Helmets . whats the point. New study

Back by popular demand, the general all-things Road forum!

Moderator: robbosmans

Squint
Posts: 240
Joined: Mon Oct 10, 2005 9:23 pm

by Squint

It's also a false dichotomy since you can have helmet legislation and improved infrastructure.

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



User avatar
BRM
Posts: 817
Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2014 3:43 pm

by BRM

spud wrote:did a long ride once w/o my helmet as I'd forgotten it, and I hated it. left extra room in the pace line just in case.
Regarding legislation, as long as the public is on the hook when someone dashes their brains out, then legislation makes sense. Long term care is expensive.


Facts:
Its a proven fact that when people use protection in what ever form they start to take more risk.
Studies on safety systems in cars underlines that. With all modern systems in cars to keep it on the road in bad conditions makes people began to drive with more risk. Also known as Risk-Compensation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_compensation

Some psychology:
A person that put on his bike clothes and helmet before going out, is like a knight that put his armer on, ready to battle . . . In the back of the mind of the average person is the thought hey i have a helmet so Im protected. A pretty false thought. A helmet doesnt protect you. A helmet only limits in certain ways the damage of your brain till certain levels. But it does nothing for the rest of your body. And when you fall on the asphalt and a truck is driving over your head, it doesnt matter if youre wearing a helmet or not.

More risk with a helmet:
Here you underline my words because you drive without helmet safer than with a helmet. (your own words) You take more risk with a helmet. So wearing a helmet increases the possibility of an accident in certain ways.
Last edited by BRM on Sat Nov 07, 2015 8:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
BRM
Posts: 817
Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2014 3:43 pm

by BRM

efeballi wrote:Few years ago, a motorbike rider died of head injuries while he was in an anti-helmet legislation demonstration, on his motorbike.



In the meantime thousands of motorcyclists in the world died in accidents wearing a helmet . . .

Poulidor
Posts: 74
Joined: Sun Aug 23, 2015 3:50 am

by Poulidor

I hate helmets. I don't own a motorcycle because I must wear a helmet. However, when riding a bicycle even "just" road rash on your head from falling while not wearing a helmet can be pretty bad. Riding a bicycle at speed with your feet tied to the pedals would require wearing a helmet, I'd say. Common sense royally trumps statistics in this case, I believe.

User avatar
stockae92
Posts: 295
Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2015 5:13 pm

by stockae92

natural selection at work here. good luck. :)

i also heard you can save a few watts by not wearing cycling gloves.

User avatar
stockae92
Posts: 295
Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2015 5:13 pm

by stockae92

Jerry Seinfeld

"There are many things that we can point to that proof that the human being is not smart. The helmet is my personal favorite. The fact that we had to invent the helmet. Now why did we invent the helmet? Well, because we were participating in many activities that were cracking our heads. We looked at the situation. We chose not to avoid these activities, but to just make little plastic hats so that we can continue our head-cracking lifestyles.

The only thing dumber than the helmet is the helmet law, the point of which is to protect a brain that is functioning so poorly, it's not even trying to stop the cracking of the head that it's in..."

But still, I choose to wear my cycling helmet for my rides ... LOL

User avatar
nickf
Posts: 1427
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2010 10:34 pm

by nickf

I wear a helmet any time i get on a bike no matter the distance or location. Gloves not so much though.

xena
Banned
Posts: 1149
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2014 9:49 pm

by xena

Thanks for some of your kind words :lol:

I was a cycle courier in London for a few years, never wore a helmet , my hair at that time used to be half way down my back [its now shoulder length] and I was easy to spot. I did get few shouts of get your hair cut or where is your helmet but this only proves that people noticed/spotted me on my bike. I had far less crashes [ you will crash doing that job] than some of my fellow workers who wore lids.
I have rode loads of big col's in France etc, infact just came back from Nice last week. Its never been a issue for me I have been riding a bike a long time. I usually wear a hair band to keep the hair off my face.
I may well be very lucky but I don't know one cyclist who had crashed and hit his or head. For all those of you who have worn a helmet and its saved you then I am pleased you are still here and you made the right choice.
I feel for me that not wearing a lid is safer. That's my choice and I don't want it taken away.

[especially by a baldy :lol: ]
Xena a demi god among the digital demimonde that is WW community

http://i.imgur.com/hL5v3ai.jpg

https://www.flickr.com/photos/131970499@N02/

User avatar
Miller
Posts: 2764
Joined: Thu Sep 21, 2006 8:54 pm
Location: Reading, UK

by Miller

Seems like the 'land of the free' comes down pretty hard on a view going against the herd.

Anyway this study isn't really about sport cycling, it's about utility cycling - anyone here do that? Try telling Dutch people they've got to wear a helmet as they pedal to the shops or to work or whatever.

User avatar
kgt
Posts: 8749
Joined: Sun Jun 18, 2006 10:29 am
Location: Athens, Greece

by kgt

Obviously the report is about legislation vs injuries and not about the use or not of helmets vs injuries.

I had also cracked a helmet and that when I was 16 years old. Two weeks in the hospital and two long surgeries but I am still alive.

dmp
Posts: 422
Joined: Fri May 08, 2009 8:31 pm
Location: Seattle

by dmp

There is a direct correlation between the wearing of a helmet and the value one puts on the contents of one's head. Or put another way, if you have a $10 head wear a $10 helmet.

I also cracked a helmet in a crash (my first time, last year after decades of riding).

goodboyr
Posts: 1487
Joined: Wed Jan 10, 2007 10:56 pm
Location: Canada

by goodboyr

Just as long as you guys fill out your organ donor cards, I could care less whether you wear your helmets. I however will continue to wear mine.

Bogan
Posts: 301
Joined: Tue Feb 11, 2014 11:47 pm
Location: Boganville, Australia

by Bogan

It is like a seatbelt in car, I get in a car, I have to belt up. I get on a bike without a lid, i don't feel comfortable anymore. I have banged 2 helmets on the road over the years, both in situations I had no control over. Bloody glad I had a helmet on. To me it is common sense.
MAMIL? Never. O.F.I.L. yeh! (Old F**ker in Lycra)

xena
Banned
Posts: 1149
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2014 9:49 pm

by xena

I must say and I don't mean to be rude but quite a few of you seemed to have had head crashes/ cracked helmets.
Seems to be very high statistics for WW's to wear a helmet.
Xena a demi god among the digital demimonde that is WW community

http://i.imgur.com/hL5v3ai.jpg

https://www.flickr.com/photos/131970499@N02/

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



User avatar
de zwarten
Posts: 896
Joined: Thu Dec 28, 2006 7:32 pm
Location: belgium

by de zwarten

I ride 10K a year. I have 2 cracked helmets. One in 2008 during a race, and one a month ago during a fast training ride.
Besides those 2 crashes in 100K kilometers, I never even touched the ground. After the 2008 crash, I could have done without a helmet for 70K and 7 years without a helmet and feel perfectly safe.

In that last crash, a guy that fell over me didn't even realize he had a crack in his helmet until some days later.
So he didn't even realize he had an impact on his head, because of his helmet!


In a car, I ride 40K a year. 3 minor accidents, in which I didn't need my seatbelt. That is more than 500K without needing a seatbelt.
So I would say from personal experience, that seatbelts are overrated, and helmets are an absolute necessity.

But never mind people who feel perfectly safe because they were lucky! I hope they keep their luck, but it would be wise if they don't bet on their luck riding sans helmet.

Post Reply