With summer here, it’s time for bikes and scooters and that means protecting our kids from falls. Brooklyn has some of the worst sidewalks of all the boroughs. We do love our blue slate sidewalks, but, oh, how it heaves and cleaves. For us Brooklynites, that means serious head protection and possibly even elbow, hand and knee protection too. What brands are the best for toddlers up to “youth”? Consumer Reports came out with Kid and Toddler Bike helmet ratings to help answer that question. They tested for impact absorption, retention system, resistance to roll-off, ventilation, ease of use, and weight. Weight? Though it is given lesser value in the ratings, apparently it can lead to fatigue. Makes sense, I guess. They did not test any of those cool helmets I see zooming around Brooklyn (see PHOTO above)! And, for youth helmets (those for children ages 5 years and older), only one of the four helmets tested passed their toughest impact absorption tests. That’s just a bit scary.
Let’s define what Consumer Reports mean by some of these categories first.
Impact absorption
How well a helmet can absorb the forces, thus reducing the deceleration experienced by a head, during an impact. Based on helmet performance in laboratory impact tests at various impact speeds and impact surfaces under several conditions.
Retention system
How well the retention system resists stretching, slippage or breakage when a sudden load is applied to the straps, such as what could occur during an accident.
Resistance to roll-off
Our judgment of how well a properly fitted helmet resists front to back and side to side movement to ensure that the helmet stays in place for the best protection.
The results for Youth:
Bontrager Solstice Youth for $45 got a rating of 75 and rated Excellent in the categories of Fit, Ease of Use, and weight. Impact Absorption was rated Very Good.
Bell Strata Youth for $25 got a rating of 57 and rated Excellent in the categories of Ease of Use and Weight, Very Good in Ventilation, but only Good in Impact Absorption and Fit.
Schwinn Thrasher for $25 got a rating of 52 and rated the same as the Bell Strata above, except it lost out in the ease of use category, which is why it has a lower rating.
Bern Nino Zip Mold for $45 got a rating of 33. It got a poor rating for ventilation and fit and only a good for Impact Absorption. Yikes!
Only the Bontrager was recommended by Consumer Reports
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– See 2012’s adult and youth helmet picks here: http://www.achildgrows.com/consumer-reports-best-bike-helmets-only-2-make-the-cut/