Washed out on some wet leaves cracked helmet :-(

veronese68

What constitutes a dangerous pastime? Cycling is well down the list. DIY, walking, getting out of bed?
If you check you're not badly hurt before worrying about kit I don't believe you are a true Yorkshireman. :P

surrey_commuter

If you will forgive me a brief economics lesson it is probably less expensive if people wear less safety gear as they are more likely to die outright. It is counter-intuitive but smokers should be applauded for dying early and leading a long and increasingly expensive life. Maybe tax breaks should be offered to smokers

vinnymarsden

What constitutes a dangerous pastime? Cycling is well down the list. DIY, walking, getting out of bed?
If you check you're not badly hurt before worrying about kit I don't believe you are a true Yorkshireman. :P


Lol I am a true Yorkie…and as my face was going for the pavement edge i honestly recall thinking for a split second….this is going to be bad on all my kit!!!!!

Sleeper Cell

Surrey Commuter wrote:

It is counter-intuitive but smokers should be applauded for dying early and leading a long and increasingly expensive life. Maybe tax breaks should be offered to smokers

Maybe smoking should be made even more dangerous (occasional exploding cigarettes, super high tar and asbestos) with a caveat that all your posessions are passed to the state if you die of a smoking-related illness.

veronese68

VinnyMarsden wrote:

Lol I am a true Yorkie…and as my face was going for the pavement edge i honestly recall thinking for a split second….this is going to be bad on all my kit!!!!!

Before you hit the deck. OK, I'll give you that you are definitely a genuine Yorkshireman.

DavidJB

VinnyMarsden wrote:

As for the person saying helmet debate yawn yawn..I can only say…for me there is NO debate…wear one of end up badly hurt..your choice, for me there is no choice..the number of older riders I see with no helmet astounds me….but hey, as people like to say…my life, i will live it…pity the NHS usually picks up the tab after people of that ilk make a mess of their chosen daredevil stunts, or just plain reckless outlook.

Not sure me yawning at a 'helmet debate' means I don't wear one. I do.

craigus89

You are all helmets.

MartinB2444

Australia - helmets made compulsory. Cycling related head injuries reduced. Number of people actively riding reduced proportionately - thought to be due to increase in fears that cycling is dangerous. The law has therefore had an overall negative impact on public health (wake up BMA!)

I wear a helmet - keeps wife happy and can't be accused of "contributory negligence" in the event of an accident.

Solution - wear the cracked helmet but don't tell anyone, oh, hang on...

chrisaonabike

Craigus89 wrote:

You are all helmets.

I polish my helmet every time I go out, makes me more aero...

.,... so I can't think why I'm always so tired.

sigorman85

Replaced the helmet now with a mavic syncro. now need some new shoes and bibtights oh and gloves will also be on the list shredded palms are quite painful

d_o_g

What's the matter with your shoes?

MartinB2444

cyd190468 wrote:

MartinB2444 wrote:

Australia - helmets made compulsory. Cycling related head injuries reduced. Number of people actively riding reduced proportionately - thought to be due to increase in fears that cycling is dangerous. The law has therefore had an overall negative impact on public health (wake up BMA!)

Actually the stats show that the reduction in participation mainly involved 12-17 yearolds and only lasted for a few years. It was a short term effect produced by the difficulty of forcing teenagers to be safe. This cohort has now passed through and participation numbers continue to rise as they were before the laws came in.

And the head injury numbers?

gingaman

D O G wrote:

What's the matter with your shoes?

Didn't you see? They got a scratch on them... :roll:

MartinB2444

That's a great link, thanks.

fwgx

All the arguments for not wearing a helmet seem pretty daft to me.
Your head is the one part of you that can have a huge impact on your future if smashed into a big hard surface. Talk of shin guards is a stupid argument.
Most proponents for not wearing a helmet that I have seen take the point of view that they are in complete control of their cycling and given that they are a good cyclist means they will not have an accident, or if they do it'll be little more than a small flesh wound. They probably think wearing thick leather trousers whilst operating a chainsaw is stupid because if you really tried you could still saw your leg off. It's the same argument and suffers the same flaws, namely helmets are not supposed to keep you 100% safe when hit by a speeding truck. But smaller accidents can still have life changing implications.

The biggest problem is that no one is ever 100% in control when they go out on their bike. There are rider errors, the conditions, a slippy drain / leaves, potholes, other drivers and pedestrians, the weather, mechanical failures, emergency stops etc. You only need a very small slip in concentration or something small to go wrong and in the blink of an eye you're lying on the ground in much pain and blood.

I think of it like this. There is a non-zero chance that I might come off my bike and hit my head (I've done it before, I'll probably do it again). A human's head weighs about 8kg and will be making contact with the road / a rock / curb etc from around the height of 1.5m. This is the equivalent of someone dropping an 8kg rock on your head from around 1.5m. I'd like to be wearing a helmet in that event.

johnboy183

This^^ yes I may make the injury worse with rotational forces coming into play, speed and angle of impact or whatever, but I'd rather risk that then hitting the kerb or the road without my helmet on my head. It may just make the difference to mine and my families future

bigmat

fwgx wrote:

I think of it like this. There is a non-zero chance that I might come off my bike and hit my head (I've done it before, I'll probably do it again). A human's head weighs about 8kg and will be making contact with the road / a rock / curb etc from around the height of 1.5m. This is the equivalent of someone dropping an 8kg rock on your head from around 1.5m. I'd like to be wearing a helmet in that event.

You could make a similar argument for walking, or driving, yet nobody is encouraged to wear a helmet for those activities. Ultimately its a risk / benefit assessment which should be left to the individual (IMO).

veronese68

BigMat wrote:

You could make a similar argument for walking, or driving, yet nobody is encouraged to wear a helmet for those activities. Ultimately its a risk / benefit assessment which should be left to the individual (IMO).

This, very much this.

vinnymarsden

Veronese68 wrote:

BigMat wrote:

You could make a similar argument for walking, or driving, yet nobody is encouraged to wear a helmet for those activities. Ultimately its a risk / benefit assessment which should be left to the individual (IMO).

This, very much this.

NO not very much this…yes it is your decision..but its is extremely selfish to place everyone else in the position of having to see your swede splattered all over the road..causing anguish/horror to pedestrians road users etc..might be a bit graphic, but I have seen such incidents…it's not nice…a helmet could have saved at least one of them!!

fwgx

That's fine, take the risk, knock yourself out.

I hope you have no loved ones or dependents, for their sake.

veronese68

VinnyMarsden wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

BigMat wrote:

You could make a similar argument for walking, or driving, yet nobody is encouraged to wear a helmet for those activities. Ultimately its a risk / benefit assessment which should be left to the individual (IMO).

This, very much this.

NO not very much this…yes it is your decision..but its is extremely selfish to place everyone else in the position of having to see your swede splattered all over the road..causing anguish/horror to pedestrians road users etc..might be a bit graphic, but I have seen such incidents…it's not nice…a helmet could have saved at least one of them!!

You think an accident severe enough to cause splattering of a persons head is going to be helped by a bit of expanded polystyrene? It might stop a bit of claret and it might protect from a fractured skull but there is only so much a helmet can do.
When I was having my hand operated on after an accident the anaesthetist, also a cyclist, was talking to me about helmet wearing and was saying that a brain surgeon there wouldn't wear one as he didn't think they made enough difference. I do actually wear one, as do many of the advocates of choice, in the hope that if I do have an accident it may help and is unlikely to make matters worse.
Do you think people involved in any activity that has a risk of head injury should be forced to wear crash helmets?

apreading

Helmet may mean that you have no physical harm at all from an accident that would otherwise hurt a bit or alot
Helmet *may* let you walk away from an accident that could otherwise have serious harm
Helmet *may* let you sustain serious harm instead of a fatality (could mean you are a vegetable instead of dead but with some luck you will fare better than that)
Helmet is not guaranteed to stop a fatality but any other head injury should be reduced at the very least...

Mind you, I am all for people who dont want to wear helmets doing as they wish - then natural selection can take its course!

I found a significant attitude change when my children started cycling and realised that any safety measures I wanted to apply to them should also apply to me.

Sleeper Cell

Sleeper Cell wrote:

There is no debate. The final answer is that while riding with a helmet may reduce the chances of and severity of a head injury in some circumstances, it can't protect riders in all situations from all injuries caused either by themselves or other road users. While some people quote some stats, other people quote others, each not actually proving their point but the increasing vitriol in successive posts eventually leads to the thread being locked.

Riders should wear helmets if they want to, and shouldn't if they don't want to. However, riders that choose to not wear a helmet are forever banned from trying to get sympathy for injuries received while not wearing safety equipment designed to mitigate the risk. Anybody complaining about such an injury is like a whining child that fails to see the link between their actions and the consequences.

<cough>

Now, stop it!

Bozman

I thought folk were really stretching out the wet leaves issue, blimey oh Riley.

Twenty odd years of cycling, sometimes I wear one and sometimes I don't, I've yet to fall off or have been knocked off while I'm wearing a helmet, but every time I've come off or have been knocked off my bike(4 by a car) I haven't been wearing a helmet. So.... Maybe there is something to this helmet wearing stuff.

I'm wearing my helmet until the squirrels disappear for the winter.

sigorman85

Think I've started it again ! Sorry

Oh and shoes have a flat part worn on the out side and the inside is starting to feel uncomfortable so it time for a new pair

veronese68

sigorman85 wrote:

Think I've started it again ! Sorry

Write out "I must not start a helmet thread" 200 times and that will be the end of it. No copying and pasting mind.

sigorman85

Shame I can't close this down or can I?

sigorman85

Shame I can't close this down or can I?

chris_bass

I really can't get my head around (pun intended) why people care so much about what other people wear or don't wear? It baffles me.

Bozman

I know that we're all different, but after reading this thread I feel that some folk need to take a trip to the doctors and have that broom handle removed from their ar5e.........if that is possible. Lighten up.