loose helmet straps --- ggggrrrrrr!!!

[Anonymous]

DS is good about wearing his bike helmet but the straps are always very very very loose. his friends are like that too. any tips on making sure the straps stay tight?

[Anonymous]

A video of a funeral of a kid who had a brain injury skateboarding?

[Anonymous]

OP, unless you're biking there with him, he's likely to loosen them himself even if he goes out with them tightened. I really wish I had a good solution for you here because you are absolutely right to be concerned about this. I guess you could have a rule that he has you check the straps every time before he goes out, which you probably already do, and that you will have a consequence for him if he comes home with loose ones. But that won't help if he loosens them while out.

I frankly would take away my kid's bike privileges for a certain time if I caught her wearing the helmet improperly after she had left home with it properly fitted. Biking is a privilege for kids, not a right.

I also hate to see kids -- and MANY adults -- who wear bike helmets cocked way back on the crowns of their heads, leaving the whole forehead and front of the hairline exposed. If they go off a bike and land on their faces/foreheads, the helmet will be useless in that position. I was a challenge course instructor and we were drilled over and over on helmets being worn correctly to protect the top of the head and forehead. In fact we were taught that our particular helmets should mostly come down almost to your eyebrows, depending on the make (I don't see how some of the bike helmets could do that, but I still see most styles of helmets worn way too far back on the head). And you should not see the helmet slide or move around if you shake your head vigorously once it's strapped on.

PP might have been being snarky but it's actually not a bad idea, if your son is old enough to understand it, to have him do some research on head injuries to bikers who wore helmets improperly. And yeah, reading about kids who ended up injured or dead due to helmet issues might have some effect. If you're really concerned, talk with the school about sponsoring a safety session during PE class to show how to wear helmets. If he and his friends are all in Cub or Boy Scouts or whatever, go to the leader and offer to put together a presentation (and a bike rally, maybe!).

I know a guy, avid adult biker, whose life was saved by his properly worn and properly strapped helmet. Doctor told him flatly that the helmet kept him from massive brain damage or death when he hit a piece of gravel that was lying on a nice paved bike path; he was thrown off and hit his head directly on a metal light pole. Helmets really do save lives but not if they pop off when someone goes flying.

[Anonymous]

^^Adding here -- make sure too that he has the right helmet, isn't using one that is too old and too tight on him. If he loosens the strap because the helmet's old and he's outgrown it, time for a new helmet. But also enforce correct use of the helmet. I think you're smart to be on top of this, OP.

[Anonymous]

An explanation of how brain injuries can cause permanent erectile dysfunction?

This worked for my teenage cousin. Not joking.

[Anonymous]

I think some kids do this to be cool - it lets other kids know they are wearing the helmet because parents make them/they don't want to get a ticket but that's it.

[Anonymous]

Gah, I see adults and kids riding around with the helmet straps unbuckled!! Why even bother?

[Anonymous]

Get him a better fitting helmet