It's official: Bike helmets are useless (oh no, not again!)
Comments
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Out of curiosity, what are your reasons for not wearing one?
Disclaimer - whilst I do wear a helmet I fully support people who choose not to,what others do has no impact on my cycling.www.conjunctivitis.com - a site for sore eyes0 -
Slightly more comfortable, slightly cooler, I like the wind blowing through what is left of my hair, but mostly there is less air noise around my ears. That came as a pleasant surprise after a sustained period of wearing a helmet.Out of curiosity, what are your reasons for not wearing one?
Disclaimer - whilst I do wear a helmet I fully support people who choose not to,what others do has no impact on my cycling.
Disclaimer - I am not against wearing a helmet. I wear one if going in congested areas, or fast descents.
I just don't like being told what I can and cannot do, assuming it is legal.The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
I wear German military style caps instead as i find them more useful than a helmet. The tiny brims on helmets don't keep the sun out of my glasses the way a longer brim on a cap does. They don't keep the rain off them either. Again, because they are too short, and because they aren't an integral part of the helmet so water just runs down the back of them and drips down onto my specs till i can't see where the hell i'm going. They also have all those bloody vents in them (why do helmet manufacturers think i want air, rain, flies and other crap on my head).
The only disadvantage is the lack of head protection in a crash. But even then i've found that wearing a bump cap can cover that (a hard hat cunningly disguised as a baseball cap).0 -
@ Oiuja - bump cap? Pics please, does it have a strap? I wear a bandana :oops: underneath my helmet for flies and hail. I went out xmas day 2014 and got caught in a hailstorm that was unknowingly trapped in the vents on top of my winter hat. It slowly melted and dribbled down my neck till I was as cold as a fridge. I still haven't recovered from that ride!seanoconn - gruagach craic!0
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We know.I still haven't recovered from that ride!The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
That's why you're supposed to follow the link to the original research which is from a .edu. The University of New South Wales.[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19637588#p19637588]The Hundredth Idiot[/url] wrote:http://blogs.crikey.com.au/theurbanist/2012/10/07/what-are-the-benefits-of-bicycle-helmets/
Please take advantage of the links to peer reviewed papers.
Hold on, that isn't a .edu or a .org. Must be rubbish ...
But your original point was that cyclehelmets.org and the like were rubbish because they are not .org or .edu. Putting aside that cyclehelmets.org IS a .org, it also links to lots of peer reviewed papers.
Cycle helmets are not that big a deal. I can see why they appeal to some people but cycling isn't particularly dangerous compared to walking or being in a car, so why the fuss about cycle helmets without making a similar fuss about walking helmets or car helmets?
And even when cyclists do have accidents, the evidence seems pretty weak about the benefit of wearing a helmet - if there was really strong evidence, we wouldn't have these interminable arguments.
Wear one if you want but don't harrass other people for making a perfectly reasonable decision not to wear one. The Dutch seem to cope perfectly well without helmets for every day, utility cycling and we (English speaking world) should learn to do the same.Never be tempted to race against a Barclays Cycle Hire bike. If you do, there are only two outcomes. Of these, by far the better is that you now have the scalp of a Boris Bike.0 -
Utter fail. It isn't, or hospitals & mortuaries would be full of cyclists who would have been ok but for the presence of a helmet.Cyclehelmets.org links to lots of stuff but I couldn't find one peer reviewed paper. The closest I could find was a PhD thesis from a Canadian university student. The only one I could find that was published was in a journal with an impact factor of 0.00. ie. no one reads it or cites it. Also cycling is much more dangerous than walking. Almost every human on earth walks every day, only a small fraction cycle every day so serious injury from walking should be thousands of times more common than from cycling due to the higher participation even if both are equally risky. Very few people die each year skydiving but that's because very few people go skydiving.
Honestly the desperation of some people to make non-helmet wearing out to be some sort of crime is alarming. You need peer-reviewed scientific papers to believe what most sensible people know, that we ride bikes from an early age and fall off the things from time to time, and when we do we hurt our knees, elbows & hands? Nobody cares if you wear a plastic hat or not. It'd be nice if you helmet evangelists could reciprocate that apathy, or better still just keep your alarmist childish preaching to yourselves.0 -
@ Oiuja - bump cap? Pics please, does it have a strap? I wear a bandana :oops: underneath my helmet for flies and hail. I went out xmas day 2014 and got caught in a hailstorm that was unknowingly trapped in the vents on top of my winter hat. It slowly melted and dribbled down my neck till I was as cold as a fridge. I still haven't recovered from that ride!
Can't believe you've never seen a bump cap. Essentially a hard plastic hard hat worn on building sites and factories covered with fabric to look like a soft cap (some come with straps, some don't, and others have detachable ones). You can get them in large brimmed "baseball" style or small brimmed "pill box" styles
Like so...
and even the ones that don't come with straps can have a conventional chin strap retrofitted to them...
(all you really need is a strap with clamps similar to what you find on braces)
For winters... lol.
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stylish!
does it not just get really really hot?
Depends what your used to. I've never felt the need to have that much air flowing over my head ( i have no hair anyway) no more than i feel a need to slash my cycling clothing for better ventilation (i don't sweat much). Especially in the winter. Like i said, i tend to wear soft caps but still have a bump cap left over from my old job.
Not something i could ever see a roadie wearing, mind you (we know how much they hate brims).0 -
Peer reviewed papers on Cyclehelmets .org
Elvik R. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 2011;43(3):1245-1251. which is a response to
Attewell RG, Glase K, McFadden M. Bicycle helmet efficacy: a meta-analysis. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 2001v33 n3 p345-52.
and
Thompson DC, Rivara FP, Thompson RS.. Helmets for preventing head and facial injuries in bicyclists (Cochrane Review). Cochrane Database Syst Rev, issue 4, 2002
It also refers to
Amoros, Chiron, Ndiaye and Laumon, 2009 Effet du casque sur les blessures à la tête, à la face et au cou. INRETS, Lyon Rapport UMRESTTE No0912.
Attewell RG, Glase K, McFadden M, 2001. Bicycle helmet efficacy: a meta-analysis. Accident Analysis & Prevention 2001-05 v33 n3 p345-52.
Curnow WJ, 2005. The Cochrane Collaboration and bicycle helmets. Accident Analysis & Prevention 2005;37(3):569-573.
Hansen KS, Engesaeter LB, Viste A, 2003. Protective effect of different types of bicycle helmets. Traffic Inj Prev 2003;4(4):285-290.
Hausotter W, 2000. Fahrradunfälle mit und ohne Fahrradhelm. Versicherungsmedizin 52:28-32.
Heng KWJ, Lee AH, Zhu S, Tham KY, Seow E, 2006. Helmet use and bicycle-related trauma in patients presenting to an acute hospital in Singapore. Singapore Medical Journal 2006;47(5):367-372.
Littell JH, Corcoran J, Pillai V, 2008. Systematic reviews and meta-analysis. Oxford University Press ISBN13: 9780195326543.
Rothstein H, Sutton AJ, Borenstein M, 2005. Publication bias in meta-analysis. Prevention, assessment and adjustments. John Wiley & Sons .
Thompson DC, Rivara FP, Thompson RS., 2002. Helmets for preventing head and facial injuries in bicyclists (Cochrane Review). Cochrane Database Syst Rev issue 4, 2002.
Towner E, Dowswell T, Burkes M, Dickinson H, Towner J, Hayes M, 2002. Bicycle helmets - a review of their effectiveness: a critical review of the literature. Department for Transport Road Safety Research Report 30
These are given under the first of the eight links to the research on the homepage. I am not sure how much more peer reviewed science you were expecting.0 -
Huh?
I bet you thought using logic was going to be effective.
You must use a helmet because someone else on the internet thinks it is a good idea. That trumps all.The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
@ Oiuja - bump cap? Pics please, does it have a strap? I wear a bandana :oops: underneath my helmet for flies and hail. I went out xmas day 2014 and got caught in a hailstorm that was unknowingly trapped in the vents on top of my winter hat. It slowly melted and dribbled down my neck till I was as cold as a fridge. I still haven't recovered from that ride!
Can't believe you've never seen a bump cap. Essentially a hard plastic hard hat worn on building sites and factories covered with fabric to look like a soft cap (some come with straps, some don't, and others have detachable ones). You can get them in large brimmed "baseball" style or small brimmed "pill box" styles
Like so...
Lol. I have one of those in the van. Might wear it underneath my helmet on cold wet winter days when the low sun is shimmering off the tarmac. The downside is that it is a fluorescent orangey pink stinking of Fahrenheit from the guy who left it to me Although wearing it instead of a helmet may leave your ears exposed to...
I did chuck the bloody peak attachment away when I bought my spesh helmet thinking that I didn't want to look like a crudder :roll:
Wots I can't figure out is why the helmet evangelists have a go at me when I already wear one!! I only started wearing one when I became a dad. Odd.seanoconn - gruagach craic!0 -
[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19642171#p19642171]The Hundredth Idiot[/url] wrote:
That's why you're supposed to follow the link to the original research which is from a .edu. The University of New South Wales.[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19637588#p19637588]The Hundredth Idiot[/url] wrote:http://blogs.crikey.com.au/theurbanist/2012/10/07/what-are-the-benefits-of-bicycle-helmets/
Please take advantage of the links to peer reviewed papers.
Hold on, that isn't a .edu or a .org. Must be rubbish ...
But your original point was that cyclehelmets.org and the like were rubbish because they are not .org or .edu. Putting aside that cyclehelmets.org IS a .org, it also links to lots of peer reviewed papers.
Cycle helmets are not that big a deal. I can see why they appeal to some people but cycling isn't particularly dangerous compared to walking or being in a car, so why the fuss about cycle helmets without making a similar fuss about walking helmets or car helmets?
And even when cyclists do have accidents, the evidence seems pretty weak about the benefit of wearing a helmet - if there was really strong evidence, we wouldn't have these interminable arguments.
Wear one if you want but don't harrass other people for making a perfectly reasonable decision not to wear one. The Dutch seem to cope perfectly well without helmets for every day, utility cycling and we (English speaking world) should learn to do the same.
I wonder how many Dutch people would start wearing helmets if they cycled every day through UK cities, instead of the perfect cycling-first infastructure they enjoy?0 -
I still can't believe that people read that stuff.
I'd rather go out on my bike instead.The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
Did you actually check. I checked half a dozen of those links and found that they were either unpublished or many are published in the same journal 'Accident Analysis & Prevention" which is one of those journals that no one seems to know about in academic circles. It has an academic impact factor of one, which generally means it is someone self-publishing or it's an online journal that will publish anything if you pay the fee. Elsevier is full of that kind of stuff.Peer reviewed papers on Cyclehelmets .org
Elvik R. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 2011;43(3):1245-1251. which is a response to
Attewell RG, Glase K, McFadden M. Bicycle helmet efficacy: a meta-analysis. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 2001v33 n3 p345-52.
and
Thompson DC, Rivara FP, Thompson RS.. Helmets for preventing head and facial injuries in bicyclists (Cochrane Review). Cochrane Database Syst Rev, issue 4, 2002
It also refers to
Amoros, Chiron, Ndiaye and Laumon, 2009 Effet du casque sur les blessures à la tête, à la face et au cou. INRETS, Lyon Rapport UMRESTTE No0912.
Attewell RG, Glase K, McFadden M, 2001. Bicycle helmet efficacy: a meta-analysis. Accident Analysis & Prevention 2001-05 v33 n3 p345-52.
Curnow WJ, 2005. The Cochrane Collaboration and bicycle helmets. Accident Analysis & Prevention 2005;37(3):569-573.
Hansen KS, Engesaeter LB, Viste A, 2003. Protective effect of different types of bicycle helmets. Traffic Inj Prev 2003;4(4):285-290.
Hausotter W, 2000. Fahrradunfälle mit und ohne Fahrradhelm. Versicherungsmedizin 52:28-32.
Heng KWJ, Lee AH, Zhu S, Tham KY, Seow E, 2006. Helmet use and bicycle-related trauma in patients presenting to an acute hospital in Singapore. Singapore Medical Journal 2006;47(5):367-372.
Littell JH, Corcoran J, Pillai V, 2008. Systematic reviews and meta-analysis. Oxford University Press ISBN13: 9780195326543.
Rothstein H, Sutton AJ, Borenstein M, 2005. Publication bias in meta-analysis. Prevention, assessment and adjustments. John Wiley & Sons .
Thompson DC, Rivara FP, Thompson RS., 2002. Helmets for preventing head and facial injuries in bicyclists (Cochrane Review). Cochrane Database Syst Rev issue 4, 2002.
Towner E, Dowswell T, Burkes M, Dickinson H, Towner J, Hayes M, 2002. Bicycle helmets - a review of their effectiveness: a critical review of the literature. Department for Transport Road Safety Research Report 30
These are given under the first of the eight links to the research on the homepage. I am not sure how much more peer reviewed science you were expecting.
Actually, I didn't check too deeply, I just cut and pasted the articles behind the first link. Looking back, I have made a few mistakes, the Elvik article isn't titled (should be: Publication bias and time-trend bias in meta-analysis of bicycle helmet efficacy: A re-analysis of Attewell, Glase and McFadden), the Thompson Rivara paper is referenced twice and two are textbooks about publication bias.
All these studies are published: four in Accident analysis and prevention (IF 2.6), one from Cochrane Library (IF not known), one from UMRESTTE Lyon University transport project (IF not known), one from traffic injury prevention (IF 1.3), one from Versicherungsmedizin, a german insurance journal (no IF figure) and the DoT Road Safety RR, (IF not applicable).
Strangely, the peer reviewed paper you approve of: http://blogs.crikey.com.au/theurbanist/2012/10/07/what-are-the-benefits-of-bicycle-helmets/ was also published in Accident analysis and prevention.
2.6 is actually a very high Impact Factor in a specialist field, but if there are other journals in the field of accident epidemiology that would be more appropriate, please let me know.0
