My daughters are 8, 14, and 17. Me (I've never worn a helmet, my 17 year old (She stopped wearing one at age 14), and my 14 year old (She stopped wearing hers at age 12), do not wear helmets. My youngest who is 8 wants to know when she can stop wearing her helmet. Unlike me, my 17 year old, and my 14 year old, my 8 year old still has occasional spills. should I wait until she is at a certain age or when she stops falling to let her ride without a helmet? By the way helmet laws aren't taken into consideration here.
As I replied previously, the appropriate age to stop wearing a helmet is when the child or adult no longer has an intact head or a functioning brain. There are no after-market brain replacements.
You all need to wear helmets. The age at which you don't need to is whatever age you decide you no longer need a brain. Road hazards, pedestrians and motor vehicles are NOT predictable, no matter how old you are.
I started wearing a helmet when I was in my late 20's and got into biking again.
It seems crazy to me not to wear a helmet.
There is NOT a good age to NOT wear a helmet...
Unless of course you (or your kiddos) have a desire to be organ donors!
At what age is it appropriate to risk a concussion?
She can stop wearing it when she's 99.
When you stop caring about your brain (?)
Swear I saw this same stupid question a few weeks ago. I wear a helmet when I ride my bike. I guess I should assume that those of us with brains want to protect them.
There is never an age where you should not wear a helmet!
You should always wear a bike helmet if you are on a bike no matter how old or young you are. If you have children you should be setting a good example for them by wearing your helmet every time just as they do. Safety has no age limit.
Whatever age you want to risk getting brain damage.
I suppose it's ok to stop wearing a helmet whenever you choose to as long as you are aware and ok with the fact that you face the possibility of your brains splattered all over the road if there is an accident.
Accidents can happen at any age, at any location.
An almost identical question was recently posted - you can read all of those answers here:
http://www.mamapedia.com/questions/8619405890313060353. See if you can find anyone who thinks helmets are optional.
I suggest you contact your children's pediatrician and discuss that they don't wear helmets. Let your own physician know that you don't and have never worn a helmet, and get that doctor's opinion. Contact your local police department (non-emergency line) and find out what your town's regulations are on kids wearing helmets. Turn on your cable company's sports channels and look for a bike race of any type and see if you can find any rider not wearing a helmet. Note that all of those riders are on a road with no traffic, no cars, no other risks other than expert riders on bikes. They all have helmets. While you're at it, look for skiing events (where they are on the slope alone), Olympic bobsled events (where they are protected by the shell of a bobsled), hockey games, and football games - see if you can find anyone anywhere who is not wearing a helmet. Look for motorcycle events and dirt bike events too. Same with skateboarding and snowboarding.
Where do your children ride? Are they on streets that have rocks, sticks, branches, potholes, sewer grates and manhole covers? Are there any cars anywhere, ever? Do they ride with other people (each other, friends, parents)? That is, is there any possibility whatsoever that they might hit a bump or be in traffic or be at the mercy of another rider or driver? Is the road surface hard? Do the parents of your children's friends know that you don't require helmets, and do they still let their kids ride along with you if you don't value safety precautions?
Are you getting the idea here that no one is immune from falls, and that there are other factors to consider besides someone's innate ability to balance?
My guess is that your pediatrician asks at every single annual check-up whether your child wears a helmet while bike riding and a seat belt while in a car or on a plane. My next guess is that your doctors will be shocked that no helmets are being worn, and that you haven't heard all the news reports about concussions. If you care about your children's developing brains, and your own desire to continue being a rational parent, you'll take care to provide head protection for everyone, every time, no matter how much they argue.
If you're riding a bike you need a helmet. I used to work in the medical field. Seen lots of head injuries in kids and adults who decided a helmet wasn't necessary. Just like seatbelts, anyone who rides should wear a helmet. Do you think you could live with yourself if one of your kids suffered an accident with extensive damage that a helmet could've prevented?
http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/pedestrians-and-bicycli...
Please reconsider.
This question is suspiciously familiar. Anyway, the answer to your question is NEVER!!!
Anyone can fall off a bike. Anyone can get into a collision with another cyclist or a car, or hit a pothole and land on their head. Where I live it is the law to wear a helmet until age 16, but it should be for everyone. You are setting a bad example for your kids by not wearing a helmet. It's like saying "I am a good driver so I don't need to wear a seatbelt."
eta: I knew this question was asked recently!! http://www.mamapedia.com/questions/8619405890313060353
by the way - welcome to mamapedia!
when you die. Seriously.
Unless you don't care if your child suffers traumatic brain injury or dies due to a skull fracture.
it's NOT about her falling - it's about rocks, cars and other stuff that happens. If you don't think it won't happen to you or your child. GO for it. Just don't come crying to me if your child dies from something that could have been prevented.
I don't enforce wearing helmets because of laws. I do it to protect my kids. Just because they won't topple and know how to ride properly doesn't mean other cars or bikes won't hit them.
My sister was hit by a car when she was a teenager. She was riding a bike. She is lucky that she lived.
She was left with permanent damage. She developed depression around that time also - not sure if it was linked, but she had a concussion.
We all wear helmets in our family. The kids take their cues from us. My kids wear helmets on our ice rink too. I've seen too many kids fall, bang their heads in hockey, and have major issues.
So my answer would be - protect your noggin. And your kids' noggins. It's just a helmet.
I expect our kids to wear their helmets until they are adults...their whole lives. There is NO AGE where you do not need to wear a helmet anymore. My husband and I both love biking and we both wear helmets 100% of the time. A car can hit you or push you off the road at any moment. You could be zooming down a hill and hit a patch of gravel or sand. Something could pull out in front of you when you are going fast and you have to break quickly and you could do an endo. We tell our kids we do not care what their friends do, they HAVE to wear a helmet if they want to ride a bike (scooter, skateboard, rollerblade, ski, etc). Brain damage is serious business. To set a good example you really should get yourself a helmet too.
I never wore a helmet as a child because I was born in 1970. Then I started riding a bike again as an adult in NYC in the early 90's and I wore a helmet as did pretty much all adults on bikes there. I never ride bikes right now, but all the adults I know who do wear helmets. It's part of bike gear. My kids all wear them at 10, 8 and 6. Once they are old enough to be out of my sight? They may take them off, but I'll always make them wear them. My ex, their dad, doesn't make them wear them when they're with him and it makes me so furious. Why risk a split second fall that can give you permanent brain damage? A lady in the community recently lost her college-age son when he hit his head falling off a skateboard. He's been riding skateboards since he was 4. Now maybe on an occasional slow ride to the sleepy local park in extremely hot temps...we might accidentally forget, but really, anytime someone is on a bike, they should have on a helmet.
NEVER. The appropriate age to not wear a helmet is never. Seriously. I cycle for exercise and bike around my neighborhood and always wear a helmet. ALWAYS. Every time I get on a bike, a helmet is on my head. It's the same for my kids. If I catch them without a helmet, they lose the privilege of riding their bikes.
A good friend who is a very experienced cyclist - seriously she rides thousands of miles a year - was hit by a car who came out of a parking lot without looking or stopping. She broke her jaw, several teeth, her clavicle, was unconscious, scraped up her arms and legs, etc. She was out of work for a couple of months. Without her helmet, she would easily have been dead. Accidents can happen any age, any place, to anyone. PUT ON A HELMET!
Helmets should be a lifelong thing. Adults wear them, and should. When I was a teen, I babysat for a woman who lost her dad on her 16th birthday. He'd bought her a 12 speed bike, and was testing it out for her. He fell and hit his head...and later died at the hospital.
Just because you never have spills, doesn't mean you won't.
This questions was asked just a couple of weeks ago. NEVER is the only answer. No one should ride their bike without a helmet, whether they are 4, 44 or 94. Seriously, it's just stupid to take the risk.
The law in CA is anyone under 18 must wear a helmet to ride a bike. So your older two daughters are breaking the law, on top of the risk of serious injury or death. I see that you said the laws aren't taken into consideration... by "here" do you mean in your family, your city, or the state? I am also in CA and have seen cops talk to kids without helmets.
I hope there aren't other laws you choose not to take into consideration.
Always wear a helmet.
Never. It doesn't take much for a traumatic brain injury to happen. I've worked with adults with TBIs. It was often heard in our office, "That could be any one of us at the end of the day." Even professional bike racers wear helmets. That should tell you something.
Never. My son was twenty four when he was riding down a cement path in the park, attempted to avoid a person texting on a cell phone and fell on his. All I heard after the ambulance picked him up is that the paramedics wanted to know if he had on his bike helmut. And I took him back to have all the stitches removed even though he is all grown up!
Well....you have never had an occassional spill. That's nice. I hope a car never hits you, you never run over a rock, or you never sneeze and loose control.
That argument is ludicrous.
I had never been in a car accident as a child, never went in car seats, bounced around in the back end of the car. So did my four brothers. Not once did any of us get hurt. My son almost died in a car accident, as a newborn, and he WAS in a car seat. So...just cuz it never happened before doesn't mean it can't happen now.
Geesh. Keep your kid's head covered. She can fix a broken arm but not a broken brain.
Never. Wear a helmet always. My husband rides his bike to work almost every day. It's a necessity for all riders. You wear your seatbelt in your car don't you? A bike helmet is the same. It may prevent an accident from being a tragedy.
I guess you can compare it with wearing a seat belt in a car.
when you are dead and no longer care about your brain and living.
The answer is... NEVER. Everyone who rides a bicycle should wear a helmet, law or no law, no matter their age. Accidents happen, and brains are precious whether they're 6 years old or 60 years old.
The head injury risk from taking a beginner spill is an issue, but there are always drivers and other hazards that even a skilled cyclist can't always avoid.
No helmet = no bike, regardless of age. Make your 14 and 17 year olds wear them, or lock up their bikes so they can't be used. If you don't want to wear one as an adult that is your business, but I recommend that you don't ride a bike until after your youngest is an adult and no longer dependent on you.
I never wore one and never made my kid wear one.
