Brain injury charity makes helmet plea to parents and children (From Darlington and Stockton Times)
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Pupils from Mount Pleasant Primary SChool, Darlington, learn importance of cycle helmets
10:29am Saturday 9th February 2013 in News
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Alastair White, from Headway and Josh Freeman, seven, agree on the importance of wearing a cycle helmet. Looking on are pupils Luke Ford, nine, Annie Hutchinson, seven and Kerry Kirk, eight and Miranda Barty-Taylor of the Child Injury Trust.
CHILDREN at a Darlington primary school have been given a valuable lesson on the importance of wearing cycle helmets.
Yesterday (FRIDAY), a team from brain injury charity Headway North-East and the Child Brain Injury Trust visited Mount Pleasant Primary School in Branksome to try and persuade the youngsters - and their parents – to wear a helmet when on their bikes.
To demonstrate the protection a helmet offers, raw eggs were dropped from a height of more than two metres wearing a specially designed protective 'helmet'.
The eggs remained intact while wearing the helmet, but once it was removed they smashed on impact.
A model of a human skull was also used to demonstrate how the brain can suffer severe trauma as a result of a blow to the head.
Alastair White, North-East regional coordinator for Headway, said: “It’s really important to reach these youngsters because it’s their generation who will make the change. Hopefully soon it will be the norm for everyone to wear a helmet.”
Miranda Barty-Taylor, North East regional coordinator for the Child Brain Injury Trust, said: “We’ve had a great time today, the children all got really involved.”
Jane Telfer, the teacher in charge of behaviour and safety at the school, added: “We encourage our children to walk and cycle to school, and this week we have been learning all about how to stay safe. This presentation is a great way to round that off and the children have really enjoyed themselves.”
Headway supports people with brain injuries and works to promote better understanding of brain injury and its effects. A Darlington and District group is due to launch this June. For more details visit www.headway.org.uk or email Alastair White at ne.regional.co-ordinator@headway.org.uk
Comments(2)
johnny_p
says...
8:20pm Sun 10 Feb 13
Barb67 wrote:Which countries in Europe have a law? None as far as I am aware. Certainly not the Netherlands who have vastly greater numbers of cyclists than we do, and yet who admit that helmets make very little difference if you are in an accident. Even the cycling Police in Amsterdam don't wear helmets.
Wearing helmets should be made a law. It is the only way to ensure compliance. Other countries have it a law to wear a helmet whilst riding a bicycle. Education is great and the people at the above named charity should be commended for their great work but government needs to act on this issue too.
The helmet issue is pushed mainly by people who don't cycle (and never will do). A far better course of action would be for motorists to be more respectful and careful around cyclists.
The government does not "need to act on this issue". We've has fourteen years now of a Labour government passing useless legislation.
Enough!
Barb67 says...
12:21pm Sun 10 Feb 13