i too am sorry the kid died.
I'm surprised at the absolute faith people have in a piece of molded styrofoam and a thin layer of plastic. If the kid was going fast enough to hit a bump in the road and lose complete control, i can only guess that he was traveling down a hill, too fast for his skill level, or not paying enough attention. In any case, he was probably going quite fast, and i'm not so sure how a piece of styrofoam will hold up to a direct hit with a steel pole. Sure, maybe it would have helped, but let's not get carried away and say it would have defintely saved him. we just don't know if that's true. If anything is to blame it's a 12 year old's skill level and a bump in the road. We might also add bad luck to that list ... i mean when i was twelve i went too fast for my own good and got off easy (as opposed to striking a light pole head first) with a few skinned knees or in one case a broken arm.