Originally Posted by
GlennR
She landed on the grass. She was a rather large lady, 250# or more and went down like a stone. If she had no helmet and hit the concrete or a large rock, I suspect she would of gone to the hospital.
I also once saw a 4 year old on a bike with training wheels. She turned her head to see behind where her parents were and of course she also turned the handle bars. She went over the handle bars and landed on her head. Her mom ran up and I told her to check her teeth.. they were fine,. But she brushed away her bangs and he had a bump the size of an egg. I told her to get her to the hospital.
Trust me I was shaken to see a a 4 year old so injured and only wondered if she was wearing a helmet would she be in suich bad shape.
Adults can make their own decision and will have to live with them. But kids rely on their parents to protect them.
Helmets are like seat belts... they don't work if you're not wearing them.
In Connecticut, motor cyclists are not required to wear helmets and most don't. We call them organ donors.
The laws where I have lived have mandated helmets for children. Not really the issue as far as I'm concerned. If for nothing else, kids' heads are much larger in proportion to their torso than adults', so the likelihoods are quite different.
I always wear a helmet. As far as I can see, the theme of this thread is that it's ok to chide people you don't know for keeping a helmet on their handlebars because it's supposedly such a stupid thing to do. We can trade anecdotes all day long, but my point would remain the same--it's not ok to do so given that it's considered perfectly normal not to wear helmets doing things that are far more likely to result in brain injury without helmets.
If you want to be consistent and chide people for not wearing helmets while climbing ladders, engaging in competitive figure skating, pole vaulting, jumping hurdles, skateboarding, and walking on the escalator, fine, but don't expect the chiding to be applauded.
OP and I disagree on whether he is socially licensed to chide strangers because they violate his sense of irony.