It’s a no brainer really?

I can confidently say I’m not helicopter parent, hovering over my daughter’s every move nor do I wrap her in cotton wool and I get hacked off with Health and Safety Regulations on a daily basis.  However, there is something I’m a huge stickler about and that is helmets, and not just for bikes.  Broken limbs will heal over time but I’m not willing to risk a head injury.

Last week someone asked me why my daughter wore a helmet when she rode her scooter.  Have you ever seen the speed at which they can get up to?  Have you ever seen how irregular the pavements are here in the UK and the low clearance of the scooters? Have you ever seen a child come off of one of these at full speed?  I have and it wasn’t pretty.  It’s a no brainer really (no pun intended).

It makes me wonder why more people don’t put helmets on their kids when using scooters.  I’m always gobsmacked when we go out at the number of kids I see without helmets because it hugely outnumbers the children with helmets.

If my daughter refuses to put her helmet on its simple, she doesn’t get to go on her bike or scooter, end of discussion.  To set a good example I always wear a helmet when cycling as well.

Helmets became compulsory safety equipment for bicyclists and scooter riders in 1990 in Australia and research suggests that helmets can reduce head injuries by up to 90 percent (courtesy of the Better Health Channel).

Do you think we should have a similar law here in the UK?  Would this help reduce the amount of money the NHS spends on this type of injury?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

 

Author: mediocremum

A slightly older mum of one, who drinks far too much red wine and has an unhealthy obsession with her slow cooker. During the day she's an ICT Trainer, Social Media/Online Marketing consultant and does a bit of public speaking. Full Profile on Google+

15 thoughts on “It’s a no brainer really?”

  1. Helmets should absolutely be compulsory! I don’t let my children out without wearing one either. My daughter is faster on her scooter than bike, so it would make no sense to not wear a helmet with her scooter. We have also had a few ‘over the handle’ accidents on scooters where the helmet has definitely reduced the head damage! x

    1. I’m always amazed at the speed at which my daughter can get up to and she has come off it on occasionally. Luckily, only a few scrapes. They are durable little buggers but one knock on the head in the wrong place can lead to irreversible damage. As I said it’s not a risk I’m willing to take.

  2. We areva crazy speedy scooter riding family of helmet wearers. We have the same rule as you. Long live the brain! Xx

  3. I completely agree that helmets should be compulsory. When my husband was a teen his head was saved from being splattered on the road thanks to a helmet in a nasty bike accident – they are so important and I have always always worn one.

  4. I have seen a child fracture their skull falling off a bike whilst riding incredibly slowly. He was off school for months. If anyone has any doubts about this, the guide for paranoid parents recommends that there are only two things you truly need to worry about: strapping your kids in whilst in the car and putting a helmet on them to bike etc.

  5. My son is 2 so not quite at scooter age although he does try to play on his cousins given half a chance. I can honestly say I have never even thought about helmets for scooters. However when the time comes that he is able to grasp the fundamental mechanics of moving a scooter forwards enough that I’d be willing to buy him one I will definitely make sure his head is protected. Thank you.

    1. I think that’s the case with most parents/carers it’s not that they are being negligent or irresponsible, they just don’t see scooters in the same light as bikes.

  6. I have two sets of nephews in my life and bikes, scooters and skatesboards are everywhere. The oldest being 7 plays on all three of these healthy up-keeping contraptions and it’s great that he isn’t stuck in the house watching Spongebob Squarepants all the time and after school. But the downside is that his mother doesn’t make him wear a helmet and no matter what I say my input is never taken seriously anyway. However, on the other side of the fence, my 6 year old nephew loves riding his bike in the garden or just outside the house. He lives in a quiet close and isn’t on the main road part. But just to be safe, we’ve taught him to slow down and stop when a car is coming and if neccessary to get off and hold both to the side, to wear a helmet and to never ride in the road itself. Without complaint he does all of this and survives a fun little ride. My other nephew has fallen off his items so many times and always runs in screaming and crying because of the cuts, grazes and blood he has caused. It doesn’t make things easier that he’s a certain sort autistic and so it’s hard to comfort him and teach him lessons when it occurs, leaving us with no choice but to watch over him in the future, preying nothing will happen

  7. There are a couple of reasons why I never insisted that my children should wear helmets. Mainly, the Australian experience shows that bike helmets have stopped a lot of people cycling and have done nothing for head injury rates, see http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=16565131 and http://www.cyclehelmets.org. It appears that helmets break easily, but don’t absorb the impact, see the engineers quoted at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_helmet. A broken helmet has simply failed.

    If my children had ever taken up my offer of buying them a helmet, I would have made very sure that they never wore it off the bike. Helmets have hanged some young children who were wearing bicycle helmets while playing off their bicycles on trees, jungle gyms, bunk beds and so on; the straps can act as a noose.

  8. I agree with the wearing of helmets on scooters, they go so fast. I have to say as my ones get older, it is a battle sometimes to get them to wear a helmet. I think if it were more the norm it wouldn’t be so big a deal

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