Do you remember those road safety films we were shown as young school children? I recall watching such a film at primary school one day and then heading home to tell my younger sister all about it. She wasn’t at school yet, so I’m sure my eager feedback about the cool stuff we’d learned at big school must have fired her up to get out there and put those safety tips to the test. Or maybe I was the instigator. Either way, off we went on our bicycles, down the long gravel driveway of our parents’ farmstead and out onto the bumpy road frequented by tractors. I must have told her that you should stick out your right or left arm to indicate if you are about to head off in that direction – standard bicycle safety guidelines, especially for bike riders in an urban environment. We didn’t want to be left out of the fun just because we were country children (I didn’t say bumpkins). This was a long time ago, so the details are no longer crystal-clear. But watching my sister tearing off in front of me, cheerfully sticking out her arm in a random direction, losing control of her bike and then crashing in spectacular fashion, is etched on my mind forever. She really hurt herself, which happens when you collide headfirst with the ground. Her blood-curdling screams must have been heard from the other end of the farm. There’s a standing joke in our family that this very nasty knock on her head, resulting in a permanent dent in her skull, is to blame for whatever errant behaviour she’s ever gotten up to in her life. Fortunately she rebounded from the concussion, dented skull and all.

The blame I got for the accident, and the scale of her injury, would have lessened had we been wearing helmets. Make sure your children wear them.