A close shave: the numpties are about...

[jefmcg]

Oh, you'll be interested to know that I was asked twice in the hospital whether I was wearing a helmet ... obviously had I not been, the, er, shoulder injury would have been far worse, though the hedge might have got off more lightly from my head impact.

This does not surprise me.

There is a very, as in VERY, determined helmet lobby in the UK.

I've posted this before but it's worth a re-post.

I was working in my shed when I pulled a pair of pedals from a hook under the shelf. They were tied together and the second one snagged and then sprung free, catching me above the eyebrow. It beld profusely and within seconds I was blinded by blood running into both eyes.
I felt my way into the house and found the phoned my wife, who was out shopping, and she came home and ran me to the hospital.
The A&E nurse treated me, super-gluing the gash above my eyes and washing off the blood, then
filled in an accident form.

Q. How did it happen?
A. I hit my head with a cycle pedal.

Q. Were you wearing a helmet?
A. No! I was in my shed and pulled it onto my head!

Nurse fills in form with 'Cycling accident-No helmet.'
Me. Hang on it wasn't a cycling accident, the pedal wasn't on a bike, I was in my shed and why the **** should I wear a cycling helmet in the shed?

The row escalates and the A&E Sister turns up in the cubicle.

Sister. What's the problem?
Nurse. He hit his head with a bike pedal.
Sister, That's a cycling accident, was he wearing a helmet?
Me. I was in my shed why should I wear a helmet???
etc. etc. etc.

End result? They put it down as a head injury due to cycling and I was not wearing a helmet!

Does anyone think that if I'd pulled a carburettor onto my head it would have been a motoring accident, with no seatbelt? Or pulling an aircraft radar unit onto my head it would have been an air accident?

Theory.
The statistics are being fiddled and the helmet lobby are part of it.
Conclusion.
That's something that my experience reinforces and the net result has been that I no longer wear a helmet. What's more, I'm quite prepared to ignore any future law mandating helmets. If they want to cheat the statistics, I'm up for challenging the law.

 

[briantrumpet]

Careful ... or the thread will get moved ...

 

[Saluki]

Glad you are OK.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Lucky there was handy hedge nearby! GWS!

 

[raleighnut]

Close one that, hope you're not too sore.

 

[briantrumpet]

I've gone to bed with my friends Para Cetamol and Ibru Profen. This time the medics didn't ask me the question "On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your pain, where 10 is the worst you can imagine?" I never know how to answer, as I've never given birth, had kidney stones, or had the CIA trying to persuade me to say stuff. Relatively, it's barely a tickle, even before my bedtime companions start to get to work on me.

 

[briantrumpet]

Fame's been a long time coming... the local paper has posted my photo and report.

http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co....cars-cyclist/story-25706913-detail/story.html

 

[Accy cyclist]

We have to be extra vigilant at this time of the year. Not only due to the weather and as the OP's pic shows the low sun but also the boozers and the aggressive Christmas shoppers!

 

[machew]

Yes, the impact speed was somewhere between 40-60mph, and everyone got out of their vehicles unaided, though one was taken to hospital as he was looking really rough with shock, and the front seat passenger of the other had struck his head on the windscreen, it seemed, so they took him off on a spinal board to check for neck & concussion complications, though he was very chirpy, talking selfies with his mate in the ambulance. I also went to A&E (bike with me in the ambo) to make sure nothing was broken (which it wasn't apart from my mudguard.) Oh, and then I cycled home from A&E. As you do.

Passenger Should have been wearing a helmet then he wouldn't have needed a trip to the hospital

 

[Cuchilo]

I had a guy yesterday wheel spin out of a side road , drive diagonal across a main road and then just before entering the other side road had to slam on the brakes because he finally saw me in front of him . We both slammed on the brakes but I just coasted in front of him and thought my numbers where up but he managed to stop . He then shook his head at me like I was in the wrong !
He window was open a little so as I passed it I said " don't look at me like I was the c*** ! He drove off a lot slower .
Out of saxon ave and into pevensey rd .

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.4444231,-0.3853224,77m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

[coffeejo]

Yes, the impact speed was somewhere between 40-60mph, and everyone got out of their vehicles unaided, though one was taken to hospital as he was looking really rough with shock, and the front seat passenger of the other had struck his head on the windscreen, it seemed, so they took him off on a spinal board to check for neck & concussion complications, though he was very chirpy, talking selfies with his mate in the ambulance. I also went to A&E (bike with me in the ambo) to make sure nothing was broken (which it wasn't apart from my mudguard.) Oh, and then I cycled home from A&E. As you do.

Could have been shock / adrenalin - put a fellow club member in an ambulance a couple of winters ago following a mountain biking accident (sliced her leg open to the bone) and she was as high as a kite on the pain, insisting I take photos of her on the trolley and in the ambulance. She has absolutely no memory of this.

 

[Easytigers]

Just glad you're ok (and the bike!). Hope you're not too sore this morning

 

[briantrumpet]

Just glad you're ok (and the bike!). Hope you're not too sore this morning

Sore (the pain's moved out towards the point of the shoulder from round the back), but at least having had it X-rayed I've got the comfort that it's nothing too serious. I've just taken the paracetamol and ibruprofen ... later I'll work out if I can ride the bike without wincing.

 

[vickster]

You would be best to give the cycling a rest until it feels better, you don't want to make a shoulder injury worse

GWS

 

[briantrumpet]

You would be best to give the cycling a rest until it feels better, you don't want to make a shoulder injury worse

GWS

I checked with the medic - and she gave the go-ahead, on the basis that using it won't make the injury worse, and will actually help, as it's best to keep it moving (as long as I don't go diving into more hedges, using my shoulder as a crumple zone).