your ward, but accidents happen all of the time with or without helmets. Do I believe that a helmet would decrease the likelihood that my son would get hurt riding a bike? Yes. Do I believe that if he wore a pillow around his chest, a wrist brace, knee pads, elbow pads, and a face plate that it would also decrease the likelihood of injury? Yes. But I don't see a lot of pillow wearing kids riding their bikes around.

The point is that there is a lot that can be done to the point that it restricts the point of the activity in the first place (just imagine D1 football without hitting, because it is too dangerous). At some point, I feel that the restrictions become more limiting than liberating and that personal line needs to be drawn somewhere.

I find it very interesting that the same people who will tell me anecdotes like this will give their kid a smart phone with internet access at age 12. I can tell you from anecdotal experience, that this act is WAY more harmful to far more kids than the injuries that occur from not having a helmet -- yet I don't see the uproar about the cellphones.