Pro-helmet article on BBC One Show right now

[david k]

Given what you've subsequently aid, that's better phrased as "I think you should, and would like to be able to force you to".

FWIW it might be worth you looking up risk compensation. I know you say you don't do it - many people believe that. The point is it's often an unconscious behaviour, so you won't be aware you're doing it.

looked it up and dont fully agree. i realize these things can be subconscious, if thats the case it affects all of us who wear helmets and not just me

 

[4F]

I watched that programme last night and what James Cracknell had to say, made sense to me and on went the helmet this morning, first time in ages.

Would you not consider his actions of rowing across the Atlantic or walking to the south pole more dangerous and in turn more selfish to his family ?

 

[Crackle]

they dont suddenly magically 'not do anything'. the 12/15 is to 'avoid any damage' the helmet would 'break' and disipate energy that otherwise would go into your head..


Its sort of akin to saying 'well if i had a crash at 100mph, the seatbelt wouldnt make a difference, so i'll never wear it' .

mind you, what we really should wear is something to protect the collar bone..

Even if they dissipate the energy they're supposed to and don't fail catastrophically, the impact force is not linear. So an impact at 30mph would reduce to an equivalent 27.5mph if a helmet absorbed it's design force and didn't just fail.

Given that most standards specify 12mph, you really wonder what use they really are, especially if you look at the dynamics of how you get a brain injury

 

[evilclive]

looked it up and dont fully agree. i realize these things can be subconscious, if thats the case it affects all of us who wear helmets and not just me

Yep, that's the point. I never suggested it was just you.

 

[Norm]

Norm,

As ever you have made your point better than the rest. But im afraid to point out yet again that you have mistakenly taken my point as saying i take more risks with a helmet on as i can get knocked off and have an accident without risk of injury, Of course that isnt what i said

<<snipped>>

I fear people have jumped on my post and through an misguided view presumed i was making a point that i wasnt

Possibly, but I feel I should point out that I didn't make that mistake myself. I emphasised that compensation could lead you to being in a position where you are at greater risk when you ride with the helmet than without.

I couldn't and wouldn't say that it does or it doesn't, such things rely on a number of factors which could vary between individuals and which could vary for any one individual at different times of day, different locations etc.

As an example, I met with another cycling biker last weekend and we both laughed that we cycle down hills much faster in lycra and crappy lids than we'd feel happy riding motorbikes in the same gear.

We are into a ppe debate now norm! i wouldnt say companies go above what they need too, not in my experience but simply they must carry out risk assessments and identify control measures. they may seem extreem at times but failure to control a risk will be their failure to meet compliance. ie, they get sued

My experience was with Balfour Beatty Rail and, whilst I wouldn't say that they were perfect, they did make the effort to go beyond the legal minimums. I was certainly not in a position to know whether that was for anything altruistic or a commercial response to the Hatfield disaster and various LU issues, but we did seem to get very good kit.

 

[david k]

Yep, that's the point. I never suggested it was just you.

maybe not you, but the feedback to my post 32 was its wrong to prefer wearing a helmet due to confidence it gives. I disagree, and still do. If your point of it being subconscious is true and ive no reason to believe it isnt then it is accurate for all helmet wearers and not just me for saying i prefer wearing one becuase it makes me feel better

 

[totallyfixed]

if they are dead they cannot post, so your amateur research is pointless


Actually, in the one case study that has been presented to date [I think it was New South Wales] my "amateur" research came up with this : http://www.ncbi.nlm..../pubmed/8870773

Been in too many of these helmet debates in the past but I am thoroughly sick of helmet evangelists telling me to wear one. Not sure the response I would get if I went round telling wearers to take them off.

There is a cafe not too far from here where a group of about a dozen old time cyclists gather each week. The youngest I would guess is mid 60's and the oldest mid to late 80's. I often sit and listen to their wonderful stories, between them they reckon they must have clocked up nearly 4 million miles worth emphasising you will agree. Not one of them wears a helmet, most of them raced and didn't wear them then either and none of them have ever had a serious head injury. I did ask them about a year ago why they didn't wear helmets and the only answer I got was "why"?
I apologise for this bit of yet more "amateur" research. Will try to do better. Notice anything about this picture?

 

[snorri]

this is the same bloke

I don't understand your "same bloke" comment, there are responses from numerous "blokes" on that Google search.

 

[HLaB]

Anyone got any Wurthers Originals

Not any more, I ate a whole half tub this morning (my teeth will fall out !) and now this thread has mushroomed into 14 pages, I could do with some more ;-)

 

[Crackle]

if they are dead they cannot post, so your amateur research is pointless


Actually, in the one case study that has been presented to date [I think it was New South Wales] my "amateur" research came up with this : http://www.ncbi.nlm..../pubmed/8870773

Been in too many of these helmet debates in the past but I am thoroughly sick of helmet evangelists telling me to wear one. Not sure the response I would get if I went round telling wearers to take them off.

There is a cafe not too far from here where a group of about a dozen old time cyclists gather each week. The youngest I would guess is mid 60's and the oldest mid to late 80's. I often sit and listen to their wonderful stories, between them they reckon they must have clocked up nearly 4 million miles worth emphasising you will agree. Not one of them wears a helmet, most of them raced and didn't wear them then either and none of them have ever had a serious head injury. I did ask them about a year ago why they didn't wear helmets and the only answer I got was "why"?
I apologise for this bit of yet more "amateur" research. Will try to do better. Notice anything about this picture?

That dog isn't wearing a helmet. Mine always wears his helmet

 

[Bman]

That dog isn't wearing a helmet. Mine always wears his helmet

<Pic snip>

Nice one. Classic!

 

[Bman]

Thats a point; does a dogs skull sustain more or less than 700 joules of impact?

Maybe we should legally enforce all dogs to wear helmets, or at least puppies under a certain age!?

 

[downfader]

He might have missed the point, but he got when put bluntly.

Should we all take our fire alarms down?

Fire alarms dont tackle fires. They prevent you from slipping into a smoke-coma and wake you when smoke reaches them. Using your analogy a cycle helmet would warn you of an impending collision...

 

[Rebel Ian]

I'm not fussed about whether wearing a helmet is likely to save me or not as we all know there's no definitive evidence either way.

What I do want to know is why anyone thinks it should be anyone's decision other than my own and why they feel compelled to force their own views on to me.

 

[ufkacbln]

I'm not fussed about whether wearing a helmet is likely to save me or not as we all know there's no definitive evidence either way.

What I do want to know is why anyone thinks it should be anyone's decision other than my own and why they feel compelled to force their own views on to me.

Because the concept that you can make an informed choice is very very silly!

Listen to your betters and stop being a very, very naughty boy!