Helmetless and a parent?

[Norm]

So should we encourage people to discuss the small picture at the risk of them doing real long term harm to their kids or think about the future health and well being of their kids by looking at the big picture?

Yes, IMO, discussions should always be encouraged within whatever parameters are set. That's down to the OP.

I don't think there's a direct correlation with long term harm in this thread.

If there was a suggestion of "wear helmets or you don't ride", then the big picture risks may be an issue.

The question, however, was:

Are you a non-helmet-wearing cyclist with school-age children who are also free to go helmetless?

 

[Bromptonaut]

Risk compensation in practice and demonstrating the serious problem of risk compensation in cycle helmets. It was never designed to protect at "insane speeds" and yet the misperception that it will is encouraging risk taking behaviour that it will not mitigate.

Not quite, he just feels happier wearing one. His call.

 

[theclaud]

I'm not confusing anti-helmet with anti-compulsion.

I'm anti-lid. So, I believe, is Mickle, and he is always right. Silly things, helmets, and not just because they make you look like a mushroom. Do far more harm than good, and generate lots of boring threads. I find this sitting on the fence thing a bit wishy-washy for my tastes. I wouldn't say I was "vociferous", though - I find helmet debates too tiresome to enter into with much gusto.

 

[Nearly there]

Before I got more serious about cycling I used to just ride on the cycle paths and in parks with my children and I always insisted they wore an helmet but I never did however As I started to venture out on my own and use the roads more It wasnt until a very close pass one day I purchased an helmet asap and now always wear one.

 

[Red Light]

Not quite, he just feels happier wearing one. His call.

Yes, he's happier wearing one. If he was not wearing one he would be less happy and therefore more cautious about riding the same route. That's what risk compensation is.

 

[Red Light]

Before I got more serious about cycling I used to just ride on the cycle paths and in parks with my children and I always insisted they wore an helmet but I never did however As I started to venture out on my own and use the roads more It wasnt until a very close pass one day I purchased an helmet asap and now always wear one.

You do realise that UK and US research has shown that you will get more close passes (about 25% more) wearing a helmet than not wearing one. I can only assume you enjoyed the close pass and want more

 

[Red Light]

Yes, IMO, discussions should always be encouraged within whatever parameters are set. That's down to the OP.

I don't think there's a direct correlation with long term harm in this thread.

If there was a suggestion of "wear helmets or you don't ride", then the big picture risks may be an issue.

The OP included the following which puts the big picture clearly on the agenda:

I know a few cyclists whose children also ride... and those children ALL wear helmets as a pre-condition set by Mama and Papa.

 

[Bicycle]

I'm anti-lid. So, I believe, is Mickle, and he is always right. Silly things, helmets, and not just because they make you look like a mushroom. Do far more harm than good, and generate lots of boring threads. I find this sitting on the fence thing a bit wishy-washy for my tastes. I wouldn't say I was "vociferous", though - I find helmet debates too tiresome to enter into with much gusto.

I'm with you on that. If not tiresome, then something not unlike it.

Oddly, this wasn't meant to be a helmet debate. My OP was an open question to parents with cycling children. I've found the answers interesting and helpful. Out here in the sticks I thought I was alone as a parent who encourages children to cycle on supposedly dangerous roads while accepting they don't like to wear helmets. It is clear that I am not.

I'm not sure how it became a full-on helmet debate. I didn't mean it to and most contributors seem to have seen that.

I see from other contributions of yours that the fence is not a comfortable seat for you. As a left-leaning liberal now well into middle age, it is the only place I ever sit.

 

[Little yellow Brompton]

I'm not sure how it became a full-on helmet debate.
.

You mentioned helmets!

 

[Bicycle]

The OP included the following which puts the big picture clearly on the agenda:

Red Light, the quote you include from my OP does not in any way put any big picture clearly on any agenda.

The quote was: "I know a few cyclists whose children also ride... and those children ALL wear helmets as a pre-condition set by Mama and Papa."

I was explicit in seeking the views of the non-helmet-wearing parents of school-age cyclists. To illustrate the reason for posting this request, I mentioned that all the cycling parents I knew whose children also cycled insisted that the littl'uns wore a lid. Most contributors spotted what I was asking and gave helpful, clear and thoughtful responses to my question.

I had felt that I was a rarity as a cycling parent who was casual about whether his offspring wore a helmet or not. the replies made it helpfully clear that I'm not. That's all I wanted.

I continue to see no indication that I have a pro-helmet agenda. Nor have I read of a typical cycling helmet that weighs 450-500 grammes. I'm not the one who claims I'm anti-misinformation.

I rode earlier today in near-zero temperatures with just a wooly hat. No big picture. No helmet. No controversy. And no crashes, although it did feel slightly glassy out there.

On a linguistic note: In Albanian this winter weather where there's sunshine and freezing air is referred to as "Dielli me dhembt", which translates as "The sun with teeth". A beautiful phrase for these conditions.

 

[Bicycle]

You mentioned helmets!

Guilty as charged.

Fuggit, fuggit, fuggit, fuggit!

 

[Bromptonaut]

Yes, he's happier wearing one. If he was not wearing one he would be less happy and therefore more cautious about riding the same route. That's what risk compensation is.

No, you're seeing stuff that's not there. He wears a helmet because he wants to. I don't think he's be any less cautious with it than without. It might help him or it might not. His call.

[tic]This gets like religion - those who essentially share the same beliefs end up arguing over angels on pinheads or whatever[/tic]

 

[Nearly there]

You do realise that UK and US research has shown that you will get more close passes (about 25% more) wearing a helmet than not wearing one. I can only assume you enjoyed the close pass and want more

Its a rush

 

[Bicycle]

Well, that was a helpful and interesting thread. Many thanks for all the helpful and thought-provoking responses.

I take it that the nonsense about typical helmets adding 10% to the weight of an adult head has been withdrawn. Likewise the assertion that by writing frequently on this forum that I rarely wear a helmet I betray in myself a clear pro-helmet agenda.

That both came from a contributor who made a big deal of being anti-propaganda and anti-misinformation just adds to my troll-like belly laugh.

This was never intended to be a pro/anti-helmet polemic, but I accept that by typing the H-word I was lighting a blue touchpaper whose result would always be uncertain. Often fun, but always uncertain.

Having read the good sense in most of the replies, I'll now feel a lot better now when not asking my children to put helmets on. Whether I'm brave enough to defend that position to my wife is another matter....

 

[Nantmor]

I'm not a parent, but I am going to pick my 6 year old nephew from his school again tomorrow. Its about half a mile through the village so I use the tandem. He won't be wearing a helmet. The trickiest bit of the trip is of course the scrum of cars around the school. His 10 year old brother does triathlons so wears a helmet for competing. When they play on their bikes in the adjoining roads they don't wear a helmet.
On rereading I see I have so taken it for granted that I will not be wearing a helmet that I did not bother to mention it.