Detention Lines: I will wear a helmet.
- Thread starter handsome joe
- Start date
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col said:
No that is not correct. What the pro choice lot are saying is that whilst helmets may protect you from certain instances road rash etc the proof that they protect you from certain death experiences compared to non helmet use are inconclusive.
Monkey Spanner
Guest
Origamist said:
How do you bang your head whilst out walking?
Monkey Spanner
Guest
FatFellaFromFelixstowe said:Are cycle helmets now designed to protect from iron bars ? Blimey the technology has certainly moved on
Ok, howabout the edge of a kerbstone?
Monkey Spanner said:
Are you suggesting that if it cracks on impact, it has absorbed much of that force?
See, now I'm no longer viewing you as someone who has something interesting to say on this subject, I'm viewing you as someone who tried to get his point across by saying that he'll hit me over the head with an iron bar. Not only is that suggestion stupid and inapplicable (because you're not applying the same kind of force or impact as you face in real life), it is in itself a chilling way to try to get across a point which is meant to be about safety.
Take a step back, take a deep breath, and think about your argument and how you're posting it.
swee'pea99
Squire
I think there's some truth in this.col said:
As I understand it, even fairly keen antis wouldn't deny that helmets can provide at least some protection against minor bumps and bruises. What they do suggest is that they're pretty much useless when it comes to genuinely serious injury (to limit which, you'd really need something built more along the lines of a motorcycle helmet) and - to get back to the question posed - that yes, they can, in relation to serious injury, be quite literally worse than useless, in that by increasing the impact area, they can invite whiplash, turning what would have at worst been a relatively minor head injury into a broken neck.
Feel free to tell me I'm talking bollocks.
Monkey Spanner
Guest
FatFellaFromFelixstowe said:
I'm pro-choice but just don't tell me that helmets don't protect you from head injuries.
BentMikey
Rider of Seolferwulf
- Location
- South London
Monkey Spanner said:
LOL!
Yes, you are less likely to hit your head if not wearing a helmet. Partly through risk compensation, and partly because a Magic Foam Hat makes it all a lot larger.
As for the cracking, you're assuming rather a lot about helmet failure and energy absorption, but those assumptions are wrong.
FatFellaFromFelixstowe said:I would assume it would involve tripping over ones feet. I find that alcohol is the main factor here
Actually it's threads like this which cause you to butt the edge of your desk repeatedly whilst dribbling from the side of your mouth which are in danger of overtaking cycling injury stats amongst cyclists.
I recommend the wearing of helmets for all forum reading and the fitting of emergency resuc. equipment for apoplectic rage induced heart attacks. It would also be beneficial to have one member of the household trained in CPR.........and remember kids, never enter the forum when there's no-one around to help you
col said:
Col, I believe it is not so much that it is correct, but that it cannot be proved one way or the other at the moment.
As a thought experiment, imagine that an accident occurs where you fall in such a way that, as you head approaches the ground, something stops it from hitting the ground (i.e. the position of your shoulder). So you head at closes approach is about 0.5cm from the ground. It does not impact no impact forces are transmitted to the cyclists head.
Now imagine you are wearing a helmet and the same accident happens. We also need to take into account that the helmet has a weight and so would likely result in the shoulder being compressed a little more due to the extra weight (who knows this increase in weight might result in a shoulder fracture....
). The thickness of a helmet is say 3cm. So in this instance the helmet would come into contact with the ground and would transfer some of the forces to the wearers head, possibly resulting in injury.Another thing to remember in this instance is the wearers forward motion at the time of the accident. In the non-helmet situation, assuming that the cyclist was traveling forwards and 15mph there would be no extra rotational forces on the wearers head due to contact with the ground. In the helmet situation the helmet would make contact with the ground and would start accelerating the head rotationally. This would be bad, as rotational brain injuries are the worst kind to have. Of course this would also place extra pressure on the neck.
So, yes, theoretically it is possible, by the very act of wearing a helmet to increase your risk of injury, in certain situations.
What hasn't been worked out yet, is the morbidity and mortality and likely risks of these situations and situations like them for helmet wearers and non-helmet wearers.
So the jury is still out (I'm on the fence myself
)