Has your helmet saved your life poll

[ColinJ]

I rode bikes from 8 years of age to 13, when my bike was stolen and not replaced.

At about that time, I had what could have turned out to be a very serious accident when the bike on which I was sprinting slipped out of gear, launching me over the handlebars.

I landed on my head and one shoulder. I put a huge lump on my head, ripped that shoulder open (I think I probably also cracked the collar bone because it hurt like hell for about 6-8 weeks - I didn't go to a doctor to check) and took a chunk out of one knee. The head injury was very painful, but somehow didn't do me any lasting damage. I could quite easily have fractured my skull, but I didn't. There you go.

I started riding again 20 years later and have been riding for 23 years since then. For most of that time, I have been wearing a helmet, initially to stop my elderly mum from worrying about me (I couldn't bring myself to carry on riding without one and lie to her about it). I have had a few falls from various bikes, but not banged my head to put the helmet to the test.

My parents aren't around any more, so I could not wear a helmet now and not have to lie about it, but I have become a bit superstitious about wearing one. I feel that it would just be my luck to fall off and smash my head on the first bare-headed ride!

The thing that really makes me keep on wearing a helmet is that I asked myself the question - If someone had stopped me mid-teenage-endo, told me that I was about to land on my head on the tarmac surface, and offered me the chance to don the helmet that I wear now, would I have accepted the offer? Answer: Hell, yes!

I know someone who has had two bad crashes, landed on his head and split the helmet he was wearing in two both times. He had no head injuries.

A female friend joined me for a mountain bike ride and was just in front of me when her wheels slipped from under her on slick, wet rock. She went down sideways so fast that she didn't even have time to flinch. Her helmet-clad head walloped a big rock really hard. Her elbow had a nasty cut but her head was fine. I can't prove that the helmet saved her life or protected her from serious injury, but it certainly looked that way from where I was, just a few feet away.

Anyway - wear a helmet if you want to, don't if you don't want to. I wouldn't dream of telling other people what to do.

PS It is especially important for me to avoid blows to the head now because I am on Warfarin and I can't risk any bleeding inside the skull. Mind you, I'm too ill to ride my bike so it won't become an issue unless the doctors decide that I need to be on the drug for life. I'll carry on wearing a helmet when I finally get back on my bike.

 

[J.Primus]

Been riding a bike for 14 years, first proper collision with a car was this year when someone cut me up and slammed the brakes on so I hit the back of the car full speed. Went headfirst into rear window. Doubt I would have died as if I hit it any harder I would have ended completely though the window rather than bouncing my head off it. It did however save me getting my head cut by the broken glass. Also it didn't actually hurt at all, and I'm guessing it would have done if it was my skull that made the inital connection.

My aunt on the other hand was on a charity bike ride going slowly when a little girl fell off her bike in front of her. She missed the girl, hit the bike, went over the handlebars and faceplanted (well forehead). The resulting head injury took about 4 months to recover from, pretty sure a helmet would have made a massive difference in reducing the force exerted on the head.

That said I don't think they should change the law to make helmets compulsory, I'm quite happy for anyone to not where one if they want. Unless you're related to me in which case you wear a helmet or else

 

[totallyfixed]

You had best start the relevant thread then

Yes, well if I could guarantee a couple of hundred respondents I would, but I can't so I won't. I sense a collective slumping of shoulders and deep sighs whenever a helmet thread is started. Bloody dangerous things anyway, never used to be needed, not needed now, that's what collar bones were invented for .

 

[Arjimlad]

Having seen a bloodstained & broken helmet from someone who got side-swiped by an HGV, ended up going underneath it & sustained very nasty injuries, but no serious head injury, I'm happy wearing mine & asking my kids to wear theirs as well.

I think the head is actually quite fragile in an impact, so having something shielding it from direct impact seems like a good idea to me.

 

[Red Light]

As I've said before its amazing how many "helmet saved my life" stories helmet wearers have and yet how few people who don't wear a helmet have had a serious injury or lost their life. Wearing a helmet looks scarily dangerous!

 

[Red Light]

I think the head is actually quite fragile in an impact, so having something shielding it from direct impact seems like a good idea to me.

The impact energy a skull will survive without fracturing is about 6-7 times that needed to break a helmet. So you think wrong. As evidenced by the large numbers of people here reporting broken helmets but the very small number reporting broken heads. And that despite the numbers without helmets outnumbering helmet wearers about two to one.

 

[totallyfixed]

The impact energy a skull will survive without fracturing is about 6-7 times that needed to break a helmet. So you think wrong. As evidenced by the large numbers of people here reporting broken helmets but the very small number reporting broken heads. And that despite the numbers without helmets outnumbering helmet wearers about two to one.

I'm surprised at that, went out with a group last weekend and we were the only ones not wearing helmets. Is there an official source for these statistics? I can't see how it can be done with any degree of accuracy but what do I know .

 

[Red Light]

I'm surprised at that, went out with a group last weekend and we were the only ones not wearing helmets. Is there an official source for these statistics? I can't see how it can be done with any degree of accuracy but what do I know .

The helmet spec is for a maximum impact of 100J and much above that and they break. The data for the human skull goes back to experiments using cadaver heads in the 1940s reported in Gurdjian, E.S., Webster, J.E. and Lissner, H.R., "Studies on skull fracture with particular reference to engineering factors" Am. J. Surg. 78(5), 736-742 (1949) which found the human skull fractured for impact energies above 700-1000J.

 

[Pumpkin the robot]

The impact energy a skull will survive without fracturing is about 6-7 times that needed to break a helmet. So you think wrong. As evidenced by the large numbers of people here reporting broken helmets but the very small number reporting broken heads. And that despite the numbers without helmets outnumbering helmet wearers about two to one.

Maybe there are not as many people reporting broken heads without helmets because they are not here to report it? (this is a tongue in cheek response and not to be taken seriously)
I am assuming that cycle helmets are a similar construction to a motor cycle helmet? The internal styrene construction is there to absorb impact and stop the brain from accelerating and decelerating quickly. When it absorbs the impact, the styrene is deformed (although you cannot see it) and the helmet should be thrown away as if you have another incident with the helmet in the same place the helmet will not offer as much protection.

 

[totallyfixed]

Yes, well, er no, I think you have grasped the wrong end of the wooden thing, what I meant was how are the statistics for helmet wearing collated? It would be nice if just for once in my life I was actually in a majority. So, as Clint once said, go ahead and make my day. [I've been drinking red wine all evening]

 

[ufkacbln]

My view is that conceding the need for a rear light in 1920 something was a mistake.

Depends on the argument for / against?

The CTC argued against on grounds that were nothing to do with the light itself, but the transfer of liability.

Until this point the responsibility was on the driver to see and avoid the cyclist, after this point the responsibility was fot the cyclist to make themselves seen.

Helmet laws are in many ways similar, making cyclists liable for preventing injury that are often the direct result of a failure or deliberate act of another.

 

[ufkacbln]

[QUOTE 2095777, member: 45"]And the rotational effects of not having to have a bell on your bike?[/quote]

Negligible compared to that ultimate and unforgivable sin of a single pannier!

 

[Arjimlad]

[QUOTE 2095634, member: 45"]I'm assuming that by head he means head.[/quote]

I did mean skull, but what the heck... I guess the brain is something which, if damaged, can have worse consequences than, say my collarbone or summat ?

 

[Red Light]

I did mean skull, but what the heck... I guess the brain is something which, if damaged, can have worse consequences than, say my collarbone or summat ?

They can but most registered "serious brain injuries" for cyclists amount to being kept in overnight for observation after a knock (classes as a serious brain injury in the national stats) or a bit of concussion, neither of which is worse than the many weeks a broken collar bone takes to repair. As for helmets, there is zero credible evidence that they do anything to reduce the likelihood of a serious brain injury and plenty of evidence that they don't but do discourage cycling. But if you feel happier wearing one nevertheless you are free to do so. All that is asked is you support others in their freedom of choice not to wear one.

 

[Alan57]

I came off my bike 2 weeks ago , my head hit the tarmac and my helmet was compacted on the side where it hit the ground, didn`t break just compressed as it should . I still had mild concussion ,(Dr`s diagnosis who also believes I was knocked out for a while), and when I got up I was confused and didn`t know where I was, although it was a road I use regularly. It took me about 5 mins to get orientated . I`m 57 and this was my 1st accident since I was around 16yrs old , i`m glad I was wearing a helmet and I believe without it I would have had a fractured skull. If people don`t want to wear a helmet thats fine, but from my experience they work.

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/new-study-details-why-helmets-prevent-injury-35498/