The CycleChat Helmet Debate Thread

[ufkacbln]

The matter is clear

Person A falls 2 m and hits their head, person B also falls and hits their head
The method is the same, the force is the same, and the outcome is the same

Yet person A should wear a helmet.... and PersonB doesn't need to

 

[ufkacbln]

Well, if you are a nervous wobbly stool/ladder user, then yes, you may do. Or, if you have cars coming past your stool sometimes too close for comfort, then yes, might be an idea. If you are a fit, confident stool user and you don't stand on it the middle of the road, then no, you probably don't. I hope that is a little clearer

Absolutely, the only contribution of a helmet is to make the wearer less nervous

 

[martint235]

Well, if you are a nervous wobbly stool/ladder user, then yes, you may do. Or, if you have cars coming past your stool sometimes too close for comfort, then yes, might be an idea. If you are a fit, confident stool user and you don't stand on it the middle of the road, then no, you probably don't. I hope that is a little clearer

And if the car comes too close and knocks you from your stool the helmet will help how? Anything to demonstrate that?

 

[philepo]

I know.

Are you suggesting that all those people who fall off stuff in their homes, injuring their heads, were in fact hit by cars?

Ha ha. No. They were in the tiny fraction of people who fell from a modest height and got a serious injury. Very unlucky.

 

[philepo]

The matter is clear

Person A falls 2 m and hits their head, person B also falls and hits their head
The method is the same, the force is the same, and the outcome is the same

Yet person A should wear a helmet.... and PersonB doesn't need to

No. Person A was indoors minding their own business and fell - pure accident. Person B was on a road surrounded by muppets in 2 ton steel boxes and was pushed - an accident, but a foreseeable risk.

 

[philepo]

Absolutely, the only contribution of a helmet is to make the wearer less nervous

Perhaps that is a bad thing... risk compensation etc.

 

[philepo]

And if the car comes too close and knocks you from your stool the helmet will help how? Anything to demonstrate that?

Do keep up. See my previous posts.

 

[mjr]

Here are the instructions given to cyclists on boarding a Stena Line ferry. Perhaps someone could explain to me why the same instructions are not given to foot passengers, or indeed to all those people exiting their cars and walking along the car deck to the stairwells?

Source, please? Those were not given to me on a Stena Line ferry yesterday. The only instructions were to beware of moving vehicles as we entered the car deck and to dismount for the very lumpy metal ramp on/off.

Of course, a significant proportion of the Brits were helmetted and wearing ugly coats anyway.

 

[mjr]

Are you suggesting that all those people who fall off stuff in their homes, injuring their heads, were in fact hit by cars?

I suspect the reason for standing on the stool in the middle of the road is it's one of the few places where you might fall onto a flat surface that a cycle helmet is tested for, rather than something more like the corner of a table or door which only B95 helmets are tested for (and then only rounded corners).

 

[mjr]

Given out by the person who was checking passports and tickets on Sunday.

Clucking bell. They didn't do that in Harwich last Thursday night or HvH on Monday night AFAIK. Would you ask them why they hate cyclists or do you intend to travel with them again soon?

 

[srw]

Here are the instructions given to cyclists on boarding a Stena Line ferry. Perhaps someone could explain to me why the same instructions are not given to foot passengers, or indeed to all those people exiting their cars and walking along the car deck to the stairwells?

Make sure you are wearing high visibility clothing and protective head gear at all times during embarkation.

Make sure you are wearing high visibility clothing and protective head gear before rejoining your cycle on the car deck.

I look forward to seeing Stena's reply to your letter to them!

 

[ianrauk]

The boat on that leaflet looks like it's sinking...

 

[MontyVeda]

Wonder if they'd go so far as not letting cyclists board sans helmet?

 

[benb]

No. Person A was indoors minding their own business and fell - pure accident. Person B was on a road surrounded by muppets in 2 ton steel boxes and was pushed - an accident, but a foreseeable risk.

How is that relevant? Either you wish to mitigate against head injuries or you do not. If you do, and you believe that helmets are an effective mitigation, then it is astonishingly hypocritical to encourage cyclists to wear helmets without also encouraging pedestrians and people doing DIY to wear them.

Why the double standards?

 

[mjr]

Wonder if they'd go so far as not letting cyclists board sans helmet?

Not at the minute. It's as much as they can do to stop some people trying to ride up/down the ramps despite the obvious danger from the quite deep herringbone ridges that help motorists get traction - it'd be like hitting a sequence of non-flush drop kerbs at odd angles in quick succession.

It would probably also decimate the numbers of Dutch cyclists using it.