Benefits of wearing a helmet

[Tinuts]

Do you really think a Magic Foam Hat is going to save your life? Stop some cuts and bruises, sure, but it's a bit of a stretch to think it'll do more.

Well, if it were magic then probably yes! We can debate the lifesaving properties till the cows come home but, from my own experiences, I'm convinced enough of a good helmet's ability to help prevent concussion - and that can only be a good thing. Unless, of course, you enjoy being knocked out!

 

[taxing]

To me they imply good road skills.

A safe environment or activity requires neither skill nor protective headgear to survive it.
A hazardous environment or activity requires skill and/or protective headgear to survive.

I the context of the Alleycat the riders needed to be skillful. In the context of everyday cycling on ordinary roads I am saying that protective headgear should not be necessary.

I agree wholeheartedly with this, hence why I don't wear a helmet. What I'm saying is that Lee was vociferously supporting the idea of wearing a helmet earlier on ('HELMETS SAVE LIVES', etc.), yet finds the Alleycat riders' style admirable. I think that riding without a helmet in a normal, sensible way on the roads will keep you safer than riding like they do with helmets.

 

[ferret fur]

Do you really think a Magic Foam Hat is going to save your life? Stop some cuts and bruises, sure, but it's a bit of a stretch to think it'll do more.

Whereas airbags are just some plastic and a bit of gas

 

[hackbike 666]

dondare, on 08 August 2010 - 14:35:44, said: To me they imply good road skills.

A safe environment or activity requires neither skill nor protective headgear to survive it.
A hazardous environment or activity requires skill and/or protective headgear to survive.

I the context of the Alleycat the riders needed to be skillful. In the context of everyday cycling on ordinary roads I am saying that protective headgear should not be necessary.


You are joking aren't you...With all the comedians who cut you up and all that...peds that dash across the road...and an oil slick appearing from nowhere...oh and also a jumping chain.

I guess you have never fallen off of your bike...

If you or anyone else don't want to wear a helmet then good for you...but no amount of hot air on here is going to change what I wear or how I ride.

Oh yes admittedly a helmet has never saved me....Hopefully it won't have to.

 

[Mark_J]

..oh and also a jumping chain.

Oh god yes. I've come a cropper a few times 'cos of that but normally its just my plums that take the hit.:8:

 

[dondare]

My age, cycling experience and accident rate are extremely similar to yours. As I've mentioned before, it was my first accident in London (soon after I arrived here) that persuaded me of the benefits of wearing a helmet. Out of my subsequent accidents two have resulted in helmets being damaged beyond repair/further use. For that I'm thankful (as it saved my head!) and, to me at least, justifies my continued use of head protection.

It also gives me somewhere to mount the camera and lights.

When I first arrived in London I considered myself (at the tender age of 21) to be an experienced, confident and skillful cyclist. I had never even seen a bike helmet before then but some of the London cyclists were wearing what looked like plastic mixing bowls on their heads. I thought they were being silly (they certainly looked silly).
After my first ride in London I very quickly bought myself a helmet and wore it although I came to realise that no-one was trying to kill me and that I could cope with the traffic. The helmet was eventually stolen from my bike outside a pub. I've had a few others over the years and the designs have become more sophisticated although I doubt if any could possibly give greater protection than my first Bell which was a very heavy, solid affair indeed. I eventually stopped bothering with them altogether. I've had a few offs but never bashed my head or helmet so my own experience is that I don't need one for the type of riding that I do.
Other people seem to knock their heads harder and more often and I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from wearing whatever level of protection they feel comfortable with. I do disagree with the idea that all cyclists should wear them because cycling is so dangerous or because the roads are so dangerous and that cyclists who refuse to wear them are being irresponsible. Cycling is not in itself dangerous and if the roads are then protection is not the answer and must not be seen as the answer. Polystyrene hats do not make for safer roads.

 

[dondare]

There use to be an advert in MTB UK a few years back saying
"you think you look stupid wearing a helmet"
"you would look worse being spoon fed by a nurse after an accident"

Is riding as fast as possible down a gravel path on a tree and boulder strewn hillside more or less hazardous than commuting on a tarmac road?

 

[Tinuts]

I doubt if any could possibly give greater protection than my first Bell which was a very heavy, solid affair indeed.

Ha Ha! Yes, I'm sure I bought the same clunker. It was yellow, heavy and, I think, now languishes in the attic.

 

[dondare]

Fair enough, I have been driving for 20 years now and have never hit another car, but I still wear seat belt.

Belts are a legal requirement now. Years ago they weren't, many cars didn't even have them and most drivers didn't bother even when they did. There was an attempt to persuade drivers to use belts (who remembers Jimmy Saville and "clunk/click"?) with an advertising campaign and it didn't work. Eventually a law was passed requiring children in the front seat to wear a belt ("it's for the sake of the kids") and once that went through successive legislation eventually made it compulsory for all occupants. Now it's just a habit.
I belt up to avoid a fine, not to save my life.

I dread the day that I'll have to helmet up to avoid a fine but thanks to Boris' bikes that's now less likely.

 

[HJ]

It is an odd thing that in place where cycling is common almost no one wears a helmet, but it places where cycling is rare helmets are common. Everywhere helmet have been made compulsory levels of cycling have plummeted, but the rate of death and injury per Km cycled has increased. Both parliaments in the UK (Holyrood and Westminster) have considered make helmet use compulsory, but when shown the evidence decided against it. So the question remains, why is it that people who wear helmets are more likely to hit their heads if they should fall of their bikes?

Have a look at this video from the Netherlands, lots of ordinary cyclist falling their bikes (due to ice) how many are wearing helmets? How many suffer any form of head injury? None.

 

[Dayvo]

Have a look at this video from the Netherlands, lots of ordinary cyclist falling their bikes (due to ice) how many are wearing helmets? How many suffer any form of head injury? None.

That video looks a bit contrived!

No-one's approaching that corner at more than (at a guess) five miles an hour, and it's the same cyclists riding around repeatedly!

 

[dondare]

Have a look at this video from the Netherlands, lots of ordinary cyclist falling their bikes (due to ice) how many are wearing helmets? How many suffer any form of head injury? None.

What's going on there? One girl seems to come off 5 or six times!

 

[ferret fur]

Have a look at this video from the Netherlands, lots of ordinary cyclist falling their bikes (due to ice) how many are wearing helmets? How many suffer any form of head injury? None.

So.. are you trying to say that it is impossible to injure your head when you fall off a bike. Or that it is only by wearing a helmet that you are likely to hurt your head. Is this really supposed to be evidence of something?

 

[threebikesmcginty]

How are you getting on, dondare, any converts?

 

[dondare]

How are you getting on, dondare, any converts?

Wouldn't think so.