Convincing my mum to wear a helmet

Biomech
Biomech Posts: 158
edited December 2014 in Road buying advice
My mum now has a bike - it's a classic old lady, basket bike, but she refuses to wear a helmet. I've told her I'm getting one for her for Christmas regardless. But how can I make sure she wears it?

Middle aged / old women seem to have this thing about not needing a helmet because they cycle at 2mph on the pavement with a basket strapped to the front.

Any ideas / recommendations of style?
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Comments

  • She's an adult, let her decide.
    I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles
  • gsk82
    gsk82 Posts: 3,439
    whack her around the head with a chunk of tarmac and ask her if it hurt. remember to put the tarmac back tho
    "Unfortunately these days a lot of people don’t understand the real quality of a bike" Ernesto Colnago
  • Bobbinogs
    Bobbinogs Posts: 4,841
    She's an adult, let her decide.

    This. Move on.
  • :roll:

    Per km travelled, your mum is almost twice as likely to receive a head injury after being hit by a motor vehicle when she is walking as she is when cycling, so don't forget to tell her that she shouldn't just wear it when she is on her bike...
    "an original thinker… the intellectual heir of Galileo and Einstein… suspicious of orthodoxy - any orthodoxy… He relishes all forms of ontological argument": jane90.
  • northpole
    northpole Posts: 1,499
    The style is unimportant - if you can't win your mum's mind over, it will not be worn.

    I'd probably focus on kerbs and the damage that can be caused by the most inoccuous of incidents when stopping/ starting at traffic lights and pedestrian crossings. Suspect it'll be a hard sell for you to pull off.

    Peter
  • I dropped one all the floor and it cracked in half. I was lucky I wasn't wearing it because I would have been killed.
  • Biomech
    Biomech Posts: 158
    I must say, I'm quite surprised that you don't advocate the use of helmets for all bike users
  • Look its upto the individual to decide, its like anything let the person make an informed choice.
    All you can do is explain the benefits and show her some nice comfortable,modern ones and then let her make her choice. At the end of the day if a person has a serious accident on a bike a helmet wont really do much as they are not robust enough to withstand big impacts. If you ski/snowboard or kayak you will see what I'm on about because those helmets do offer protection.
    So really all bike helmets are good for is slight knocks, and keeping the sun,and rain out of your eyes and you head a bit warmer than it would be otherize.
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    Are you a new cyclist ?

    These helmets are fairly new. It was only about 30 years ago that polystyrene ones came out. Plenty of people survived just fine without them. Don't worry about your mum.
  • napoleond
    napoleond Posts: 5,992
    I can't get my dad to wear a helmet in his convertible car, no matter how many times I tell him.
    Insta: ATEnduranceCoaching
    ABCC Cycling Coach
  • northpole
    northpole Posts: 1,499
    Look its upto the individual to decide, its like anything let the person make an informed choice.
    All you can do is explain the benefits and show her some nice comfortable,modern ones and then let her make her choice. At the end of the day if a person has a serious accident on a bike a helmet wont really do much as they are not robust enough to withstand big impacts. If you ski/snowboard or kayak you will see what I'm on about because those helmets do offer protection.
    So really all bike helmets are good for is slight knocks, and keeping the sun,and rain out of your eyes and you head a bit warmer than it would be otherize.

    Sorry you think bike helmets are only robust enough for slight knocks. Not my experience at all. I have come off on two occasions - once going round a corner hit oil and back wheel went in a flash; the other hit from behind by a pal who was not paying attention. Both times my head whacked the ground; helmet cracked; no head injuries. I may well otherwise have been in hospital without wearing a helmet. The helmets were relatively easy to replace, unlike my skull.

    Peter
  • Biomech
    Biomech Posts: 158
    When I was at school a friend of mine, his brother, he was killed after being knocked off his bike and sustaining head injuries.

    Can I assume then, that all of those who think they don't offer any suitable protection and "people did fine for years without them", you don't wear helmets when you go out on your bikes then?
  • napoleond
    napoleond Posts: 5,992
    They offer protection, I've been a recipient of such protection on two occasions. However I feel it's up to the individual to decide.
    I've been to quite a few fatal road traffic collisions where people have died from head injuries. They may we'll have been ok if they'd worn a helmet. Yet we don't harp on about car drivers wearing helmets do we?
    Insta: ATEnduranceCoaching
    ABCC Cycling Coach
  • Lordy - a helmet debate - just when I thought they were extinct :wink:
    ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
  • plowmar
    plowmar Posts: 1,032
    I assume that all posters know that the BS test only covers low speed/impact conditions - the fact that protection is given outside these parameters is more luck than management.
    Or foreign made lids have better protection as standard.
    I tend to wear mine to either give my wife peace of mind or because it is conditional on the ride/event I am doing.
  • JackPozzi
    JackPozzi Posts: 1,191
    Go to google. Type helmet debate. Anything that might possibly be said on here will already have been said countless times over on threads on forums such as this since the beginning of time. And none have ever reached a worthwhile conclusion. There's no reason to believe that this will be any different....
  • team47b
    team47b Posts: 6,424
    plowmar wrote:
    I assume that all posters know that the BS test only covers low speed/impact conditions

    Yep that's why it's called the BS test :D
    my isetta is a 300cc bike
  • I have helmets at the top and bottom of the stairs. I ask visitors to wear a safety harness and ensure they clip in . I have built a miniature via ferrata for the in-laws. I hope they appreciate the extra safety measures.
  • gethinceri
    gethinceri Posts: 1,510
    Buy her a WWII German Wehrmacht helmet with swastika on the side, she'll look fucking epic.
    Unless she's a death camp survivor she'll love it.
  • Biomech
    Biomech Posts: 158
    Clearly then the helmet thing is a big issue of debate.

    But to come back to my question, so darkhairedlord, NapoleanD, cougie, BenderRodriguez - none of you wear helmets then?
  • Don't waste your money buying her a helmet, keep it for the fixed penalty notice she'll get for riding on the pavement.
    Life is unfair, kill yourself or get over it.
  • There is no big issue. It's up to the individual. Now if the BSI grew some b@lls and worked with medical professionals to devise a decent test rather than just being industry yes men, that would help.
  • Bozman
    Bozman Posts: 2,518
    There's an 83 year old a couple of doors down from me who cycles daily... Without a helmet!! I'm guessing that he's mad and god knows how he's lasted as long as he has.
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    Biomech - when I race I need to wear a helmet - so I normally do wear one. I've done many years without helmets though - no dramas.

    If your mum is doing 2mph on the bike - then does she really need one ? Runners are a lot faster than that and I've never seen a runner with a hard hat.
  • Try nursing a cyclist with injuries so severe her parents had to decide to turn off life support.
  • navrig2
    navrig2 Posts: 1,833
    Biomech wrote:

    Middle aged / old women seem to have this thing about not needing a helmet because they cycle at 2mph on the pavement with a basket strapped to the front.

    Depending on her age I would guess that her driving factor is avoiding helmet hair. If she has entered the age of thinning hair and thinking it's time for a blue perm then she will not want her "hairdo" interfered with.

    Have a good talk with her but save your money. All you'll do is put her off and salve your concience.
  • daniel_b
    daniel_b Posts: 11,538
    type:epyt wrote:
    Don't waste your money buying her a helmet, keep it for the fixed penalty notice she'll get for riding on the pavement.

    :lol:
    Fine work sir.
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    Scott Foil 18
  • marcusjb
    marcusjb Posts: 2,412
    Try nursing a cyclist with injuries so severe her parents had to decide to turn off life support.

    Try nursing ever more obese people as they were put off cycling as a form of excercise as it is too dangerous and needs specialist safety equipment according to some.

    Personal choice, wear a helmet, don't wear a helmet, wear a helmet for certain types of cycling but not for others - it is all personal choice; but far more important than wearing a piece of plastic and foam on your head is getting more bums on saddles; telling people how dangerous it is (it is not) is not going to help any individual or our wider society.
  • Biomech wrote:
    My mum now has a bike - it's a classic old lady, basket bike, but she refuses to wear a helmet. I've told her I'm getting one for her for Christmas regardless. But how can I make sure she wears it?

    Middle aged / old women seem to have this thing about not needing a helmet because they cycle at 2mph on the pavement with a basket strapped to the front.

    Any ideas / recommendations of style?

    She doesn't need a helmet. You force a helmet on her it's probably more likely she'll stop cycling than be forced to wear it. She's older and wiser than you are.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Your mum 'probably' does not need a helmet for the bike she has and the type of riding she will do.
    Apologise for hounding her about it and buy her something she would actually like with the money (maybe a hairdo).

    I say probably because a helmet is for one thing, and one thing only. I helps a lot if you hit your head hard.
    People on here have done that when stationary and dismounting their bike, so yes, she might need one, but probably does not as she is just as likely to do that getting off a bus.

    You would look pretty silly wearing a helmet on a bus. You do not look at all silly wearing one on a road bike though (this is a road bike forum) so personally, I wear one on my bike even if the risk is the same (although its not, its a lot higher ;-) ).