This is a helmet debate

[ufkacbln]

my point is, if wearing helmets is pointless or of little benefit, why do the experienced racing authorities insist on it?

Brilliant ..................

Couldn't agree more.

The RAC / ACU insist on helmets for all motor sports, even driving your own car on a track day, the irrefutable argument is therefore that car drivers should wear helmets because the professional racing bodies insist on it?

 

[Crackle]

err, why do pros wear helmets?

It was introduced as mandatory after the death of Andrei Kivilev. There's no evidence that since it's introduction it's made any difference, witness the recent fatality in the Giro, however it's widely accepted that there's an aerodynamic advantage to wearing a helmet.

 

[Brandane]

Oh good; ANOTHER helmet thread.

If you want to wear one; wear one. If you prefer not to wear one; don't wear one.

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. Depends what bike I'm riding, where I'm going and what kind of riding I'm doing.

There are so many variables that there can be no hard and fast rule regarding the things. So please, DO NOT make them compulsory!!!

 

[Rebel Ian]

my point is, if wearing helmets is pointless or of little benefit, why do the experienced racing authorities insist on it?

Insurance.

 

[david k]

Brilliant ..................

Couldn't agree more.

The RAC / ACU insist on helmets for all motor sports, even driving your own car on a track day, the irrefutable argument is therefore that car drivers should wear helmets because the professional racing bodies insist on it?

your not considering like for like, so once again your point is err....pointless

 

[blubb]

My guess would be that helmet manufacturers sponsored cycling events, till helmets became widely accepted.

 

[corshamjim]

Because pros don't leave a safe braking distance between themselves and the rider in front.

 

[Smokin Joe]

My interest in cycle racing has diminished greatly since helmets became compulsory and every one started wearing shades. A huge appeal in any sport is the visual spectacle, and with all the riders now looking as anonymous as Grid-iron footballers it just isn't the same.

There wasn't even a good reason for the rule as the number of deaths and serious head injuries before compulsion was so low as to be statistically zero.

 

[slowmotion]

Money.

Sponsorship, advertising, insurance, greater media coverage etc etc. Like all professional sports, it's the bottom line. I don't think that safety is even a tiny consideration for racing cycle helmets. More racers die of drug use than head injuries, don't they?

 

[totallyfixed]

They [UCI] even made helmets compulsory for mountain top finishes which didn't please the pros overmuch. Absolutely no statistical difference in head injuries since helmets were introduced.
For the uninitiated, The UCI is that wonderful body of men [almost all men] who are responsible for getting rid of drugs in pro cycling, so perhaps there decision making is questionable at best.

 

[HLaB]

They [UCI] even made helmets compulsory for mountain top finishes which didn't please the pros overmuch. Absolutely no statistical difference in head injuries since helmets were introduced.
For the uninitiated, The UCI is that wonderful body of men [almost all men] who are responsible for getting rid of drugs in pro cycling, so perhaps there decision making is questionable at best.

I think it was Eurosports that were talking about that the other day. Pros used to be able take them off for mountain top finishes, the UCI changed that Mid season and one rider (I forget who) handed their helmet to a mechanic or somebody and went on to win the stage, the UCI dq'ed him :-(

 

[Red Light]

One word: Money. They get paid lots of money by the helmet manufacturers to wear their helmets.

 

[Jezston]

Most of what the UCI decide is mandatory or against the rules is bloody daft. Because the UCI are for it is usually not a good way to back up an argument.

 

[totallyfixed]

Absolutely right, talk to Graham Obree about the UCI, and if you don't know who G.O is, shame on you, get googling.

 

[slowmotion]

It does seem completely bonkers for a sport that is renowned for its drug taking to get all worried about bumping their heads.

Your typo... "exists for its drug taking" surely ?