# Should elementary schools require bike helmets? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 6, 2021, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-elementary-schools-require-bike-helmets/952016 "2021-10-06T17:34:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-elementary-schools-require-bike-helmets/952016/21 "2021-10-07T16:03:42Z")
Here is a more recent meta-analysis of the effects of bike helmets. Highlights from the studies are: > [@](#): > > Meta-analysis includes 55 studies of the effects of bicycle helmets on injuries. > > Bicycle helmets reduce head injury by 48% and serious head injury by 60%. > > Bicycle helmets reduce face injury by 23% and do not increase [cervical spine injury](https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/cervical-spine-injury). > > Bicycle helmet effects are larger in single bicycle crashes than in collisions. [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001457518301301?via%3Dihub](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001457518301301?via%3Dihub) ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-elementary-schools-require-bike-helmets/952016/22 "2021-10-07T16:21:07Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > My B-I-L, the personal injury attorney specializing in bicycle accidents, would tell you otherwise. Bicycle accidents rarely get publicized unless there’s a death. You won’t hear about the permanent brain damage and crippled limbs. I’m happy to tell you all of the permanent brain damage my friend got from not wearing a bike helmet. At very low speeds. From my perspective, helmets for kids should be law. Just like special car seats and seat belts. Kids do stupid things on bikes. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-elementary-schools-require-bike-helmets/952016/23 "2021-10-07T16:21:58Z")
Back in about 1992, a new middle school opened near my home. Prior to the opening, the school district sent information and some rules for the new school. One rule was a requirement for bike helmets for all those that ride bikes to the school. This was prior to King County requiring bike helmets for all. Some people raised a stink about this. A few weeks after opening, the school sent home information clarifying the helmet requirement. Based on state law, the school district is responsible for the safe passage to and from school for all students, this includes those that ride buses, walk, ride bikes. The only exception was those transported in a personal vehicle to and from school. Based on this information, the school district felt they could require the helmets. Didn’t matter to me either way, we lived far enough from the school that my kids would not be riding their bikes. I now live across the street from that school. The school at some point banned students riding bikes to school due to the high volume of traffic around the school making bike riding unsafe. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-elementary-schools-require-bike-helmets/952016/24 "2021-10-07T17:24:32Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Here is a more recent meta-analysis Thank you~I appreciated being able to read it. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-elementary-schools-require-bike-helmets/952016/25 "2021-10-07T17:41:40Z")
@BippityBoppityBoo Did you actually read it? @wguy123 Unfortunately I can’t actually read the study you linked to – it is only ‘for sale’. The site I linked to has free links to the studies and articles shown and shows both sides of the story, not just the “wear a helmet or you’re an ass” side. It links to thousands of pages of actual information and research, not just scary clickbait headlines. Here’s another interesting tidbit. Were you aware that when professional cyclists were mandated to wear helmets their death rate went up? Big rise in fatalities as helmets made mandatory > **[Fatalities in cycle sport](https://www.cyclehelmets.org/1213.html)** > > Mandatory helmet use in cycle sport has not led to fewer fatalities. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-elementary-schools-require-bike-helmets/952016/26 "2021-10-07T18:07:43Z")
> [@Turble](#): > > Did you actually read it? Yes. The abstract. Seemed fairly unequivocally in favor of bike helmets if you’re fond of your brain function. I am. I have an adult child who is a pediatric sub specialty physician. He never rides his bike without a helmet and I doubt he is being led astray by ‘clickbait science’. He does neurological research and cares for people with head injuries. Listen to the science. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-elementary-schools-require-bike-helmets/952016/27 "2021-10-07T18:15:11Z")
Maybe the discussion around bicycle helmet efficacy could be moved to it’s own thread? The OP is just asking about schools enforcing helmet rules. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-elementary-schools-require-bike-helmets/952016/28 "2021-10-07T18:18:42Z")
Bicycle helmet efficacy appears to be part of the answer to the OP. So I would say continue it if desired. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-elementary-schools-require-bike-helmets/952016/29 "2021-10-07T18:27:34Z")
> [@Turble](#): > > Big rise in fatalities as helmets made mandatory > [https://www.cyclehelmets.org/1213.html](https://www.cyclehelmets.org/1213.html) Major factor left out:Increase in number of participants. Otherwise, there’s no way to compare. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-elementary-schools-require-bike-helmets/952016/30 "2021-10-07T18:36:42Z")
Yeah, I’ll give that site a pass when this is part of their policy statement: > [@](#): > > Whilst **[cyclehelmets.org](http://cyclehelmets.org)** strives to be objective in its selection of information for presentation, there is more helmet-sceptic material on this web site than that supportive of helmets. This is in part a matter of copyright (we provide references to journals but cannot generally give direct access), but largely because there is a far wider range of arguments and sources that cast doubt upon one or more aspects of helmet efficacy. **[cyclehelmets.org](http://cyclehelmets.org)** is not helmet-sceptic on principle, but because pro-helmet predictions are so often contradicted by real-world experience. I guess helmet sceptic materials are less subject to copyright while supportive of helmet materials are. I wonder why? 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-elementary-schools-require-bike-helmets/952016/31 "2021-10-07T18:40:03Z")
> [@Turble](#): > > Here’s another interesting tidbit. Were you aware that when professional cyclists were mandated to wear helmets their death rate went up? > > Big rise in fatalities as helmets made mandatory > [Fatalities in cycle sport](https://www.cyclehelmets.org/1213.html) Some very questionable issues with that statistic from your link: > [@](#): > > The Union Cycliste Internationale, the governing body for international cycle sport, made cycle helmets mandatory on May 5 2003 although helmet use had been increasing voluntarily since the 1990s. However, there have been more fatalities to cyclists in races since implementation of the helmet rule than in any recent decade. […] > > Post compulsion, from May 2003 to 2011 (8.5 years), there have been 9 deaths. This is an extremely sloppy use of statistics, and a classic example of the small sample fallacy. Decadal death tolls of 10 or fewer are so small that you can’t really infer anything meaningful from their decade-to-decade fluctuations. The statistic also doesn’t take into account any other relevant factors such as increasing population numbers, population density, traffic density and speed, popularity of cycle racing (as running\_coach noted), etc. Declaring that a correlation between increased cycle-racing deaths and the implementation of bike-helmet requirements implies a causal connection is an idiocy worthy of the [Spurious Correlations website](https://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations). Moreover, your chosen (currently inactive) citation source cyclehelmets . org [self-identifies as “helmet-sceptic”](https://www.cyclehelmets.org/1004.html). They claim that it’s because the preponderance of the evidence points that way, but also confess that their access to pro-helmet evidence is limited by copyright restrictions. (And it’s pretty evident from the above example that their ideas of what constitutes statistical evidence are not necessarily trustworthy.) There’s a lot to be said for the organization’s advocacy of other cycling-safety measures besides helmet use, but AFAICT their assessments of helmet safety issues are strongly biased and motivated by anti-helmet-law views. > [@What\_Exit](#): > > Bicycle helmet efficacy appears to be part of the answer to the OP. Yes, especially in the OP’s reference to helmet requirements as a health education issue. Obviously the question whether helmet use provides health benefits is relevant to that. ---
**Author:** ![Keith1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Keith1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keith1)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-elementary-schools-require-bike-helmets/952016/32 "2021-10-07T19:14:58Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > **Modnote** : 3 flags for your homophobic comment. Do not do this again. While no warning issued, it was close. I am making a user note on this post. Homophobic? Certainly not ever in my life have I been accused of that before and if you knew me you’d know why that is. A pansy is a brightly colored flower. What that has to do with homophobia is lost on me. Around here, cyclists, in particular those wearing cyclist outfits (is that better?) have long had a reputation for taking up the road and many haven’t the courtesy to move to the side to permit vehicles to pass. There was no malicious intent towards anybody. It’s just what it is. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-elementary-schools-require-bike-helmets/952016/33 "2021-10-07T19:49:45Z")
> [@Keith1](#): > > What that has to do with homophobia is lost on me. Warning for @Keith1 for continuing use of a homophobic slur after being told not to, and for arguing moderation outside of ATMB. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-elementary-schools-require-bike-helmets/952016/34 "2021-10-07T20:11:51Z")
Fear sells and it sells big time. There is a lot more money to be made selling fear than there is telling people to be skeptical of those who wish to sell them products of dubious efficacy. Think about the hundreds of millions of people around the world who ride bikes and don’t wear helmets. They literally laugh at the foolish Americans and Australians wearing their plastic hats. Riding a bicycle is simply not an inherently dangerous activity. Worth repeating: “ … the extensive literature review found no reliable real-world evidence of helmets being beneficial in reducing cyclists’ injuries …” No reliable read-world evidence – but plenty of clickbait scare stories. Fear sells, especially to those who choose not to read both sides of a story. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-elementary-schools-require-bike-helmets/952016/35 "2021-10-07T20:20:41Z")
The site you are promoting only presents one side. Their own policy statement mentions this. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-elementary-schools-require-bike-helmets/952016/36 "2021-10-07T20:29:33Z")
It does not say that. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-elementary-schools-require-bike-helmets/952016/37 "2021-10-07T20:31:50Z")
It’s a biased site filled with bad statistics. Take a look at Kimstu’s excellent post a few up… ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-elementary-schools-require-bike-helmets/952016/38 "2021-10-07T20:34:06Z")
You can read their policy statement page and come away convinced that they are NOT “helmet skeptic”? Wow! ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-elementary-schools-require-bike-helmets/952016/39 "2021-10-07T23:38:16Z")
You can certainly try to twist it that way if you want to believe in helmets … but that is not what I said. Getting back to stuff that relates to the OP. Some cons of helmet wearing: -Increased risky behavior caused by using safety equipment -Cyclists riding faster, more aggressively, sometimes beyond their ability -Olympic boxers eliminated head gear because it makes a bigger target making them easier to hit and getting hit more often. A cycle helmet has the same effect. -Football players spearing each other because they are wearing safety equipment -Kids (and many adults) often wear helmets incorrectly -Warning label on kids helmets – It is more dangerous to wear a helmet when not riding a bike – strangling. There are two sides to this story but I tire of the twisting of the echo chamber now. Good night. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2021, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-elementary-schools-require-bike-helmets/952016/40 "2021-10-08T01:06:11Z")
> [@Keith1](#): > > > [@What\_Exit](#): > > > > **Modnote** : 3 flags for your homophobic comment. Do not do this again. While no warning issued, it was close. I am making a user note on this post. > > Around here, cyclists, in particular those wearing cyclist outfits (is that better?) have long had a reputation for taking up the road and many haven’t the courtesy to move to the side to permit vehicles to pass. There was no malicious intent towards anybody. It’s just what it is. I don’t know what state you’re in to look up the specific laws; however, most states follow federal guidelines so they are similar on traffic laws. My state specifically allows riding two abreast & for the cyclist to take the entire lane on any “roadway that has a width of not more than one lane of traffic in each direction” (§3301 c 2 ii) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-elementary-schools-require-bike-helmets/952016.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-elementary-schools-require-bike-helmets/952016.md?page=3)