The CycleChat Helmet Debate Thread

[theclaud]

A street view linky of the blind/not blind bend would also be of interest.

 

[Mugshot]

Man alive you don't half fall off your bike and hit your head a lot! Have you considered a trike?
Anyhoo, I was just wondering if you were going to be describing your helmets performance in the manner in which I've quoted you below to all and sundry or if that was specially reserved for this forum and you were going to use your latest incident as yet another example of how a helmet saved your life for the general public?

I know there's no 'evidence' that the lid helped

 

[Mugshot]

Riding home last night on the shared use I approached a couple of little children (I'd guess about 4ish) who had run on a little from their dad. They squished themselves to one side and I slowly rode past on the other. As I was going past one of them said;
"You should've of been wearing a hat. A hat. You should've of been wearing a hat."
so I told him to fark off and mind his own business, I'm joking of course, we had a heated but productive debate about testing parameters and risk compensation and the negative impact PPE can have on cycling, actually that's not true either but it did strike me that they start them young these days.

 

[martint235]

It wasn't blind from my perspective, my position meant I could see round it. The kamikaze pilot couldn't have seen what was coming from his position.

A street view linky of the blind/not blind bend would also be of interest.

This sounds like one of those Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal corners to me.

 

[Mugshot]

A street view linky of the blind/not blind bend would also be of interest.

Only blind one way dontcha know, I'm betting they do it with mirrors, or smoke, maybe both!

 

[mjr]

Not at all, Risk compensation, is "I have a ( insert safety device ) so I can extract the urine". Not "I need more protection than I would usually, based on my assessment of the increased risk involved, in the activity I'm about to undertake, in a different way than I would normally".

No, donning kit in order to reduce one risk, then doing an activity which you wouldn't without that kit - that's still a type of risk compensation. I've done it myself and only realised what I'd done after I crashed, despite having a first class honours degree in Statistics

 

[theclaud]

But he'll have to damage it if he's going to give us an 'after' photo....

I reckon Ian had that covered in the subtext...

 

[newfhouse]

Yes and no.

Just yes, really. Cool story though.

 

[RoubaixCube]

As someone who slammed the side of their head on the tarmac and survived with some scratching and grazing while their helmet was written off. Im all for helmets

 

[ianrauk]

As someone who slammed their head through a car windscreen and survived with just a bump whilst the Buff and baseball cap I was wearing both were scuffed and so written off. I'm all for Buffs and caps.

 

[mjr]

As someone who slammed the side of their head on the tarmac and survived with some scratching and grazing while their helmet was written off. Im all for helmets

Don't you think the helmet made slamming into the tarmac more likely? (Extra weight exceeding the capability of your muscles to hold your head up, or otherwise.)

Which helmet was it and is it tested for side impacts or did you get lucky?

 

[newfhouse]

My hat survived to be worn another day. Perhaps wool is stronger than polystyrene?

 

[PenttitheFinn]

As someone who has accidents, both with and without helmets, could one of the anti helmet brigade tell me if those without helmets are better at risk compensation, or was it just me being a twat when I received multiple cuts to my head in an off road high speed gravity testing experiment. I am quite open minded about helmets and don't always wear one, but the doctor who treated me called me a twat, and I am sure he has seen the aftermath of more cycle accidents than most. And as they say in the motorcycling world, if you have a two bob head, a two bob helmet will do. I have a 6d head obviously !

 

[martint235]

As someone who slammed the side of their head on the tarmac and survived with some scratching and grazing while their helmet was written off. Im all for helmets

Your helmet gets written off every 3 years regardless of whether or not you hit the road with it. And should be written off every time you bang it or drop it anyway.

 

[martint235]

As someone who has accidents, both with and without helmets, could one of the anti helmet brigade tell me if those without helmets are better at risk compensation, or was it just me being a twat when I received multiple cuts to my head in an off road high speed gravity testing experiment. I am quite open minded about helmets and don't always wear one, but the doctor who treated me called me a twat, and I am sure he has seen the aftermath of more cycle accidents than most. And as they say in the motorcycling world, if you have a two bob head, a two bob helmet will do. I have a 6d head obviously !

There's a lot more evidence around the effectiveness of motor cycle helmets. I'd be happy to wear a helmet that was evidenced to provide assistance in the event of the type of crash I have but that evidence isn't actually there yet. I'm not really interested in the cooling performance of a helmet cos my head will be cooler without one.