Re: No helmet no ride, says South African Government

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Re: No helmet no ride, says South African Government

Posted on: Fri, 25 Jun 2004 09:06:16 MDT

"VC" wrote in message
news:a8f21602.0406241858.3332490b@posting.google.com...
> > I have insisted that my children wear helmets since they started cycling
> > with me at very young ages, before the legislation was even considered.
My
> > daughter has only destroyed 2 or 3 helmets. My son who is now a
competitor
> > in both road and off-road racing has destroyed more helmets than he can
> > count. Thanks to helmets both of them are functioning adults and not
> > vegetables.
>
> I wouldn't be so proud of such an appalling record. My kids grew up
> without helmets but of course they were properly instructed in bicycle
> handling skills.
> I suggest you take your parenting responsibilities seriously and
> quickly get your children cycling instructions.
>
> Vance C.
> Canada

Vance, I'm glad your children have survived your instructing them to cycle
without helmets. If they have never crashed, you certainly have not managed
to teach them the joys of competitive cycling.

I certainly have not seen all my children's crashes, but I will describe two
that I did see. My daughter was coming down a gentle hill on an easy tour,
took a drink from her water bottle and dropped the bottle as she was putting
it back in the rack. The bottle wedged between the front wheel and the
frame, sending her over the handle bars. The helmet ended up with a
noticeable dent just behind the right ear. My daughter had some road rash,
but would have been much more seriously injured if that dent had been in her
skull.

My son was in a criterium when one of the riders in front of him crashed.
He managed to avoid hitting the person, but the bike slid into his front
wheel sending him head first into the road. The helmet did not have much
damage other than a slight flattening on the front left. Helmets are not
designed to take more than one crash and the manufacturer replaced that one
under its warranty program.

Both of these children have extremely good cycling skills and were acting
responsibly, but it is impossible to completely avoid this type of incident
if you want to fully live your life. I suppose a safer alternative would be
sit home in front of the TV and watch other people play.

You can spout all the statistics you want, but the fact is that I have seen
bicycle helmets prevent serious injury. Certainly they do not prevent all
injuries but to state they are not necessary is not common sense..

I suggest that you teach your children to play and work safely and stop
criticizing others who are more responsible.

Scott Elliot

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