We live down the street from a middle school. Too few of the kids walk/bike to school, but of the ones who bike, I would bet less than 20% of them wear helmets.
I’ve previously expressed my distaste for today’s e-devices - especially as used by kids. But even fewer of the kids on e-scooters/bike/boards/etc wear helmets, not to mention wrist/knee pads or anything. As these kids zip about on sidewalks and streets, they impress me as at least as irresponsible as we were in our youth. And I’m not perceiving parental angst about giving their kids access to these devices.
When I was a kid (early 70s) I didn’t wear a helmet but that was a different time. We were more cavalier about things like personal safety. Lawn darts, slip-and-slides, pellet rifles…all good and apparently appropriate for 8-year-olds.
Today, I will never ride a bike or e-scooter without a helmet on me (at the minimum).
All the gear, all the time.
Sure. Didn’t wear seatbelts either. I was basically responding to the suggestion of additional layers of protection and parental angst currently. My impression is that some portion of modern parental angst is directed at threats that are somewhat remote - such as child abduction, while ignoring the more obvious and immediate - such as blithely allowing the kid to ride an escooter helmetless in the street.