Wearing a helmet

diy

deadkenny wrote:

I'm sure I could get a PI lawyer to claim on the basis I bust my back and got whiplash by falling on my head wearing a helmet. But I still swear that it would have been far worse without one.

doubt it - google "volunti non fit injuria" and see.

Anonymous

bails87 wrote:

frankly there isn't much evidence that helmets work in high speed impacts.

Pretty sure a lot of MotoGP riders would disagree with that assumption.

Scotxr

bails87 wrote:

I have another take on the motorist driving close to you because you have a helmet. It's the motorists that dont see you that you need to worry about and not the ones that do...

Yep, of course. It's all small risks that go one way or another, and it's up to individuals to weigh them up. Like wearing sunglasses while driving. They might stop you being blinded by the sun, but they might make you miss something. Swings and roundabouts.
For MTB I do think there's much more need for helmets though.

http://cyclehelmets.org/1139.html

Have a read of that. Some have dismissed it as being 'anti-helmet', so don't take it as gospel, by posting the link I'm not necessarily agreeing with it.

If helmets for leisurely and road cycling made that much difference then there wouldn't be any argument. If you go on bakeradar.com* you won't find the bakers split into the pro and anti oven glove camp, because it's so obvious that oven gloves work when you're holding hot things!


*not a real site....I don't think!

I've been on the site you put up and I do think it's flawed. The evidence is VERY old if we go by the 5 years being contemporary in the research business, I could forgive it if it was seminal evidence......

Maybe there is a gap for new evidence to be created?? Helmet techology has moved on - the speed of bikers has increased - the amount of motorists on the road has increased.

Damn, maybe for a research proposal for my MSc I could do it on helmets??!!!! Although it isn't directly linked to nursing, or is it........ 8)

bails87

yeehaamcgee wrote:

bails87 wrote:

frankly there isn't much evidence that helmets work in high speed impacts.

Pretty sure a lot of MotoGP riders would disagree with that assumption.

I meant bicycle helmets. The standard polystyrene bowl type, not FF helmets or motorbike helmets, which I'm sure you know as well as anyone (you are/were a motorbiker weren't you?) are very different to a XC/road lid.

nation

yeehaamcgee wrote:

bails87 wrote:

frankly there isn't much evidence that helmets work in high speed impacts.

Pretty sure a lot of MotoGP riders would disagree with that assumption.

Motorcycle helmets and cycle helmets are not the same thing.

Cycle helmets are not designed or tested for high speed impact (DH type lids aside). They're designed and tested for low speed falls from height.

Anonymous

bails87 wrote:

yeehaamcgee wrote:

bails87 wrote:

frankly there isn't much evidence that helmets work in high speed impacts.

Pretty sure a lot of MotoGP riders would disagree with that assumption.

I meant bicycle helmets.

Specifics, boy, specifics

As I understand it, even helmets for motorcycle racing, or car racing differ. Motorcycle ones are intended to absorb impact then sliding, when a rider hits the deck, whereas a car helmet is designed specifically to absorb knocks to the head from collision with roll-cages.

Chalky76

Always wear one. Off road because i push myself and have hugged too many trees, and on my commute because too many cars are driven by prats.

Your head is too important not to look after. As people have commented, 99% of the people who don't wear one will vote / comment because their cool / tough, whereas around half those who do, can't be bothered to comment.

bails87

Chalky76 wrote:

Your head is too important not to look after.

So you wear a motorbike helmet?

Anonymous

Chalky76 wrote:

on my commute because too many cars are driven by prats.

True that. I'm lucky to have a commute that almost entirely avoids roads.
When I'm in a rush, and take the quicker, road based, route, I always wear my lid, because drivers at going to/from work o'clock are just mental.

bails87

yeehaamcgee wrote:

because drivers at going to/from work o'clock are just mental.

+1

Someone went past me the other day, having a shave whilst driving along. I've still got the video from friday of a girl going past in a soft top Mini with the roof down......make up pot in one hand, brush in the other :roll:

Anonymous

Things could be a lot safer and it would be a lot easier to get around if we stopped with the obsession of everyone must work 9 to 5 and schools at a similar time.

At the very least it means I can roll into work whenever I like and not get stressed just by driving to work , though if I can get the next gig to be a fair bit of work from home then I can solve my problems there and also be able to go out for some rides in the hills when I'm bored.

Anonymous

deadkenny wrote:

Things could be a lot safer and it would be a lot easier to get around if we stopped with the obsession of everyone must work

Oh hell yes

Aaaaah, if only eh?

The problem is, there is no workable solution around that. If schools and various workplaces all had varied hours, then it would be impossible to synchronise things. You might be at home when your kids need to be taken to school (I'm thinking toddlers now, there's no excuse for driving older kids everywhere), but would be working when they needed picking up, and so on.

There's also downsides. I have a job with genuinely flexible working hours. As long as deadlines are met (and I don't have any clients actually IN the studio), then I can come and go literally as I please.
Now, whilst that does indeed have benefits - why drag yourself to work if you're tired? Have a couple more hours in bed then get there awake and alert, then work late to make up for it, etc - it also has it's downsides.
Meaningful relationships are almost impossible, since the hours vary wildly, and often not at my control. It's an incredibly strong bond that gets people through that, and fledgling relationships are all but doomed to failure.
On the plus side, if everybody was in the same boat, then I suspect the world's population would decrease nicely.

diy

Nothing to do with being an ugly fecker then

Anonymous

Only partially

whyamihere

Commutes (25km through the centre of Birmingham) used to be only road rides when I would bother with a helmet. In a year of commuting, I got knocked off 4 times, and they were all the types of accidents where I would expect a benefit from a helmet (very low speed, simply falling over). I never actually hit my head, I was always either able to get a foot down or roll out of danger. In about 5 years of road riding though, I have never been knocked off, because the roads I ride when on a leisure/training ride are completely different to those I used to ride when commuting.

Northwind

I always say the same thing in these threads... When I had my big road crash, the people at the hospital all said that my helmet saved my life. Wasn't wearing one

I do always wear one now and it's basically a good idea, but i think people expect too much of them- the level of effective protection is pretty low, and there's some evidence that they also make some injuries more severe. And given the standard of road riding round here, helmets are the least of these guys' worries, most of the people I see out and about are accidents waiting for a car to happen to (at which point no doubt they'll blame the driver) No roadsense at all.

Statistics prove that helmets are more likely to mess up your hair than to save your life.

Chalky76

Bails, don't get me wrong, not entirely convinced it's going to help me if a van going 60mph mows me down, but i reckon in most cases it's got to help. I like to get home to see the kids every day (not the wife though ) so i'll take bad hair for a working head all day long

Squarepants

General comment


Are you cereal?

mattyg2004

My other half's uncle has been in a coma for the last 7 months due to being knocked off his bike without a helmet.

His house is being repossessed and his business has gone bust.Chances are he's either NOT going to make it or will be on his back in a bed dribbling and being fed through a tube But If you think its not worth wearing one. Go for it.

Mojo_666

Helmets are like spare tubes, I would rather have one when I needed it than not. I am not actually sure there is a downside to wearing one either, it's not like I have a cool hairstyle or anything.

thepha5e

I always wear a helmet (and once or twice, I've been very glad i was wearing one - just over a month ago, i knocked my self out on a jump and ended up in A&E with concussion and a broken metacarpal, but i don't think the helmet help a lot, i landed on my face mainly, rather than my head).
... the only time i ever don't bother is if I've just adjusted/fixed something on my bike, and i'm just riding up and down the road, 50 feet or so, to test it out (i live on a quiet residential road).

TuckerUK

My other half's uncle has been in a coma for the last 7 months due to being knocked off his bike without a helmet.

His house is being repossessed and his business has gone bust.Chances are he's either NOT going to make it or will be on his back in a bed dribbling and being fed through a tube But If you think its not worth wearing one. Go for it.

My partners best friend's son is paraplegic for life from a car accident. If you think driving a car is worth it, go for it.

We can all give examples of random accidents to highlight how dangerous anything is.

cooldad

Mojo_666 wrote:

Helmets are like spare tubes, I would rather have one when I needed it than not. I am not actually sure there is a downside to wearing one either, it's not like I have a cool hairstyle or anything.

This makes sense. Except I have cool hair. Obviously.

mattyg2004

TuckerUK wrote:

My other half's uncle has been in a coma for the last 7 months due to being knocked off his bike without a helmet.

His house is being repossessed and his business has gone bust.Chances are he's either NOT going to make it or will be on his back in a bed dribbling and being fed through a tube But If you think its not worth wearing one. Go for it.

My partners best friend's son is paraplegic for life from a car accident. If you think driving a car is worth it, go for it.

We can all give examples of random accidents to highlight how dangerous anything is.

Oh stuff it then lets all take silly risks. you should ask him if he's happy being the way he is and if he could have prevented it would he..Or would he do it the same way again. We all take acceptable risks everyday. But had the OH uncle been wearing a helmet he may have got away with a couple of broken bones however NOT wearing one has meant a whole lot worse a scenario


Would you cross the road without looking. NO you take the simplest necessary precautions.
Putting a helmet on is easy.

When I first got my helmet after riding a couple of times before I got one I fell off within 20 feet of setting off. Banged my head on the floor and went crosseyed for 10 mins. If I'd not been wearing a helmet would definitely have meant at least 1 day off work. So a helmet to me is worth it.

diy

I think the arguments against riding with a helmet are nowhere as strong as they are for motorbikes, and the argument for motorbikes are not that strong at all.

The only thing I could possibly think is either risk compensation or getting tangled.

supersonic

To many it is an acceptable risk. They may have been riding hundreds of thousands of miles and never once hit their head. They assess the risks and take appropriate measures.

I hope he pulls through, of course he would not like to be in that situation. But his circumstances may be different from another persons, and for that reason I will not preach to others about a choice I can make. I recommend them, but in the end the rider will weigh up the pros and cons. As they do with shin pads, neck braces, goggles or crossing the road.

thistle_

Has anybody mentioned the really obvious benefits of wearing a helmet?

Something nice and solid to fit a headtorch/head cam to?
All that polystyrene insulation helps keep you a little warmer in the winter?
Those foamy bits inside act as sweat bands to keep you dry?
The visors being a godsend on early morning rides when the sun is low in the sky?

I wear my lid most of the time, except when one of my neighbours is out when I deliberately don't because it winds him up.

mattyg2004

My point was more about the other people it affects. Just because you may see being in a coma or worse dying as an acceptable risk. What do your loved ones think.

For those of you with kids.
If they said daddy I dont want to wear a helmet. Would you say ok.

supersonic

But it depends on the numbers associated with the risk, not just that there is a risk. This is the crux of it. The only way to stop the risk is not to partake in the activity.

Children are far more likely to hit their heads. So this is why many adults make the decision for thie children.

cooldad

I often see kids with helmets and parents without. No way to set an example.