Youngsters call for cycle helmet law ….and their parents to wear ski helmets!

Posted 29/02/2012

Despite many youngsters shunning cycle helmets, boys and girls aged 11-16 would welcome a law enforcing their wear. Anecdotal research carried out by the Brain Injury Group in association with Activate Sport among 100 active youngsters aged 11-16, showed 69% would prefer it to be law for under 16s to wear a helmet when cycling. Oddly though, only 34% of the same children said they always wear a helmet, 36% said they sometimes did and a worrying 30% said they never wore one.

Boys will be boys
More boys than girls never wear a cycle helmet (20% compared to 13%). The same percentage (43%) sometimes wear a cycle helmet while 45% of girls claim to always wear one compared to 37% of boys.

Slippery Slope
When it comes to skiing, more children always wear a helmet compared to cycle helmets (47% compared to 34%) but a worrying 38% said they never wore a ski helmet (compared to 30% who never wear a cycle helmet).

Setting an example
Parents on bikes and skis need to lead by example – and their children would welcome them taking a more pro-active stance on helmet wear. The survey showed that 56% of these youngsters’ parents wore a cycle helmet but only 38% wore a skiing helmet – leaving 62% of parents skiing without protective headgear. Children would definitely like to see their parents wear a ski helmet with a resounding 72% saying adults should do so.

“It still baffles me why so many youngsters resist wearing a helmet while cycling or skiing: they clearly don’t realise how a split-second impact could result in a life-changing brain injury that could render them incapacitated, disabled or worse,” says Lisa Turan of the Children Brain Injury Trust.

Solicitors who specialise in Brain Injury agree. Ashtons Legal Personal Injury Asscociate, Justina Molloy, has seen the devastating effects of brain injury among adults and children that have come off their bikes; the results are often traumatic with lifelong consequences.