Quote:
Originally Posted by undercoverbrother
So to be clear you think the a child wearing a seatbelt in a vehicle is at the same risk level as a child riding a bike that is hit by a vehicle?
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No. But there isn't nearly as much difference between the two as people seem to think. And when it comes to the incidence of head injuries suffered by pedestrians vs cyclists, there is even less difference. It's not a matter of one being save, and the other not safe. It's a matter of degrees. Children do suffer serious and fatal head injuries in cars accidents, and as pedestrians. Some would undoubtedly be prevented by helmets. By choosing not to put a helmet kids every time they get in a car or go for a walk, you a making a decision that puts them at greater risk.
Kids should wear bike helmets. They have poor coordination and judgement, and crash far more often than adults. Adults should exercise their own judgement. Personally, I base my judgement on statistical likelihood, not social norms. Because if there's one facet of life where social norms are usually spectacularly wrong, it's risk assessment.
From the data I've looked at, odds are it would take 30 years of commuting daily by bike (40 km round trip) to suffer a injury requiring a trip to the hospital. Around one-third of trips to the hospital for cyclists involved head injuries. So close to a hundred years for a head injury.
However, even at those odds, I
do wear a helmet while commuting and riding on the road. I'm cautious by nature.
However, I do not wear a helmet riding 10 km/hr down the sidewalk to the playground, or when I ride on the bike paths, since the vast majority of serious cycling collisions involve automobiles (and cyclists traveling at speed).*
As for the why not just wear one - who cares about the hassle and discomfort - argument, I hope I don't have to point out that the same argument could be made about wearing a helmet in an automobile, or walking across a mall parking lot (which is actually far more dangerous than people think). Helmets would undoubtedly make people more safe in cars and when walking. But of course, people don't wear helmets in those instances because other people don't. Social conventions and all that. Just as few people thought cycling was dangerous until most people in North American started wearing helmets. And now it's regarded as dangerous
because people wear helmets when they cycle. In countries where cycling in a normal, every-day activity for most adults (Denmark, the Netherlands), almost nobody wears a helmet. And they have lower rates of head injuries from cycling than Canada does.
Quote:
Originally Posted by undercoverbrother
Listen at the end of the day do what you want, it is your head, your kids, your life, your decisions.
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You did see the part where I said my kids wear helmets whenever they're on bikes (or scooters, or rollerblades, or skating), right? As for the notion that my not wearing a helmet because would give my kids as excuse not to wear them, that's no better a rationale than my kids deciding to drive our mini-van because I do, or start a camp fire, or drink beer. They're quite clear on the concept of adults and kids having different rules.
* I'm excluding mountain-biking here. It's also prudent to wear a helmet when you're likely to go flying over your handlebars, or have a rock hurtle down on you.