He washed it thoroughly, what's wrong with that?
How can wearing a helmet offer no protection from injury?
- Thread starter Cyclopathic
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Last time my son smacked his head, I told him it was lucky that the impact hit something solid and was at least 2 feet from any of his vital organs.
He asked me what a "foot" was.
1-0 to him, I guess.
Clearly helmets offer some protection from injury. If the helmet hits the right object within its design envelope then, unless there are confounding factors, some protection is to be expected. The torsional danger is there but AFAIK difficult to assess and if I was a betting man probably less than the benefit. Bit like the people who break their neck tripping over car seatbelts.
More substantiated but still unquantified are the dangers of risk compensation and drivers seeing you as less vulnerable and hence driving closer. So, on balance if I was heading for the hard stuff I would choose, if possible, to quickly strap on a helmet and pray. But, this is the real question, it is best under all circumstances not to head for the hard stuff. Any benefit a helmet could possibly give would be nixed if it only slightly raised your chances of having a crash. Our problem is we don't really have a clue whether it does. But in the absence of evidence if I was a betting man I would go with increased crash risk.
The bottom line is if you take all the research and crunch it in as objective way possible its impossible to have confidence that helmets are a help or a hindrance. We all have to make a choice of whether we wear or not. Gut feeling or the toss of a coin is as good as any. But let's not pretend we know more than we do.
More substantiated but still unquantified are the dangers of risk compensation and drivers seeing you as less vulnerable and hence driving closer. So, on balance if I was heading for the hard stuff I would choose, if possible, to quickly strap on a helmet and pray. But, this is the real question, it is best under all circumstances not to head for the hard stuff. Any benefit a helmet could possibly give would be nixed if it only slightly raised your chances of having a crash. Our problem is we don't really have a clue whether it does. But in the absence of evidence if I was a betting man I would go with increased crash risk.
The bottom line is if you take all the research and crunch it in as objective way possible its impossible to have confidence that helmets are a help or a hindrance. We all have to make a choice of whether we wear or not. Gut feeling or the toss of a coin is as good as any. But let's not pretend we know more than we do.
I don't think wearing a helmet - unless you wear it to do downhill racing or extreme offroading in which case its a dangerous activity - increases your chance of getting into an accident.
drivers don't think he's got a helmet on I can get closer, they might think, helmet,lycra,pro bike, - looks the bis , is clearly a serious cyclist can pass safely so don't need to give such a wide berth.
If your on a mountain bike , wobbling and weaving about the road like a drunken sailor cars will give you a very wide berth - drivers (thats us) don't want your nice shiney car all scratched.
though cavendish was clearly not amused by a guy thinking , pro cyclist can go by safely without much danger , so no need to give him much room.
drivers don't think he's got a helmet on I can get closer, they might think, helmet,lycra,pro bike, - looks the bis , is clearly a serious cyclist can pass safely so don't need to give such a wide berth.
If your on a mountain bike , wobbling and weaving about the road like a drunken sailor cars will give you a very wide berth - drivers (thats us) don't want your nice shiney car all scratched.
though cavendish was clearly not amused by a guy thinking , pro cyclist can go by safely without much danger , so no need to give him much room.
Licramite: Risk Compensation has been established in other physical activities but AFAIK not measured on bikes. On drivers giving wide berth - there is a study by one man which does show a significant difference. But, as he would be the first to admit, that one experiment did not remove confounding factors and so some rather more sophisticated testing is necessary before we can say helmets make you more vulnerable to close passes and hence crashes. But it is something one would be unwise to dismiss.
The point we should be rather angry about is that no one appears interested in sponsoring objective research in this area. In my conspiracy mode I suspect the helmet companies fear the result. Otherwise why don't they knock this one on the head? (Sorry!).
The point we should be rather angry about is that no one appears interested in sponsoring objective research in this area. In my conspiracy mode I suspect the helmet companies fear the result. Otherwise why don't they knock this one on the head? (Sorry!).
snorri
Legendary Member
- Location
- East coast, up a bit.
I'm not so sure that cycle safety research is abysmal, but ignoring research results is all too common.
Drago
Legendary Member
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- Suburban Poshshire
I religiously wear a cycle helmet, but she still fell pregnant.
Ill see myself out...
Ill see myself out...
Should have seen yourself out earlier... Then it would not have happened
srw
It's a bit more complicated than that...
Having just finished Ben Goldacre's astonishing and angry demolition of his profession and the pharmaceutical industry "Bad Pharma" the parallels are striking.
U
User169
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A bloke dressed as a woman was the most effective at persuading drivers to give a wider berth.
mickle
innit
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Do you know how an internet discussion forum works?
lukesdad
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A nobber
lukesdad
Guest
< raises hand > Please sir me...me !
lukesdad
Guest
As I said.....
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