Helmet saved my life yesterday

[Raging Squirrel]

is that Somerset cider strong this time of year fella? lol

 

[GrumpyGregry]

You're quite correct about the "special effects" Aidy, a split helmet looks spectacular! It was a cheapo helmet and if i'd have had my Bell helmet on it probably would've stayed intact, but that doesn't mean that the force of the impact wasn't severe enough to split my skull! I remember hitting the ground shoulder first, then head second and believe the helmet saved me a lot of pain and injury!

Your Bell helmet had to pass exactly the same low rent testing regime to get its certification as your cheapo one did. So unless your Bell dates from the early 90's, when standards were actually higher - go figure that one - it probably would have failed in just the same way.

As to what you believe... that's your own affair.

 

[Red Light]

Quantify "very very rarely" please. It's pointless whipping out a stat to support one side of an argument, and then being vague re another figure in the same argument.

Well in the UK there were 2,843 serious cyclist injuries in 2010 of which about 36% were head injuries i.e. about a thousand serious head injuries a year (remembering that a serious head injury can be nothing more serious than being kept in overnight for observation following a bump). About one third of those are helmeted leaving about 670 un-helmeted serious head injuries out of several hundred million cycle journeys a year (200 million in London alone. Making it about a one in a million journeys event. Now at two journeys a day, 7/365 that's going to take you about 1400 years to complete a million journeys. That very very rare.

 

[Red Light]

hold on......have you just suggested that we grew broad shoulders so that we would hit the floor shoulder first rather than hit our head on the floor in a fall?

that's the most bizarre thing I've heard

That most bizarre thing you've ever heard is Darwinism. If you are not a believer in Darwinism but prefer Intelligent Design then the answer is God designed it that way from the beginning being the smart person She is.

 

[ufkacbln]

[QUOTE 2100531, member: 45"]Cheeky chump. I have a very fetching nose.[/quote]

Question is...........what does it fetch?

 

[Accy cyclist]

Your Bell helmet had to pass exactly the same low rent testing regime to get its certification as your cheapo one did. So unless your Bell dates from the early 90's, when standards were actually higher - go figure that one - it probably would have failed in just the same way.

As to what you believe... that's your own affair.

It didn't fail cocker, it saved my bonce! I was there believe me!

 

[Canrider]

It didn't fail cocker, it saved my bonce! I was there believe me!

Oh dear...would you be willing to repeat the experiment under a variety of controlled conditions?

 

[hoopdriver]

I had a crash on my club ride yesterday. I was at the back of the group when an oncoming car swerved into our lane while passing a parked car on his side of the road. The group concertina braked and I headed for a gap between the heavily braking guy in front and the curb (while braking) and went down heavily. I badly scraped my leg, cut and bruised my finger and landed upside down still clipped in. When I had recovered enough to sit up I undid my helmet, popped it on the floor and carefully placed my glasses and gloves in it while checking to see if everything else was working as it should, on me and the bike. Without my trusty helmet I would have had to ask a virtual stranger to hold these vital items or else put them DIRECTLY on to the floor so it really saved my life that day.

Ah, yes, but let's not look past the fact that you were wearing a helmet. You may scoff - but you wear one.

 

[pubrunner]

The usual scenario is the shoulder hits the ground and then the head stops short of the ground - its how the human body has evolved over millennia to deal with falls. But with an extra couple of inches all round on the size of the head, a helmeted head will often hit the ground where without the helmet the head wouldn't.

Hmm, quite a few years ago, I did a fair bit of horse riding; it was amazing how many of the other beginners would fall off, even when their steeds were just doing a gentle trot or canter - which for a cyclist, would be a very modest speed indeed.

I can assure you, that when their shoulder(s) hit the ground, their head would do likewise. If they had not been wearing helmets (mandatory at the Riding School) they would have incurred far more serious injuries - though the soft ground probably helped.

It should be noted, that the wearing of helmets did not appear to cause any injury to those who did fall - as some on this forum might expect .

Virtually all those who fell, were back on their horses and riding within a few minutes. What was noticeable though, was that the more elderly riders ('fallers') landed much more heavily than the younger ones; is it possible that younger and fitter cyclists have a better 'chance without a helmet, than those who are older - who may have slower reactions & more weight ?

 

[Red Light]

Hmm, quite a few years ago, I did a fair bit of horse riding; it was amazing how many of the other beginners would fall off, even when their steeds were just doing a gentle trot or canter - which for a cyclist, would be a very modest speed indeed.

I can assure you, that when their shoulder(s) hit the ground, their head would do likewise. If they had not been wearing helmets (mandatory at the Riding School) they would have incurred far more serious injuries - though the soft ground probably helped.

It should be noted, that the wearing of helmets did not appear to cause any injury to those who did fall - as some on this forum might expect .

Virtually all those who fell, were back on their horses and riding within a few minutes. What was noticeable though, was that the more elderly riders ('fallers') landed much more heavily than the younger ones; is it possible that younger and fitter cyclists have a better 'chance without a helmet, than those who are older - who may have slower reactions & more weight ?

Falling off a horse is somewhat different to falling off a bicycle and it affects the way you land. Can you think what the difference might be?

 

[pubrunner]

Falling off a horse is somewhat different to falling off a bicycle and it affects the way you land. Can you think what the difference might be?

I've seen people fall off horses and ponies in all sorts of ways; forwards, backwards & sideways. If anything, such falls have been at a slower speed than would occur whilst cycling. Oh yes, some of the ponies weren't much higher than bikes. Thing is though, just about all horse riders would state the 'need' to wear a helmet.

 

[green1]

If they had not been wearing helmets (mandatory at the Riding School) they would have incurred far more serious injuries - though the soft ground probably helped.

It should be noted, that the wearing of helmets did not appear to cause any injury to those who did fall - as some on this forum might expect .

Riding helmets have far more in common with Motorcycle helmets rather than bike helmets, i.e. they are fit for the purpose they were design for.

 

[green1]

Looking at the helmets my mum and sister use, definitely.

 

[mcshroom]

We haven't had this one yet - Number 3*, especially when drunk.



* Why don't pedestrians wear helmets?

 

[green1]

My understanding of a riding helmet is an item with a slightly pointed top and a hard shell covered with black velvet. I'm guessing that yours is rather different.

Old fashion ones (ie velvet covered) are no better than bike helmets but modern ones (like jockeys wear) are constructed in a similar fashion to motorcycle helmets.