Helmets! - Cleveland,TX

Updated on February 03, 2012
M.F. asks from Cleveland, TX
14 answers

My kids (3 n 4) have the neighbor kids come over and play in our yard regularly. I think they are 5 n 6. We have a large driveway that is fenced in and the kids enjoy riding their bikes, our kids must wear helmets at all times the neighbors don't even own helmets. I know our house, our rules, but is if our right(duty, responsibility) to make the kids wear helmets. We have enough to share but it has become incredibly frustrating to have to tell them to wear a helmet every few minutes. The girl will also repond with my dad said I don't have to wear one because I already know how to ride a bike. If their kids get hurt, could we be liable? I also worry about lice. They got nice new bikes for Christmas so I know its not a money thing.

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E.B.

answers from Seattle on

I HIT AN 8 YEAR OLD TWO BLOCKS FROM MY HOUSE!The only thing that saved him was his helmet.

get helmets on those kids.

If they want to use your stuff...in your yard it is YOUR rules.

If they do not like it...Send them home. Have a conversation with the parents and lay down the rules.

I bought helmets for ALL the neighborhood kids...and keep a few extra now in my trunk if I see a kid out riding around with out one.

You can be liable if they are in your care, on your things and were to get hit. So you need to make sure everyone involved is safe.

I can not repeat this enough...GET HELMETS ON THEM.

Set a three strikes you go home rule..meaning you catch them three times with it off..They go home for the afternoon.

The parents will either understand and comply or not allow them to come over any more..Either way it is on them to make sure they do the right thing or they are done.

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P.G.

answers from Dallas on

Your yard, your rules. No helmets, no playing. You don't have to make them wear helmets, but you can put away the toys that require them. I wear a helmet and I'm 43 - I certainly know how to ride a bike. It's not a learning thing, it's a safety thing. Tell their parents your rule of "no helmets, no riding". If they don't like it, then they can play with something else or ride somewhere else.

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J.B.

answers from Atlanta on

Tell them -your house/your rules and if they want to play on your driveway, they have to wear a helmet, no matter what anyone else says.

2 moms found this helpful
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E.S.

answers from Boston on

Sorry, your house, your rules. When my kids were little the question would always come up, "Mommy, how come I have to wear one when no one else is?". The answer? "Because Mommy and Daddy love you more than their mommy and daddy love them." I know, it's awful... My 18 yr old can drive to the slopes himself. He will not take a certain friend skiing with him because the boy won't buckle his helmet or leaves it in the lodge. While there are no rules about having to wear one my kids are serious about helmets. My 18 yr old is a ski accident survivor. I can not tell you how many people in the hospital remarked about his helmet wearing and how it saved him. He will totally go toe to toe with people over the stupidity of not wearing a helmet. I guess you can't make them but you don't have to support their unsafe practices either.

1 mom found this helpful

L.S.

answers from Fort Collins on

I ABSOLUTELY agree with the other posters so far! Your house, your rules. Don't like it? Go home. Sorry.

1 mom found this helpful

L.L.

answers from Rochester on

I personally don't let anyone ride bikes in my driveway because we live on a fairly busy road and it's on an incline. HOWEVER, in your situation...

...well, okay, I'll put it this way. My yard, my rules. Kids like to run around with sticks. If I see them doing it, I shout "NOT IN MY YARD!" Of course, in the beginning, I gave them lots of lectures on why not, but eventually, I gave up and started screaming. Now, if I see them doing it...one warning...and then they go home.

And helmets. My husband and I disagreed on this one. He took our six year old out riding (shortly after she'd learned) and she had a REALLY BAD accident. She went off her bike head first into a concrete embankment. Had she been wearing her helmet (ahem...MY rule) she wouldn't have been injured...as it was she had a gigantic contusion on her head and it scared me so bad when I came home to this that I never wanted to let her ride her bike again. Of course, I still let her, but it's ruined biking for me with her because I'm so afraid of her getting hurt now.

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S.W.

answers from Minneapolis on

Any time a person gets hurt on your property, you could get sued. That's why there is homeowner's insurance. Whether or not the kids were wearing helmets, if they get hurt, the parents could decide to S. you. Most states do not have laws requiring children to wear helmets for bike riding.

Here is a list of cities that have bike helmet laws:
http://www.bhsi.org/mandator.htm

If you don't want to watch them ride without helmets, then go ahead and insist that they wear them at your house. Keep theirs separate (if you are worried about the slim chance of lice). But, it is their parents choice whether or not to have them wear helmets when they are not at your house.

(My daughter wears a bike helmet always.)

1 mom found this helpful

☆.H.

answers from San Francisco on

Tell them they can no longer ride bikes in your driveway because they are not willing to follow the rules of your house. Then suggest other activities they kids can do together. Problem solved.

1 mom found this helpful

K.L.

answers from Sacramento on

Hello, neighbors!!! It's the LAW! SMH...

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J.P.

answers from Houston on

Get them to sign a waiver that the responsibility is their's if their
children get hurt on your property. Your property, your rules,
or waiver.

My, then, 7 year old fell off a bike and had a serious head injury.
He was quite proficient in riding a bike.

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A.G.

answers from Boston on

I'd buy extra helmets for the kids to use. No helmets at our house means no bikes, scooters or skates.

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L.G.

answers from Austin on

Be sure to talk to the parents in a non-condemning way that basically says something to the effect that I hope you don't mind that I make your kids wear their helmets in my yard or they will not get to ride. Use your doctor, emergency room tech, or whomever that has told you about the dangers that happen among kids of all experience levels. Then see what their response is. You will get a good idea about who they are and if they are the type to sue by the way they respond. Then you can decide whether to keep allowing them to play on your property.

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J.T.

answers from College Station on

If your rules state that all kids wear helmets while riding on your property, them provide the helmets and stick to your guns. Just spray them out with lysol (not bleach- that will destroy to helmet). Tell the little girl that when she is over at your house, she needs to wear a helmet or she will not be allowed to ride. Talk to the parents as well. Educate them on helmets.
When my Dad first moved into his house, one of the neighbor kids was riding her bike and was hit by a car. Her helmet literally saved her life. It kept the car from crushing her head. She ended up with a few burns on her arm and leg from the engine.
Stick to your guns! Your house, your rules, your insurance.

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C.M.

answers from Austin on

If they don't want to wear helmets in your driveway, then don't let them ride their bikes in your driveway. Send them home. If they want to come over and ride their bikes badly enough, they might ask their parents to buy them helmets. That's what my 7 y.o. would do.

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