I like Skol
A Minging Manc...
- Location
- Sunny Ashton-under-Lyne
I always thought helmets were worn to prevent injury. I never realised it was to comply with insurance requirements!
Helmets
- Thread starter Thelma
- Start date
- Status
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
I always thought helmets were worn to prevent injury. I never realised it was to comply with insurance requirements!
Davidc
Guru
- Location
- Somerset UK
Yes. Lots of things.
Back to helmets ....
My helmet definitely helps reduce the effect of scraping my head on canal bridges. the extra inch or so makes me do it more often though.
I have a strong suspicion it wouldn't be any help at all if I had a crash at my normal level ground riding speed of around 15 mph. I'm not however planning on testing this hypothesis if I can possibly avoid doing so!
It might be some help if I fall off my bike when stationary, or at a few miles per hour.
If a car/ van/ bus/ lorry hits me I don't expect my helmet to be of any use whatsoever, irrespective of my speed. I try very hard to stop this happening. The effort put into trying to avoid being in a collision is likely to protect me much more than any helmet.
My helmet helps keep my head warm in winter. This is by far its most useful function.
My helmet makes my head get too hot in summer. When it does I do what Cyclecraft tells me to do and take it off. I then feel much more comfortable, and don't believe I'm any more likely to suffer a serious injury than if I was still wearing it. Unless I'm riding along the canal.
Who invented the damned things in the first place? Their manufacturers of course. Ah - so who profits from making them compulsory or otherwise unavoidable then?
Davidc
Guru
- Location
- Somerset UK
Sheffield_Tiger
Guru
I wear one because when I was bending over to unlock my bike, I hit my head on the corner of a steel box and the polystyrene helmet broke into little pieces - so OBVIOUSLY my skull would have shattered in exactly the same way as a bit of polystyrene and I'd be dead by now if my helmet hadn't saved my life..... 
Ignoring the innacurate claims made in describing such "life-saving" incidents, I do wear one because I made a personal decision to wear one* and it gives me more space to mount lights
* and that is that, whichever your own personal choice may be
Ignoring the innacurate claims made in describing such "life-saving" incidents, I do wear one because I made a personal decision to wear one* and it gives me more space to mount lights
* and that is that, whichever your own personal choice may be
Grendel
Veteran
Written by one of the people behind anticyclehelmet.org...
Clandy
Well-Known Member
Some of the biggest promoters of helmet compulsion are in the motor industry. Volvo for example. Why do you think that is?
Grendel
Veteran
http://www.cyclistsd...helmets-and-law
"The Highway Code recommends their use. Rule 45, the first of the specific rules for cyclists, states:
Clothing.
You should wear
a cycle helmet which conforms to current regulations
appropriate clothes for cycling. Avoid clothes which may get tangled in the chain, or in a wheel or may obscure your lights
light-coloured or fluorescent clothing which helps other road users to see you in daylight and poor light
reflective clothing and/or accessories (belt, arm or ankle bands) in the dark.
The Court of Appeal in Froom v Butcher referred to the Highway Code recommendation to wear seat belts. A civil judge, or defendant, could make the same point in relation to cycle helmets."
This suggests that should you be involved in an accident and are not wearing a helmet any claim made in relation to head injuries may be reduced (see the case quoted on the site about the 14 year old girl).
"Reported cases dealing with cycle helmets are few and far between. Drinkall v Woodhall [2003] EWCA Civ 1547 while dealing with procedure, arose from an issue of whether 20% or higher was an appropriate reduction for contributory negligence against a then 14 year old girl injured while cycling and not wearing a cycle helmet. It should, however, be noted that the Judgment only refers to an 80:20 liability split and the Defendant’s wish to argue for a higher degree of contributory negligence because the claimant had not been wearing a helmet (paragraph 3). It is not clear if the 20% reduction originally agreed was on the basis of the failure to wear a helmet or for other reasons. No further facts of the accident are given. One should therefore be wary of drawing any conclusions on likely awards of contributory negligence from this case.
"
Clandy
Well-Known Member
I grew up on bikes in the days before helmets. I have owned a helmet in the past, but always felt a bit uncomfortable in it, through self-consciousness as much as anything.
Do you wear one? Does it make that much of a difference? Why don't you wear one?
Just nosy really!
I wear a helmet. I didn't, for a while, until I got into cycling "properly" on the road 'n' that. Mostly I wear it for peace of mind. Whether or not it'll protect me in a serious/modest/slight fall-off, I have no idea. I do feel slightly 'naked' without it now though. Like walking to the shops in slippers...
It's also a nifty little mounting spot for the camera...
markharry66
Guru
Wear what you want I dont wear a helmet and never will at weekends I like to go down to the end of my garden and slam my head in to a brick wall randomly I find that I have saved money on a helmet as my head is not tough enough to with stand any impact. I am moving on now thought to concrete walls in the next few months
what
I like Skol
A Minging Manc...
- Location
- Sunny Ashton-under-Lyne
Punctuation! The head banging is doing damage that the poster can not appreciate....
Wear what you want. I dont wear a helmet and never will. At weekends I like to go down to the end of my garden and slam my head in to a brick wall randomly. I find that I have saved money on a helmet as my head is now tough enough to withstand any impact. I am moving on now though to concrete walls in the next few months.
Is that better?
- Status
