Helmets why doesn't everyone wear them?

[ufkacbln]

I think anyone cycling and not wearing a helmet is being selfish and irresponsible. - I agree entirely its upto them to decide to not wear one (actualy I don,t I think it should be a legal requirement along with high vis jacket&refelectores) , but who will look after them with brain damage, - who will support them, pay disability payments ect. - we will .
I personnally don,t care if you splat your head, but unless you die , some one else has to sort out your mess.

so wearing a helmet isn,t for your protection , its for everyones elses, who are going to have to sort out and support you after your own stupidity.

After all - do you remove the airbags and brakes from your car? no , but arn,t they safety devices? why should you be forced to have them?

but on the othr hand, a mate of my brother who handglides died because apparantly he had the wrong type of helmet on when he hit the side of a mountain. - so - Helmet,flak jacket, armoured underwear when your time is up , - your time is up.

I always find these post amusing as they acheive exactly the opposite of the intended result.

Lets take the basics.

1. Head injuries can be prevented by helmets
2. There is a financial burden on the NHS if you suffer a head injury
3. Your family will have to sort out the mess
4, You are irresponsible and stupid if you don't wear one

Now explain why if a pedestrian falls over the same does not apply they are not also stupid and irresponsible?

If a car driver has ahead injury is it cheaper to deal with that one, or support their disability than that of a cyclist?

Is a head injury to a person who has been in the pub less traumatic for the family as they "clear up the mess"?

 

[ufkacbln]

"Helmet's do look rubbish.​

That's why I don't wear one"​

​

Have you ever seen a serious head injury - they don,t look very cool either.​

​

Yes - loads and very few were cyclists.

 

[Noodle Legs]

Because there is far too much traffic on our roads now, and also that drivers in general are much more aggressive (you know the ones- they all gotta be somewhere 10 minutes ago) I think it would be madness not to wear a helmet now! I've never been a fan of them personally but the odds of being involved in a RTA surely must be greater nowadays by virtue of my first two points?

Just my two pence worth!

 

[Noodle Legs]

Have you checked what those odds are?

No I have not, I'm only surmising really. I also may be totally wrong!

 

[mcshroom]

Yet we have more inflamatory language. Is it madness not to ear a helmet when walking which has similar head injury rates? (Queue Mr Paul trying to claim that most of those people were drunk)

 

[Recycle]

Because there is far too much traffic on our roads now, and also that drivers in general are much more aggressive (you know the ones- they all gotta be somewhere 10 minutes ago) I think it would be madness not to wear a helmet now! I've never been a fan of them personally but the odds of being involved in a RTA surely must be greater nowadays by virtue of my first two points?

Just my two pence worth!

I'm not sure if that's correct. I have read a few recent reports that miles travelled by motorised traffic in the UK has fallen in the past few years, probably due to the economy and increased fuel prices. There are probably slightly fewer cars on the road than a few years earlier.

I think there may be an inverse relationship between number of vehicles on the road and selfishness, i.e., less cars = more selfishness. I'm South African so I'll use SA as a point of comparison. SA has a good road infrastructure and because they have the space, their roads are generally wider and more accommodating. They also have less drivers spread over a larger area BUT (as a South African I can say this without being accused of prejudice) their driving is appalling and selfish in the extreme. Their driving altruism (or rather lack of it) is best summarised by an observation made by a radio announcer "the only way to change lanes in Jo'burg traffic is to change cars". South Africa kills about 12000 people pa on their roads as opposed to about 2000 in the UK and they are a lot more efficient at it because they do it with far less drivers.

I would NOT regard utility cycling in SA as a viable means of transport.

Edited for grammar - or rather lack of it.

 

[Longshot]

Is it not possible to agree to disagree and leave it up to the individual?!

 

[Licramite]

Ah , so the reason not to wear a helmet when cycling is you can get a head injury in other ways than falling off a bike so theres no need to wear one, -
so the reason not to wear a parachute when sky diving is because peolpe also die when falling off buildings so whats the point- is that what you mean?

this then negates the need for lights at night , people are always crashing into things in the dark so what difference does it make if I don,t have lights, or brakes - hell not stopping in time and colliding with things, happens too in lots of situations.

theres a certain kind of lodgic to that arguement - I won,t say what it is though

 

[mcshroom]

So I assume you do wear a helmet when walking. If not why not?

 

[Noodle Legs]

I'm not one for facts and figures or anything like that, for every argument advocating helmets there's a counter argument against them, its a debate that will never be concluded! People can throw all the statistics round that they want in order to back up their viewpoints but the way I see it is until there is a change in the law that says you must wear them, then it is a PERSONAL CHOICE as to whether or not you wear them. Only you are responsible for that choice and any consequences that arise from that decision.

Oh, and statistics show that 9 out of 10 people don't believe statistics......(I don't know if that's actually true lol)

 

[Longshot]

Oh, and statistics show that 9 out of 10 people don't believe statistics......(I don't know if that's actually true lol)

98.764% of all statistics are made up.

 

[Licramite]

"You write something in comprehensible English and I'll bother reading it."

you give me ONE reason for NOT wearing a helmet that doesn,t make you sound like a moron and I will read that.

instead of hiding behind - oh you english is poor , or - your so stupid.

 

[mcshroom]

"You write something in comprehensible English and I'll bother reading it."

you give me ONE reason for NOT wearing a helmet that doesn,t make sound like a moron and I will read that.

instead of hiding behind - oh you english is poor , or - your so stupid.

So you are debating from an open-minded viewpoint then

I gave you a whole set of reasons why helmets were not advantageous in the quote from Roger Geffen. Of course they don't fit your view so you ignore them.

When the number of cylists goes up, the number of resultant injuries does not go up at the same rate. When you reduce the number of cyclists, the number of injuries does not reduce to the same extent. In countries where helmets are compulsory there have been massive drops in cycling rates, meaning that all the remaining cyclists are at greater risk than they were before, and that there is an obesity time bomb due to inactivity (look at the stats in Australia) which will make the money spent on the tiny number of head injurys pale into insignificance to the treatment required for an unfit population.

If you want to wear a helmet, then by all means do so, it's free choice. Trying to guilt trip, call stupid or suggest that these people are deliberately being reckless however shows up your ignorance of the issue rather than providing anything useful to the discussion.

 

[Licramite]

So I assume you do wear a helmet when walking. If not why not?

I do actually, couple of days a week generally, spent many a day on salisbury plain on foot or in vehicles wearing a helmet - kind of compulsory at the time - but if you,ve seen a case of "Hatch Rash" you will know why.

 

[mcshroom]

I do actually, couple of days a week generally, spent many a day on salisbury plain on foot or in vehicles wearing a helmet - kind of compulsory at the time - but if you,ve seen a case of "Hatch Rash" you will know why.

So you only walk around 2-3 days a week (involving working with heavy machinery), or 4-5 days a week you don't wear a helmet when walking around. Why not?