Not at all..... the original suggestion was indefensible, I do not expect anyone to try and do so, it is simply common sense to point out how ludicrous it was.
I have my mind changed about helmets!
- Thread starter XmisterIS
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Not at all..... the original suggestion was indefensible, I do not expect anyone to try and do so, it is simply common sense to point out how ludicrous it was.
Iainj837
Guru
- Location
- Shepton Mallet Somerset
I know there are lots of threads on "to wear or not to wear", that being the question, so this post is intended to start a squabble! (although it may anyway!)
I was watching one of those real-life A&E drama-emergency-car-crash-TV programs the other night and a cyclist was brought in all smashed up because some idiot cager had driven into him.
The windscreen was bullseyed and the guy's head was in a sorry state. The chap wasn't wearing a helmet and the surgeon said that if he had been wearing a helmet then his head injuries would have been far less extensive - the bullseye was his head hitting the windscreen. I know it's the car driver's fault, but it was the cyclist who ended up paying the price.
Normally, I don't wear a helmet but today I've dug it out from the bottom of my equipment box to wear on my commute this afternoon!
I saw the same program and it was scary and it made me think.
before watching that program I would rush out the house to get to work forget to put the Helmet on.
Now I do a check list, keys, phone, helmet I make doubly sure I don't forget and I hang the helmet on the bike
I know there are lots of threads on "to wear or not to wear", that being the question, so this post is intended to start a squabble! (although it may anyway!)
I was watching one of those real-life A&E drama-emergency-car-crash-TV programs the other night and a cyclist was brought in all smashed up because some idiot cager had driven into him.
The windscreen was bullseyed and the guy's head was in a sorry state. The chap wasn't wearing a helmet and the surgeon said that if he had been wearing a helmet then his head injuries would have been far less extensive - the bullseye was his head hitting the windscreen. I know it's the car driver's fault, but it was the cyclist who ended up paying the price.
Normally, I don't wear a helmet but today I've dug it out from the bottom of my equipment box to wear on my commute this afternoon!
Going back to the OP.....
Do we know what type of vehicle was involved?
Lets assume a cyclist is hit under identical circumstances by two vehicles
If it was a Jeep Cherokee with a EuroNCAP rating of no stars for pedestrian safety, then the injuries have been exacerbated by the choice of the driver to do so.
It it was a 2011 Ford Focus with a five star rating then the injuries would have been less.
Should we not be looking at the decision of some road users to exacerbate injuries rather than helmets.
After all the gain of wearing a helmet can be completely nullified by the decision of the motorist to drive an unequivocally more dangerous vehicle.
Except that NCAP is based on pedestrians, not cyclists. The dynamics of a cyclist being hit are quite different and are not tested at all.
The same "theory" applies. One vehicle is less safe than the other due to design features.... and the decision of the driver to drive a vehicle that will inflict greater injury still exists.
There is also the ethos of the companies those that design safer vehicles tend to account fr the safety of pedestrians AND cyclists, so a safer vehicle will be safer for both groups.
Finally if the EuroNCAP figures are accurate, then there is a 30% reduction in the number of fatalities between a no star and 5 star pedestrian safety vehicle. Ban unsafe vehicles and reduce the number of deaths by 30%?
No, the tests and the design measures to meet them are completely inappropriate for testing for cycling collisions. The two main measures for the pedestrian test are low down deformable bumpers to save the pedestrians' legs and deformable bonnets to protect against head impacts there. Deformable bumpers don't help a cyclist as they are hitting primarily the bike and Dutch research has shown that windscreens, roofs and roof gutters are the places cyclists tend to hit. The NCAP tests don't test those at all. Whether a designer happens to consider them will be complete serendipity and unrelated to its rating in the NCAP test.
Most of the NCAP test is concerned with the safety of the car occupants.
Sorry if this is unclear.... forget about cyclists for a second
The point I am trying to make is this:
There is an expectation amongst some groups for the victim of a crash to reduce the injuries, and that failing to do so is negligent
Yet it is acceptable for a motorist to choose to increase the injuries by selecting a vehicle they know will cause more injuries.
If my taking steps to reduce the injury is then neutralised by the motorist - what is the point?
The point I am trying to make is this:
There is an expectation amongst some groups for the victim of a crash to reduce the injuries, and that failing to do so is negligent
Yet it is acceptable for a motorist to choose to increase the injuries by selecting a vehicle they know will cause more injuries.
If my taking steps to reduce the injury is then neutralised by the motorist - what is the point?
An argument running at the mo on their messageboards about how BBC reports should show any cyclists always wearing helmets
http://www.bbc.co.uk...fview/NF1951566
http://www.bbc.co.uk...fview/NF1951566
ClichéGuevara
Legendary Member
- Location
- Kingston upon the River Hull
On a ride out, the only one in our group that had a helmet on missed a turning admiring the view and rode straight into the river. We're on the look out for a combined helmet/flotation device if any one knows of one? You can't be too careful.
slowmotion
Quite dreadful
- Location
- lost somewhere
On a ride out, the only one in our group that had a helmet on missed a turning admiring the view and road straight into the river. We're on the look out for a combined helmet/flotation device if any one knows of one? You can't be too careful.
Here you go...
http://www.richard-seaman.com/Wallpaper/Travel/Vietnam/ManInCoracle.jpg
ClichéGuevara
Legendary Member
- Location
- Kingston upon the River Hull
That's so cute, you can have the acorn top, I want the tiny person stood in it. Is it a borrower? It makes "neither a lender nor a borrower be" seem quite racist.
david k
Hi
- Location
- North West
its all due to balance for me. Risk and likelyhood. So i wear one
All the time of course as the risks and likelihood are far greater off the bike than on.
Mark_Robson
Senior Member
- Location
- West Boldon Tyne & Wear
Opinion or fact? And if it is fact then please post the statistics to prove it.
2Loose
Guru
- Location
- Loughborough, Leicestershire.
Since when did statistics prove anything? 'Show' things yes, but prove...
"There are lies, damn lies and..."
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