Helmet use in London?

wgwarburton

Hi,
I was on holiday in London last week and it seemed to me that there were less cyclists wearing helmets (proportionally) than the last couple of times I've been down (same time of year).
My wife commented on this, too (unprompted). Most of the cyclists I saw were in the centre and I was generally around outside rush hour. It wasn't just BoJoBikes.

Anyone else noticed this or was it just my imagination?

Cheers,
W.

Clever Pun

students and hipsters might have contributed to this, it seems to me only a few of this burgeoning cycling populace wear helmets and would fit in with your timescale

notsoblue

I'd say most commuters wear helmets, to the extent that when I see someone who isn't wearing one I notice it. Like CP says though, I'm sure outside of rush hour any cyclists you see are probably just making short journeys on comfy bikes. Which bit of London did you notice this in btw?

iPete

notsoblue wrote:

I'd say most commuters wear helmets, to the extent that when I see someone who isn't wearing one I notice it. Like CP says though, I'm sure outside of rush hour any cyclists you see are probably just making short journeys on comfy bikes. Which bit of London did you notice this in btw?

This. In central you'll get people making much shorter journeys no doubt. Atlhough during rush hour most commuters have lids (except the hipsters). I live in outer London and don't wear a lid for going to the gym/shops/bank etc etc.

Clever Pun

I would like to point out that I don't wear a lid and I'm certainly not a hipster (my legs aren't stick thin for a start)

notsoblue

Clever Pun wrote:

I would like to point out that I don't wear a lid and I'm certainly not a hipster (my legs aren't stick thin for a start)

Perhaps its that you make any jeans look skinny?

Alphabet

Clever Pun wrote:

I would like to point out that I don't wear a lid and I'm certainly not a hipster (my legs aren't stick thin for a start)

thanks because it would get in the way of your silly cap

_Brun_

Maybe the recent increases in numbers are reassuring people that cycling isn't quite as dangerous as popular opinion suggests?

bigmat

iPete wrote:

I live in outer London and don't wear a lid for going to the gym/shops/bank etc etc.

I don't reaally get that logic. Statistically most accidents occur near the home, on routes that are used regularly. So if you take the view that a helmet is necessary, surely it is necessary at least as much for those types of journey? I guess its a risk / benefit analysis that only you can make.

hatbeard

MatHammond wrote:

iPete wrote:

I live in outer London and don't wear a lid for going to the gym/shops/bank etc etc.

I don't reaally get that logic. Statistically most accidents occur near the home, on routes that are used regularly. So if you take the view that a helmet is necessary, surely it is necessary at least as much for those types of journey? I guess its a risk / benefit analysis that only you can make.

surely that statistic would be skewed by the fact that people make those journeys much more regularly than further afield.

Alphabet

all i know is that cycling without a lid feels veeeery odd, so i don't do it. same goes for gloves.

Butterd2

Alphabet wrote:

all i know is that cycling without a lid feels veeeery odd, so i don't do it. same goes for gloves.

+1 on both counts.

essex-commuter

hatbeard wrote:

surely that statistic would be skewed.

That's the trouble with statistics, 97.48% of them are made up on the spot.

hatbeard

essex-commuter wrote:

hatbeard wrote:

surely that statistic would be skewed.

That's the trouble with statistics, 97.48% of them are made up on the spot.

but you can say with a great deal of certainty that statistic will come up 100% of the time when talking about statistics though

iPete

MatHammond wrote:

iPete wrote:

I live in outer London and don't wear a lid for going to the gym/shops/bank etc etc.

I don't reaally get that logic. Statistically most accidents occur near the home, on routes that are used regularly. So if you take the view that a helmet is necessary, surely it is necessary at least as much for those types of journey? I guess its a risk / benefit analysis that only you can make.

By that logic, I should wear one in the kitchen.

Statistically speaking, I've had 3 'incidents' on my commute in 14 months/7700 miles, none caused serious injury, bar bruises, a helmet lead to reduced injury in 2 and in the other it arguably made little difference.

Non helmet use equates to 10-15 miles a week and has had no incident.

So spin that as you will, either the higher mileage leads to more incident or my helmet causes me to act daft.

soundninjauk

Butterd2 wrote:

Alphabet wrote:

all i know is that cycling without a lid feels veeeery odd, so i don't do it. same goes for gloves.

+1 on both counts.

Agreed. I feel like I'm absolutely missing something. And I don't like change.

soundninjauk

Butterd2 wrote:

Alphabet wrote:

all i know is that cycling without a lid feels veeeery odd, so i don't do it. same goes for gloves.

+1 on both counts.

Agreed. I feel like I'm absolutely missing something. And I don't like change.

misterhill

I don't get the whole "I don't need a helmet" attitude.. I don't care how good you are at cycling, there's always things outside of your control.

On Wednesday I was following a guy on a single speed. Not fast by any means and I don't know how it happens, but on a slight incline his bike stopped abruptly and he went head first over the bars. Luckily his momentum sent him on to the foot path and not under a passing lorry.

It looked like his chain might have jammed, but regardless he wasn't doing anything crazy. He did however have his helmet on which I believe stopped things being a lot worse.

30kms/hr, head first into the pavement. His face was far from pretty and i was close to calling an ambulance, but all things considered he was still in once piece and after 30 minutes of patching up could manage a slow ride to his GP.

It just made me realise that no matter how good you think you are, or how safe you ride, anything can happen.

Just my 2c

W1

misterhill wrote:

I don't get the whole "I don't need a helmet" attitude.. I don't care how good you are at cycling, there's always things outside of your control.

On Wednesday I was following a guy on a single speed. Not fast by any means and I don't know how it happens, but on a slight incline his bike stopped abruptly and he went head first over the bars. Luckily his momentum sent him on to the foot path and not under a passing lorry.

It looked like his chain might have jammed, but regardless he wasn't doing anything crazy. He did however have his helmet on which I believe stopped things being a lot worse.

30kms/hr, head first into the pavement. His face was far from pretty and i was close to calling an ambulance, but all things considered he was still in once piece and after 30 minutes of patching up could manage a slow ride to his GP.

It just made me realise that no matter how good you think you are, or how safe you ride, anything can happen.

Just my 2c

What do you think about cyclists who run red lights?

Headhuunter

Another subset of riders in London, the cycle couriers, never wear helmets

wgwarburton

misterhill wrote:

I don't get the whole "I don't need a helmet" attitude.. I don't care how good you are at cycling, there's always things outside of your control....

If you want to start a helmet thread, go start a helmet thread. This is not a helmet thread, this is a thread about whether less people (proportionally) are wearing them in central London this October compared to October 2009 and October 2008... Different thing altogether, OK? :-)

Cheers,
W.

jimmypippa

I noticed this too when I was in London earlier in the week.

Mind you, I do see why people in central London mightn't think they need high vis clothing. Cyclists do seem to have achieved critical mass so can't be ignored. I cycle for about 90-minutes a day, and might see about five cyclists in that time.

sc999cs

iPete wrote:

MatHammond wrote:

iPete wrote:

I live in outer London and don't wear a lid for going to the gym/shops/bank etc etc.

I don't reaally get that logic. Statistically most accidents occur near the home, ....

By that logic, I should wear one in the kitchen.

Yes you should as most accidents happen in the home (maybe).

So
home -> most dangerous, fatal in most instances in fact.
near home -> deadly but not as bad as sitting in the home
far from home -> accidents less likely but the puncture fairy rears its little head the further you go
really far from home -> completely safe although the risk of 'Alien probing' increases as you get to the edge of the galaxy.

jeremyrundle

what are hipsters ?

dondare

Lots of Boris bikes being used, very few by lid-heads.

Flogger

Headhuunter wrote:

Another subset of riders in London, the cycle couriers, never wear helmets

I'm a courier and I wear a helmet, although its true most don't. I don't really understand it, I've only been doing it a few weeks and have already had a couple of offs (no injuries touch wood)

dondare

I've been cycling in London for about thirty years and I've already had a couple of offs (no injuries to speak of).