I have my mind changed about helmets!

[asterix]

Helmet myth #253: Helmets make your head hot.

Wrong. The aerodynamics of modern helmets increases airflow over the bonce - resulting in a greater cooler effect than a helmetless rider in the same conditions.


There are many other, much better reasons not to wear a helmet than this.

Ok then, helmets make your head cold and could lead to death through hypothermia. In a 43 km/h headwind they also cause a lot of drag and because they are very noisy you can't hear cars behind you (as witnessed on Saturday several times). What's more they make descenders over confident which could lead to them going faster than me down hill.

 

[Crackle]

Is there a Hanna Barbera cartoon of Vin Diesel? No, legends only thanks.

Give him time, he'll catch Norris up.

 

[Mad at urage]

*hilarious*

so basically on the one hand we have people on a forum, on the other brain surgeons and a&e doctors...

oh and , the real tinfoil hat issue,,, it AMPLIFIES the signals maaan!!!! they can track you easier using them!
http://berkeley.inte...arahimi/helmet/
so dont print the lies , its what the government wants you to think!!

Brain surgeons and A&E doctors are totally unqualified to comment on the protection or otherwise of a piece of plastic. In many cases they are sponsored by big business - which influences both the drugs they use and the advice they give.

Hence

The College of Emergency Medicine... the professional organisation for A/E doctors endorses helmets and also endorses............

I was involved in a head-on collision with a car. I was told by the driver following me that I was traveling at "a good 30mph". The car i collided with was doing at least that. I hit that car's near-side wing as it turned right 'through' me, collided with the windscreen, somersaulted into the road. I was not wearing a helmet. My skull was not fractured although my head contacted the windscreen. Had I been wearing a helmet it would probably have been credited by the medics, with saving my life.

If people want to wear a helmet, fine. PLEASE stop being so bloody patronising as

Good man There's hope for all the others yet

and

'What a load of old tosh...' according to my spouse.

Who is a brain surgeon

 

[smiorgan]

My helmet was great when I fell off my bike going round a corner on black ice at ~10mph.

OTOH when I was picked up and dropped on my head* I didn't have a helmet on at all, and my head was fine. Neck not so good though. Thankfully I didn't end up in hospital like a friend did, in exactly the same situation - he was at risk of severed spinal chord. Another got kicked in the face while playing rugby, and was similarly hospitalised (both are fine now).

A brain gets rattled about a bit by head trauma, but the skull (and chest/ribs) is designed to protect from blows coming straight down - such as those from a rearing animal. Round blows are bad because (a) rotational force stresses the spine and shakes the brain, and (b) blow tends to connect with side of head where the bone is thin enough to be transparent, resulting in brain bleeds etc - or connect with the jaw, which can break.

If you got hit really hard on the top of the head, enough to fracture the skull, then I doubt a helmet would do much for you. If you were moving forward and your head hit a windscreen then your neck would be at risk, and a helmet wouldn't do much. The deformation of the foam might reduce the energy and stress going into the neck, or it might act as a lever and increase the moment on the neck and make the injury worse. Who knows? Most likely if you get thrown onto the bonnet of a car your head isn't your only problem.

There's an argument that a helmet protects the sides of the head, temples etc. There's a counter argument that because the helmet sticks out further it contacts the road or kerb when your head wouldn't. Go figure!

* I have done a bit of wrestling and boxing.

 

[screenman]

If the thickness of a helmet made the difference between hitting the kerb or not what might the velocity be in the difference, I would say extremely small. But there again I fix dents not heads.

 

[mickle]

I went head first (on my back) through the widscreen of an Audi at about 40mph in 1985.

Had I been wearing a helmet the 'health care professionals' who treated me (for leg injuries) after the event would have said that my helmet 'saved my life'.

Helmets are for gimps and dweebs.

 

[User482]

Anecdote ≠ evidence.

 

[Crackle]

I went head first (on my back) through the widscreen of an Audi at about 40mph in 1985.

Had I been wearing a helmet the 'health care professionals' who treated me (for leg injuries) after the event would have said that my helmet 'saved my life'.

Helmets are for gimps and dweebs.

I think on that evidence you should wear one, especially on your poncey beach hybrid thing.

 

[mickle]

I think on that evidence you should wear one, especially on your poncey beach hybrid thing.

You barstard.

 

[hennbell]

Increases size and mass of head which makes it more likely to hit something in an accident.
Some evidence that they can increase the risk of rotational injuries in an accident which are amongst the most damaging of head injuries.
Inconvenient to carry around when shopping, unless you fancy your chances of it not getting nicked when you leave it with your bike.
Risk compensation effect.
Reduces airflow around the head thus making head more sweaty.
Reinforces the perception that cycling is a dangerous activity thus discouraging take up of cycling.

Grasping at straws,

To argue these points would be like dealing with a conspiracy theorist, pointless.

Seriously, makes head bigger will result in more accidents, increased rotational injuries, makes your head sweaty

 

[Mad at urage]

Anecdote ≠ evidence.

Why not? Anecdotes are obviously evidence for those who choose to wear cycle helmets as putative protection (witness the OP), so why can't those of us who choose not to regard them as worthwhile protection* use the same dumb tricks?
*There is no good (i.e. peer-reviewed and reproducible) evidence that they provide worthwhile protection.

 

[ferret fur]

'What a load of old tosh...'

The trouble is: this particular comment isn't about 'the protection of a piece of plastic', it is about the mechanics of brain injury. Unfortunately brain surgeons do know about this. They are actually quite well qualified when it comes to assessing what causes an injury. That is part of what they do for a job. This isn't about what protection the helmet provides, it is about whether it contributes to rotational injury. There just aren't that many cases of cyclists suffering from this. It is entirely your choice whether you believe it or whether you would rather recycle second hand wiki information. The reason why the phrase 'some evidence' is used in this particular context is because the evidence of increased rotational injury is about motorbike helmets. If you have evidence that cycle helmets cause this sort of injury: produce it.

 

[snailracer]

Plastic is awesome!
Seat belts and airbags are plastic, no?

 

[smokeysmoo]

That's clearly why you have an issue with helmets. Get your hand in your pocket and buy a proper helmet and give Mrs Cunobelin her tinfoil back before your turkey sandwiches start to curl up

 

[hennbell]

One thing for sure is that visibly and your own personal awareness of your surroundings make much safer than any helmet.
Policemen and judicial systems should focus on real issues rather than chase after cyclist (adult or child) to see if they have a helmet on.

And plastic is awesome.