Has your helmet saved your life poll

[jonny jeez]

Jon... you said yourself it was great cycling without wearing a helmet. All that wind rushing through your hair. None of that mushroom head look . And look how much cooler us non-helmeted cyclists looked on the FNRttC... wasting all that money on a piece of silly plastic :troll:

Sorry mate... can't help myself.

Totally. It feels fantastic and I love it.

My comment about "ascension" is accurate, riding without a lid really feels like I have an agreement with the road (this sounds a bit gushy I'm afraid) that it wont hurt me, so long as I respect it...and as such I trust it enough to remove its muzzle.

But I could argue that driving at 90mph around mountain roads feels equally fun...but I wouldn't get away with it if I did it each day. Eventually, I'd loose it.

This is my point really, I...like you and many others...put in some serious miles on my bike and I cant help feeling that all this adds to my exposure. I really enjoy riding without a lid, but i also enjoy lots of things that I know I mustn't do...or perhaps shouldn't do too often.

So far I'm sticking to the camp that, as I can find no reason not to (other than fashion and fun), I may just as well keep wearing one.

PS, I've ridden every day this week "unfettered", last night I forgot I didn't have one and went to remove it when I stopped. I wonder if the thrill has worn off.

 

[jonny jeez]

I put "never been put to the test" as my answer but that's not strictly true. I once banged my, helmetted, head on the open garage door, walking in. But I don't think I would have caught the door if I'd been hemetless .

that's it, you've ruined it...that should have been "helped in a non cycling related way".

we'll have to start again now

 

[mickle]

No.

 

[Davidc]

You've missed;

"If I'd been wearing a helmet when I crashed my head would have been ripped off and I'd be dead"

 

[fossyant]

zzzzzzzz

 

[Arsen Gere]

FWIW I've crashed with and without helmets on several occaisions. The day after one crash I was in the queue at the hospital with facial injuries and the girl behind left the queue to go and puke. Since she could not make out my face so it was not due to my normal looks.
I wear a helemet all the time now.
The other thing to consider is what insurance companies make of accidents without helmets. Without a helmet you or your decendants are not going to be treat the same when it comes to dishing out money.

 

[mickle]

FWIW I've crashed with and without helmets on several occaisions. The day after one crash I was in the queue at the hospital with facial injuries and the girl behind left the queue to go and puke. Since she could not make out my face so it was not due to my normal looks.
I wear a helemet all the time now.
The other thing to consider is what insurance companies make of accidents without helmets. Without a helmet you or your decendants are not going to be treat the same when it comes to dishing out money.

Helmets prevent facial injuries now?

 

[green1]

FWIW I've crashed with and without helmets on several occaisions. The day after one crash I was in the queue at the hospital with facial injuries and the girl behind left the queue to go and puke. Since she could not make out my face so it was not due to my normal looks.
I wear a helemet all the time now.
The other thing to consider is what insurance companies make of accidents without helmets. Without a helmet you or your decendants are not going to be treat the same when it comes to dishing out money.

You have any evidence for this? Chances are if your killed in an accident on a bike a helmet would make absolutely no difference at all.

 

[StuartG]

So if I cycle into a car and kill the driver I can't get a reduction because he wasn't wearing a helmet?
This is disgraceful

 

[Red Light]

I certainly haven't had my life saved by my lid. In fact the only benefit my lid has provided for me to date is a temporary mount for my Go Pro (not any more though). other than that I can honestly say its never been of any help, probably because its never been provided an opportunity to do its job.

But what this poll tells me so far is that 50% of wearers have never put theirs to the test either. This suggests that at least half of the wearers have never had their life saved, simply because they have never been involved in a fall. Which doesn't support the view that we have all had our lives saved.

Furthermore 34% (at time of typing) have had significant benefit, which suggests that they were some of the unfortunate ones that have had a fall and who's lids have helped (or have been perceived to have helped).

There's a further 20% of anecdotal evidence to suggest the lids have helped in some way.

At the other end of the spectrum 10% of riders feel unsafe BECAUSE of their helmets.

the real problem with this poll is that the sample size is so small its easy for a few riders to adjust the percentages with one or two votes.

I'll let it ride a while and see how the numbers stack up later.

I just wish I could edit the poll and add a few more options.

Think about what you have just written. 34% of helmeted riders here thought they had had significant benefit from their helmet. That implies they think it protected them from a serious head injury. I would be very surprised if even a tiny proportion of the non-helmet wearers here have had a serious head injury. Can you work out what that might indicate?

 

[Davidc]

Helmets prevent facial injuries now?

Come on Mickle, the ones the pros wear for track events do.

Or would that have something to do with the visor? Oh yes, and would the aluminium shock absorbing mesh they're lined with help? Oh, and possibly the design for protection at up to 25mph single body impact? Or perhaps I've got it all wrong and it's the £1000+ price tag that makes the difference from the bit of brittle plastic with polystyrene packing inside that has all the magic properties we read about here.

I may not always agree with Red Light, but on this and other helmet threads I'd like to congratulate him on having consistently written some of the most sensible posts on the subject.

(Those little gems about track cycle helmets all come from a Times article about Olympic cycling earlier this year, so I have no personal means of cross checking them)

 

[green1]

Come on Mickle, the ones the pros wear for track events do.

Or would that have something to do with the visor? Oh yes, and would the aluminium shock absorbing mesh they're lined with help? Oh, and possibly the design for protection at up to 25mph single body impact? Or perhaps I've got it all wrong and it's the £1000+ price tag that makes the difference from the bit of brittle plastic with polystyrene packing inside that has all the magic properties we read about here.

The fact that their helmets have a visor has nothing to do with preventing facial injuries and everything to do with aerodynamics.

 

[Hitchington]

Yes, everyone who wears a helmet swears that and yet those of us without helmets somehow manage not to all be suffering from serious head injuries. Go figure.

I think I need elaborate

I had an accident 3 years ago where a parked car pulled out in front of me launching me over it's bonnet causing me to slam head first into the road. I suffered concussion and smashed kneecaps. If I hadn't been wearing a helmet I would have no doubt sustained a serious head injury. Wearing a helmet doen't make it more or less likely for me to be involved in a collision like that, but it will minimise the effects of any impact my head has with the road/kerb/vehicle etc

 

[mickle]

I think I need elaborate

I had an accident 3 years ago where a parked car pulled out in front of me launching me over it's bonnet causing me to slam head first into the road. I suffered concussion and smashed kneecaps. If I hadn't been wearing a helmet I would have no doubt sustained a serious head injury. Wearing a helmet doen't make it more or less likely for me to be involved in a collision like that, but it will minimise the effects of any impact my head has with the road/kerb/vehicle etc

I have had a collision with the road very similar to the one you describe where, had I been wearing a bicycle safety helmet, the medical staff who treated me would have said that the helmet saved my life.

 

[Hitchington]

I have had a collision with the road very similar to the one you describe where, had I been wearing a bicycle safety helmet, the medical staff who treated me would have said that the helmet saved my life.

cool