Philip Osler
Active Member
Crumbly? just small stones on a promenade a couple of mm in size
Helmets why doesn't everyone wear them?
- Thread starter Pikeman
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Dan_h
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Reading, UK
I always feel like I must have hit my head when reading these debates, it is so confusing! I never used to wear a helmet but a few months ago I decided to have a go at time trials and a sportive. Now the local club does not insist that you wear a helmet for time trials, however everyone else wears one etc etc and the Sportive did insist on one. I got a decent road helmet and I do think it looks fairly cool (I am probably wrong!).
So now I find it depends on what type of cycling I am doing. If I am on my way to the station or the shops on my 20 year old mountain bike wearing jeans and a t shirt I wont be wearing my helmet. I will also be mainly on cyclepaths and not going particularly fast. If I am on my road bike wearing lycra and with strava running I will most likely be wearing my helmet. This is not really due to believing it will save my life but more due to the fact that if there is an event that I want to do that requires a helmet then I will be used to wearing it.
Thinking about it, on my road bike I am far less likely to be on cyclepaths, but still probably wont be going very fast!
So now I find it depends on what type of cycling I am doing. If I am on my way to the station or the shops on my 20 year old mountain bike wearing jeans and a t shirt I wont be wearing my helmet. I will also be mainly on cyclepaths and not going particularly fast. If I am on my road bike wearing lycra and with strava running I will most likely be wearing my helmet. This is not really due to believing it will save my life but more due to the fact that if there is an event that I want to do that requires a helmet then I will be used to wearing it.
Thinking about it, on my road bike I am far less likely to be on cyclepaths, but still probably wont be going very fast!
albion
Guest
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/s...-biking-cities-forget-about-helmets.html?_r=0
"Pushing helmets really kills cycling and bike-sharing in particular because it promotes a sense of danger that just isn’t justified "
"In fact, many European researchers say the test of a mature bike-sharing program is when women outnumber men. In the Netherlands, 52 percent of riders are women. Instead of promoting helmet use, European cycling advocates say, cities should be setting up safer bike lanes to slow traffic or divert it entirely from downtown areas. “Riding in New York or Australia is like running with the bulls — it’s all young males,” says Julian Ferguson, a spokesman for the European Cyclists’ Federation. And that’s in part what makes it dangerous. (Many European countries do require helmet use for children.)
In London, where use of a new bike-share program is exceeding all expectations, the number of riders in suits and dresses is growing, Mr. Woolsgrove says. And more Londoners seem to be leaving helmets at home."
I'm not quite sure how true that bit was this non summer
"Pushing helmets really kills cycling and bike-sharing in particular because it promotes a sense of danger that just isn’t justified "
"In fact, many European researchers say the test of a mature bike-sharing program is when women outnumber men. In the Netherlands, 52 percent of riders are women. Instead of promoting helmet use, European cycling advocates say, cities should be setting up safer bike lanes to slow traffic or divert it entirely from downtown areas. “Riding in New York or Australia is like running with the bulls — it’s all young males,” says Julian Ferguson, a spokesman for the European Cyclists’ Federation. And that’s in part what makes it dangerous. (Many European countries do require helmet use for children.)
In London, where use of a new bike-share program is exceeding all expectations, the number of riders in suits and dresses is growing, Mr. Woolsgrove says. And more Londoners seem to be leaving helmets at home."
I'm not quite sure how true that bit was this non summer
Am I the only one who boils in a helmet? Or is this just a side-effect of cheap helmets?
I cycle round the city with a helmet (for obvious reasons - your likelihood of being knocked off is just too high) but at home because it's just fields I don't wear a helmet and it's just so much nicer and cooler. I wish it were the other way around because then I wouldn't look quite so glistening at the end of my commute!
I cycle round the city with a helmet (for obvious reasons - your likelihood of being knocked off is just too high) but at home because it's just fields I don't wear a helmet and it's just so much nicer and cooler. I wish it were the other way around because then I wouldn't look quite so glistening at the end of my commute!
mrandmrspoves
Middle aged bald git.
- Location
- Narfuk
Throw my tuppence worth in for what it's worth.....
30 years ago similar debates raged about car seat belts.....and I guess many contributors to this thread still resent that the law now dictates that they wear one......discuss. (or don't as you prefer)
30 years ago similar debates raged about car seat belts.....and I guess many contributors to this thread still resent that the law now dictates that they wear one......discuss. (or don't as you prefer)
I am constantly amazed at how many car drivers I see on my commute who do not wear seatbelts.
mrandmrspoves
Middle aged bald git.
- Location
- Narfuk
Amazed at their reluctance to wear them, or their willingness to break the law?
snorri
Legendary Member
- Location
- East coast, up a bit.
I wiilingly wore a belt before the law came in to force, it seemed to make sense and I was unconvinced by any of the arguments against belt wearing, so no resentment here!
I've never worn a cycle helmet.
growingvegetables
Guru
- Location
- Leeds
I can't speak for any other contributor, but for this one? Sorry, mate - you're wrong.
The law has nothing whatsoever to do with me wearing a seatbelt - I used them consistently long, long before they became compulsory, and in countries where seatbelts were not required. In two of my past jobs overseas, where I managed fleets of vehicle drivers and motorcyclists, I made it a company standard that seatbelts and motorcycle crash helmets be worn - and failure to do so would lead to disciplinary action. For a simple reason - hard evidence of their effectiveness.
However, I don't wear a cycle helmet, because ....
- the hard evidence for their effectiveness is simply not there;
- the only evidence based on hard observation is (slightly?) inconvenient for proponents of helmet wearing, in that it suggests
a) that cycling rates drop when helmets are made compulsory
b) that other road users come even closer to a helmet-wearing cyclist (possibly because drivers are swallowing the hype about "helmets and safety" ......... and taking even more risks).
Personally, I find the "easy equation" of seatbelts (and the rigour that goes into their design, standards, testing, and installation) with cycle helmets worrying ... it may indicate a level of confidence in the latter that is just not supported by the evidence.
Hey ... I don't mind at all if you wear a helmet. That's your choice - no problem.
But what's so hard about showing the same courtesy to people who make a different choice? Unevidenced rhetorical jibes do not a convert make.
Absolutely.... given that three to five times as many motor vehicle occupants will be admitted with head injuries as cyclists the use of helmets in cars is common sense
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Noticed this morning that Peppa Pig wears a cycle helmet. That's all the proof I need.
mrandmrspoves
Middle aged bald git.
- Location
- Narfuk
No jibes or rhetoric intended. My question was simply a question. My assumption was that some people would object based on their right to self determine. If for example it has been shown that wearing seat belts saves lives it seems reasonable to make it law that people wear one.....so why no outright ban on smoking?
IF there was irrefutable evidence that wearing cycle helmets saved lives would people then feel it was reasonable for it to be made a legal requirement?
Please be clear, I am not trying to impose my views by asking the above....indeed so far in this thread I have not even indicated my views....so for the sake of clarity I now will.
I do wear a helmet. I see this as a personal choice. (I was cycling with my Grand father in 1980 when we were both hit from behind by a motorist who had not seen us - my Grandfather died in the road from serious head injuries.....would he have survived if he had been wearing a helmet? We will never know -but needless to say, the experience has influenced my choice)
I do not want to see helmets made compulsory and even if there WAS clear evidence that they save lives, I would still not necessarily welcome a change in law. I don't totally subscribe to arguments that wearing helmets etc make motorists less careful of cyclists..... but I do subscribe to the belief that making helmets compulsory would discourage some cyclists....and that cyclists will be safer if there are lots more cyclists on the road.
IF there was irrefutable evidence that wearing cycle helmets saved lives would people then feel it was reasonable for it to be made a legal requirement?
Please be clear, I am not trying to impose my views by asking the above....indeed so far in this thread I have not even indicated my views....so for the sake of clarity I now will.
I do wear a helmet. I see this as a personal choice. (I was cycling with my Grand father in 1980 when we were both hit from behind by a motorist who had not seen us - my Grandfather died in the road from serious head injuries.....would he have survived if he had been wearing a helmet? We will never know -but needless to say, the experience has influenced my choice)
I do not want to see helmets made compulsory and even if there WAS clear evidence that they save lives, I would still not necessarily welcome a change in law. I don't totally subscribe to arguments that wearing helmets etc make motorists less careful of cyclists..... but I do subscribe to the belief that making helmets compulsory would discourage some cyclists....and that cyclists will be safer if there are lots more cyclists on the road.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
But seeing as no one is doing much to address the dangerous and poor behaviour of other road users, what can we do to help ourselves in the meantime.
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