kids, atv's and helmets-thankfully all will be ok

Anonymous-0 · Jul 20, 2010

My son (13) has been riding 3 wheelers 110's ,200x and a few quads since he was pretty young. Sat. he was riding with two friends.They stopped and due to gravel dust he hit one of them. He had a FF helmet but evidently didn't have it strapped and it came off. He hit his head on the road and suffered a fractured skull and stayed in the hospital from Sat. afternoon until Tues. afternoon. Thankfully he will be ok. Please require your kids to wear a helmet and other safety gear and make sure they use it properly. I could easily have been planning a funeral.

Anonymous-0 · Jul 20, 2010

Glad everything is OK. Helmets just ain't cool at that age :roll: .

Dave

tjdub · Jul 20, 2010

I was that kid once, but it was a dirt bike, not an ATV. Bike landed square on my head. If I hadn't been wearing a modern helmet I wouldn't be here today annoying everyone on ytmag. WEAR THE DERN HELMETS.

Anonymous-0 · Jul 20, 2010

Helmets should be checked by parents or another adult to make sure they are properly secured and also fitted in the first place. A lot of people wear too big of a helmet. Even more important, what were they doing riding on a gravel road unsupervised? I'm glad he's going to be OK. Dave

colekicker · Jul 21, 2010

Lost a great friend when she fell off not wearing a helmet. I wasn't there, but it happened that fast.

Speedy recovery to your son. Whoop his butt once he is better!

Anonymous-0 · Jul 21, 2010

Glad your son is ok, hope he recovers fast. Seems at that age the more friends you have over the dumber the kids get! We all were probaly driving a three wheeler at that age, but it is just a little too young, just my two cents. Just glad he is ok!

Tom

Hotflashjr · Jul 21, 2010

Like many of the others I used to, and still do ride whatever I can get my hands on. I wear my helmet even when plowing the driveway with my ATV. Helmet and full pads saved my life when I was 16. Riding my dirt bike through the woods and I popped off of a tree root (showing off to friends) and hit a large pine tree. Smashed the helmet visor to pieces, cracked most of the plastic in the chest protector, but was able to get up and limp the two miles back home.

Oldmax · Jul 21, 2010

My son age 43 going on 15 is still recovering from a dirt bike crash three weeks ago, he had 8 cracked ribs, broken nose, cracked elbo,and one of the biggest butt bruses on his rear you have ever seen. He found out you can't steer a bike 15 feet in the air.

Leroy · Jul 21, 2010

never drove or was on any 3 or 4 wheeler or powered bike and at age 66 no intensions to try, see no use for them.

Leroy · Jul 21, 2010

I think that is true of the general population, being in there 40's & 50's and acting like they were just going on 15, if they would just grow up and stop to use common sence the country would be a lot better off.

Andy C · Jul 21, 2010

Told my son that I would drive over 4 wheeler with tractor if I saw him riding without a helmet. I would have, but never had to!

Rickstir · Jul 21, 2010

I am 64 and use them to drag deer. Great heart attack preventer.

Nancy Howell · Jul 21, 2010

Many horse riders refuse to wear helmets. They only cost about $25.00. There"s absolutely no excuse for not wearing a helmet (my very strong opinion).

Problem is, many folks who wear them don"t tighten the chin strap and as you found out, it comes off.

I wear a helmet and thought I had the chin strap tight enough. I was wrong. Had a horse issue while I was leading a horse and my helmet came off. I learned my lesson and wear the chin strap very snug.

There"s just no excuse for not wearing a helmet.

Nancy Howell · Jul 21, 2010

P.S. If kids don't think its cool to wear a helmet, get them one with lots of "flash". Maybe a set of matching chest/back protectors, gloves, helmet, etc. so they look "sharp".

Most important, glad your son is ok.

Anonymous-0 · Jul 21, 2010

There's a HUGE difference in the quality and performance of helmets. And old industry add I recall from my days of racing dirt bikes said something to the effect of, "If you have a $25 brain, wear a $25 helmet. If you have a $200 brain, wear a $200 helmet". Maybe I was over valuing my brain, but I always wore the very best helmet available.

Anonymous-0 · Jul 21, 2010

I don't know, at age 42 I have found my Polaris 4-wheeler to be real handy round the farm for all kinds of tasks like fence repairs in the pasture, ect. and it is totally harmless until I start it and open the throttle.

Anonymous-0 · Jul 21, 2010

In 2006, My next door neighbor's son was riding a four wheeler at their hunting camp, and ran into another four wheeler that was stopped. He was killed. I do not know if he was wearing a helmet. His father comitted suicide New Year's day of 2009.

Ky Hauler · Jul 21, 2010

A man down the road was going home about midnight on his Harley and ran off the road in front of his house and hit a tree. Alcohol involved) His helmet was laying about 100 feet away. The news media said they believed he was not wearing it. What they didn't know was his head was still in it. OUCH!!

Nancy Howell · Jul 21, 2010

I totally agree that you should have the safest, highest quality helmet you can.

Twenty years ago, my first helmet cost me $75.00. The same helmet today costs $25.00. Same specs, etc.

In horse riding helmets, a lot of the price difference is cosmetic, not performance or safety quality.

camju · Jul 21, 2010

well you can be a cool dead man or a live not so cool man. My brother had a seriuse bike accident and spent 6 weeks in hospital I am sure he would be dead if he hadden't had a helement.It actually got ripped off his head, strap broke and that must take alot of force.

Anonymous-0 · Jul 21, 2010

Snell is the highest standard for M/C helmets. Most helmets, at least the ones at motorcycle dealers, are all pretty good now and prices for all safety gear have come down in price a lot. The polycarbonate helmets are the ones to avoid. Proper fitting of a helmet is directly related to how much protection it gives. Another good reason to buy from an established dealer. Goggles and proper footwear are also very important. Dave

Anonymous-0 · Jul 21, 2010

Some people can do amazing things on a bike in the air. They are highly trained professionals who do get seriously injured and killed sometimes. The problem comes when inexperienced riders try to do the same tricks on their bikes. It doesn't matter if it's an 8 yr. old or a 50 yr. old. They all try to show off. The really good riders don't have to show off because they are fast and there is no need to show off. Dave

rhouston · Jul 21, 2010

My brother Doug was killed 25 years ago due to not having his helmet strap on. He left a wife and one year old behind. I'm glad you had a better outcome.

IOWA NORTHEAST · Jul 21, 2010

My son when he turned 14 got a moped. He lived with his mom, and I said no helmet no moped. He questioned the atority I might have at his moms. I did not give in, and he sold it the following day because it looked stupid to wear a helmet. I'm not ever going to give in to the stupidity of kids not wearing helmets.

If parents aren't parents enough to give them no choice, they should not be parents.

It would seem that someone could do a marketing task of making it cool to wear a helmet, perhaps with a sports team logo on it. You would also think any sports team would not charge for their logo if it saved lives.

On the flip side, if you are in a hospital needing a organ, the non helmet folks are your best chance usualy. A very sad deal.

LJS30 · Jul 21, 2010

Man it's great everything turned out okay. In terms of riding dirt bikes, atv's, etc, I'm simply not letting my kids play with those toys. I'd rather have my teenage or younger boys around tractors then tooling around with their friends on those death machines. Besides, way too expensive of a hobby just to have a bunch of busted up kids. Get busted up on the football field, baseball field, wrestling mats, not on some dirt bike.

Anonymous-0 · Jul 21, 2010

I certainly agree if the objective is to see how fast you can go and/or climb too steep grades then better wear a helmet. For the rest of us that use an ATV for work and therefore ride sanely, no helmet is required.

camju · Jul 21, 2010

I have to agree with you I never use a helmet and only drive around on my proprety and use my brain

barn E · Jul 21, 2010

My dad told me NO motorbikes, scooters when I was young. Did not ride until age 31. He probably saved my life. Now 66 and thankful and riding motorcycle. Dave

kids, atv's and helmets-thankfully all will be ok

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