. He is in total denial that he was out cold, and we are all fairly sure he will keep riding with the same helmet, rather than replacing it. The helmet itself (as opposed to the jaw guard) appears intact (Giro Switchblade MIPS).
Do we give it back to him as is, or lose it, or cut the straps, or what? He is 18, but his judgement perhaps is lagging in development. I don't want to be too heavy-handed, but I also don't want to see a repeat, or worse. I could go buy him a new one, but I think it goes for $250 to $300, and I would rather he gets a new one via crash replacement (if applicable) or something different (hopefully better).
If he was out cold, I’d suspect that something more than just the jaw guard got hit. Hollywood may put someone’s lights out with a right hook to the jaw but real life doesn’t work that way. If he hasn’t seen the helmet yet, I’d “find” another crack in the top of the helmet. Perhaps if you used it as a step stool, that might help. Just sayin’