Remember kids... always wear a helmet. (The almighty bikeradar helmet thread)

We played this game lots at school and they banned it one year and told us that it would stop us growing properly and that we would be unable to have children....

And there were all the dangers of lollipops going through your palate and if you had the misfortune to run and fall over with one in your mouth. So they had to make them round.

Before
http://www.victoriantradingco.com/store/catalogimages/1a/1a521.jpg

After
http://www.foreign-candy.com/content/french/images/Pierre%20Gourmand.jpg

When I was a young lad my mother told me not to stand with my hands on my hips because it would push my stomach out. Only later did I realise it was because she thought it looked 'queer'.
She died a very disappointed woman.

i was always partial to a bit of stealth british bulldog.

Wrong thread http://www.lfgss.com/thread50222.html

I know one expert in the area of road risk and helmets who doesn't want his children, and now grandchildren to wear helmets. All children fall over, sometimes they bump their heads, they soon learn to keep their balance, and when they fall to try not to go head first. All toddlers go throught this when learning to walk.
The risk of serious head injury are very small, the risk of not learning how to avoid falls or crashes could, in the long run, be higher.

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You definitely need to wear a helmet, preferably one lined with tinfoil, to read this thread.

I know one expert in the area of road risk and helmets who doesn't want his children, and now grandchildren to wear helmets. All children fall over, sometimes they bump their heads, they soon learn to keep their balance, and when they fall to try not to go head first. All toddlers go throught this when learning to walk.
The risk of serious head injury are very small, the risk of not learning how to avoid falls or crashes could, in the long run, be higher.

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There's a big jump in logic in your 'expert's' reasoning there IMO.
I fail to see how wearing a helmet appreciably would affect how a kid reacts to falling off a bike. They're still going to get skinned knees, palms etc. and learn to avoid doing that. I'd like to see research showing kids risk compensation and avoidance being affected by helmets before you go jumping to these conclusions. Helmets are (possibly) useful in a small range of crashes, i.e. the ones when you land on your head. And when you do hit your head it still hurts, it's not like helmets are a big cushy sumo wrestler outfit that makes falling fun.

And let me point out, yet again, wearing a helmet is not mutually exclusive with 'learning how to avoid falls', cycle training, not riding like a numpty etc.
You can wear a helmet AND ride in a safe and courteous manner, believe it or not.

A helmet makes a childs head proportionately a lot heavier and larger, and, given their shorter and weaker neck muscles, and arms, therefore more difficult to keep from hitting the ground.

ergo, helmets are more dangerous than bare heads.

Children's heads are a lot closer to the ground, so much less likely to be damaged when falling off a bike.

Children tend to ride slowly on pavements, not quickly in traffic. There is less danger doing that than there is walking.

I have no science to back up any of the above, but virtually every adult alive cycled helmetless as a child and none of them died.

When I was a kid my sister crashed her tricycle and cut her hand badly on the bell. Afer that we were never allowed bicycle bells. Personally, I think that this was a very sensible precaution of my parents. I would not use a bell now. I have a loud voice which does not require me to remove my hands from the brakes to use.

When you have a cycle training lesson with someone for two hours, it starts at 2 in the afternoon and they ask if they have to have lights on their bike then you know that something is wrong.

Should you have lights on at that time? I have to confess that I only turn mine on when it is dark but I suppose one ought to always have lights on to be better seen. Is that your recommendation Will?

Your wilful misconstruing might impress your varsity chums but it leaves me flat

It would make sense to have lights for a 2hr cycle lesson at 4pm during the months of least daylight (for the ride home again, if nothing else).

I intend to use a rear light (a fucking bright flashing one) during TTs next year, but that's due to a risk assessment based on recent evidence and personal experience. Conversely, I don't use any rear light in it's brightest (or un-DIY-diffused) configuration during group night rides, as it would compromise the night vision of those behind me, and is overkill in the visibility stakes if you're riding at the back of the group.

Oh yeah, something about helmets.

I have no science to back up any of the above, but virtually every adult alive xxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx was a child and none of them died.

I have no science to back up any of the above, but virtually every adult alive xxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx was a child and none of them died.

True dat.

Someone from the office says to me:

I had my first initiation into London cycling today, a bit of a contrast from my town… think I will be investing in a helmet v. soon!

lol. And sigh.

Spybot; please, please please, tell them about cycle training. Pm me if you want specific info.

It would make sense to have lights for a 2hr cycle lesson at 4pm during the months of least daylight (for the ride home again, if nothing else).

.

Your wilful miscegenation might impress your Variety chums but it leaves me flat.

Don't call me a miscegenist. Some of my best friends are women.

Surely if you're encouraging parents to think about getting their kids a helmet the best way to do it is just to wear one yourself. You and I know that the Skyride is probably the lowest-risk piece of cycling that you'll ever do, but the kid can't distinguish between the risks you're taking on the day compared to those in normal traffic. As an adult, children will look up to you, even if they pretend not to.

I'm encouraging people to realise that you don't need to wear a helmets to be safe.

Also, the best way to teach children how to ride a bike properly is to let them make risk assessment, during the skyride loop, I saw a kid nearly went over the handlebar and got what left of his testicle slammed on the top tube, he's fine though.

He won't be trying that again in a hurry that's for sure.

Always use protection! ... FOOOOL ! !

Spybot; please, please please, tell them about cycle training. Pm me if you want specific info.

wiganwill, you will be (somewhat) glad to know that I could barely type the words fast enough. I immediately riffed along the lines that an investment in the time to take cycle training would far outweigh the benefits of a helmet. Whilst I know about London schemes, he doesn't live in London, and commutes in by train, so I offered to find the information for where he lives....

But he didn't bite. He's new so I didn't want to leap down his throat with my enthusiasm. But I will bring it up again, and once I find out where he lives I'll find the details...or ask you. If I may.

It's down to individual choice but I choose to wear one since time i did time trial and my minute man told me my lid would slow me down. 20 minutes later he was dead after going head first into an illegally parked car. He would probably have survived. You can be the most competent rider in the world but there'll always be some idiot in a car somewhere.

I'm sorry to hear that, but this isn't a time trial, it's a 7 minute pootle to work.

And I didn't tell him not to wear a helmet. But a helmet won't help your riding technique.

My condolences, but we really don't know whether a helmet would've save him or not, especially when it's a thin piece of foam.

It's down to individual choice but I choose to wear one since time i did time trial and my minute man told me my lid would slow me down. 20 minutes later he was dead after going head first into an illegally parked car. He would probably have survived. You can be the most competent rider in the world but there'll always be some idiot in a car somewhere.

What have you based the 'he would have probably survived' on exactly?

And I'm not sure the most competent rider in the world would ride into a stationary object such as a parked car would they?

(This is just picking up on your points and no disrespect intended)