The CycleChat Helmet Debate Thread

[ManiaMuse]

I deleted my posts because i was being made to feel like it was my fault I was knocked off my bike by a suicidal lemming pedestrian which isn't really the point of this thread. What do you really expect me to do if someone literally runs into my front wheel as I'm cycling? Doesn't matter how fast you are going if they give you no chance to avoid them.

/End of, won't post in this thread anymore, enjoy the continuation of the never ending helmet debate

 

[simongt]

Cor, there's nothing like the words ' cycle helmet ' to kick off a VERY lively debate eh - ? !
What I do find intruiging is the times I see a family out cycling, usually at a weekend, and the children are helmeted up, but the parents / adults aren't. What ever happened to setting a good example - ?

 

[ufkacbln]

Cor, there's nothing like the words ' cycle helmet ' to kick off a VERY lively debate eh - ? !
What I do find intruiging is the times I see a family out cycling, usually at a weekend, and the children are helmeted up, but the parents / adults aren't. What ever happened to setting a good example - ?

...it is an excellent example

it is an example of assessing risk and making an informed individual choice



There are protective headgear designs suitable for all ages - should the parents be obliged to wear them as well to "set a good example"

 

[mjr]

What I do find intruiging is the times I see a family out cycling, usually at a weekend, and the children are helmeted up, but the parents / adults aren't. What ever happened to setting a good example - ?

They are setting a good example: when you're grown up, stop wearing a plastic hat!

 

[Licramite]

Oddly I've just come off a site about a lorry driver failing to get off after crushing a cyclist death - helmet didn't stop a 30ton truck , - but of course it not dangerous cycling were you have complete d-sts at the wheel of large vehicles.

but of course danger is all a matter of perception and statistics. -

 

[Licramite]

...it is an excellent example

it is an example of assessing risk and making an informed individual choice



There are protective headgear designs suitable for all ages - should the parents be obliged to wear them as well to "set a good example"

probably better than your average helmet - but a bit hot after a few miles

 

[Mugshot]

Oddly I've just come off a site about a lorry driver failing to get off after crushing a cyclist death - helmet didn't stop a 30ton truck , - but of course it not dangerous cycling were you have complete d-sts at the wheel of large vehicles.

but of course danger is all a matter of perception and statistics. -

Is this post pro or anti helmets?

 

[martint235]

Oddly I've just come off a site about a lorry driver failing to get off after crushing a cyclist death - helmet didn't stop a 30ton truck , - but of course it not dangerous cycling were you have complete d-sts at the wheel of large vehicles.

but of course danger is all a matter of perception and statistics. -

Why does this make cycling dangerous? When you have a driver in a truck who isn't able to drive it properly, the whole environment around him becomes dangerous to everyone not just a cyclist. It's just unfortunate in this case that the victim happened to be a cyclist. If it had been a pedestrian, would you have said that walking to work was dangerous?

 

[Licramite]

Is this post pro or anti helmets?

Its neither, - arguing about the effectiveness of a helmet is pointless, like all safety devices its total luck if they help or not in an accident, they may help , they may not, they may contribute to your death - there is no way you can predict if they will or won't.
you could go on statistics but statics can be read in both directions - theres a 55% it may make a difference - is a 45% it won't. which do you want to publish?

 

[Hacienda71]

Anyway, anyone want to buy a Giro Advantage TT helmet off me?

 

[Profpointy]

Its neither, - arguing about the effectiveness of a helmet is pointless, like all safety devices its total luck if they help or not in an accident, they may help , they may not, they may contribute to your death - there is no way you can predict if they will or won't.
you could go on statistics but statics can be read in both directions - theres a 55% it may make a difference - is a 45% it won't. which do you want to publish?

The "traditional" figure is 85% :-)

I would be generous to call it a statistic though

 

[benb]

http://www.theguardian.com/environm...g-company-models-without-helmets-dont-hate-us

The debate about helmet use is too often toxic, puts off new riders and obscures more important issues ...
The big problem is cycling is considered unsafe by thousands who might otherwise have taken it up. Pushing a black and white agenda that helmets and hi-viz are vital says, “BE CAREFUL OUT THERE! CYCLING IS DANGEROUS!” For the most part it isn’t. But a sedentary lifestyle? Now that’s dangerous.
Nobody is offering images of sofa-dwellers surrounded by life support machinery and surgeons on standby. This is closer to the reality of risk. Human perception is terribly unreliable.

 

[mjr]

More to the point, do a majority of people think that driving is dangerous? Car drivers and passengers are always being injured and killed, but people still go on driving quite happily.

Too true. From yesterday's utility ride, the cycle track on the other side was blocked while the fire brigade and ambulance crew extracted people from the two freshly-crashed cars and the police started their investigation (incident 017449 on http://www.norfolkfireservice.gov.uk/nfrs/response/live-incident-feed at the moment):

and I bet none of the motorists were wearing helmets!

Few of the passing motorists will have seen this because their view will have been blocked by the queue in front of them at first and then by the ambulance that had parked to block the view between the wreckage (it was up a side street and possibly that's where they came to rest, but at least one car had spun if so IMO) and the main route through the junction (A149 to A148 northbound). I think if more motorists saw the two or three motoring crash aftermaths a year that I seem to encounter while cycling, then maybe it would make a few of them drive less like nobbers.

 

[Scoosh]

MOD NOTE:
This is The CycleChat Helmet Debate Thread, for discussing the pros and cons of wearing a helmet and other matters as given in this post.
Please (re-)familiarise yourselves with it and let's get back on topic.

Some off topic posts above have been Deleted.

 

[Shut Up Legs]

A pro-choice article in the Guardian:
http://www.theguardian.com/environm...g-company-models-without-helmets-dont-hate-us

The last paragraph sums its intent up nicely:

Better still, let’s ride a bike together! Maybe we’ll talk about helmets for a bit. We’ll agree to disagree. Then we can talk about our favourite climbs and which nuts make the best brownies. That’d be nice. Cycling is after all, wonderful.