ubrayj02

I think I get it now, Zeuser is a troll of the highest order. He's found a niche to exploit - like going onto a pet lovers site and demanding that animal testing be allowed.

Hats off to you Zeuser, you and your bizarre boomerang bike sig.

LesterOfPuppets

WoW! 165 pages!

I imagine most of you will hate me, but I learned to ride a bike without a helmet, so that's the way I roll.

I learned to ride a skateboard without a helmet, so that's the way I roll.

Rollerskating, Skiing, Snowboarding, Rockclimbing, Jogging... I do it all helmet-free. I do don a helmet when I go mountain biking in the backcountry, and since Vancouver, WA instituted its all-ages bike helmet law I try to have one on when I go to town.

I forgot I had to go into town today and neglected to bring my helmet, luckily I had no police run-ins.

I guess I could agree with folks who hate me cuz I don't wear a helmet if I had healthcare paid for by all your dollars, but I don't! So leave me alone!

At least I can still legally ride my skateboard downtown without a brain bucket!!!!!

John C. Ratliff

First, I don't hate anyone. Second, go ahead, I'd rather you ride and get the exercise, even without the helmet, than not ride and become a couch potato. But, if you are in a crash, helmets will help.

Concerning skateboarding, maybe you ought to reconsider the helmet (especially if you're bicycling near a skateboarder ):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foezk_hZEn0

I see at least 5 head-hits for the skateboarders, and one for the bicyclist at the end.

John

closetbiker

A lot of falls, to be sure, but i saw a whole bunch of shoulder rolls and heads not hitting the ground.

of course you couldn't see every fall clearly, but out of about a couple of dozen falls, about the only head hitting the ground i saw was the kid on the bike with the helmet doing a face plant

pretty good example of how one can fall and not have an injury to the head

Uniekje

yes. I and also an excellent example how you can hurt your face wearing a bicycle helmet.

John C. Ratliff

Look again, and use the "stop" button on the player. You'll see the head hitting the ground on seven situations:

--24-25 seconds in.
--26 seconds in.
--31 seconds in.
--40 seconds in.
--45 seconds in.
--51 seconds in.
--1:15 second in (the final bicyclist).

Of the bicyclists, only the last one had head contact. Neither of the pushed cyclists had head contact. But that last one hit not only the head, but also the forehead of the helmet, from what I can see.

The skaters had six of the head strikes, an those times shown. They happen very quickly, and most of the skaters did not hit their heads. But enough of them did that there were probably some real headaches coming out of those spills.

John

closetbiker

I guess we all see what we want to see.

Some of those are not the clearest of frames, but it looked like the shoulder hit and head snapped to the side but not on the ground to me. Most necks are shorter in length than the shoulder is wide, so the head can only snap so far.

I'd imagine if they were wearing helmets, the heads would be much larger and probably would make contact with the ground.

The face plant was a plant on the face and looked like the helmet was on the back of the head on contact

*I watched again this time going back and forth to get as clear a view I can get and I'll say it looks like

:25 looks like he may have hit his head,
:26 definite shoulder roll
:31 nope. his face was to the ground but didn't make contact
:40 there was grass obscuring the head
:45 maybe
:51 maybe
1:15 face first

so that's maybe 3 hits out of about 25 falls, and those 3 possible hits were to the side of the head, an area you have said the helmet is lacking in coverage and protection, but what does this video say about things anyway?

I could say, in the vast number of falls, most people manage to avoid injury to the head, and when they do injure their head, it most often is a minor injury that does nothing more than teach someone a lesson to behave more carefully next time in order to avoid being hit again.

Even if they all hit their heads and had nothing but dirt on their faces would that be so bad? We all bump our heads doing stuff anyways and rub our heads, learn and move on. We could all wrap ourselves in bubble wrap, but we don't do that, do we? We learn from the small mistakes so we don't make big ones. If we don't learn from the small bumps, the big one will take us down.

Surely everybody's risk factors for falls are as different as each individual. A tape like this only goes to have me realize how infrequently I've fallen on a bike and how I've never hit my head in a fall from my bike, but have hit it doing other things. I haven't fallen from my bike half as much in my entire life as I've watched these guys fall on this tape in 77 seconds.

People do hurt their heads on bikes, but the question is, do they (or any individual) do so any more than anyone else.

If you examine hospital records, you'll see there is no greater representation of head injuries to cyclists over that of the general population.

camilo had a good response to a post made by Szczuldo on the recently lockeded thread, "is the debate over helmets over?"

Szczuldo posted, "there is no excuse that comes remotely close to a real reason why you should not wear a helmet"

to which camilo responded, "No excuse? How about: bicycling is not dangerous and therefore, while helmets might make it safer, the degree of danger is so small that they are not necessary in any meaningful way?"

This point has been brought up before by others on the this thread, but it seems context and perspective doesn't mean very much to some people.

I'm glad you just recently posted that people should ride and get exercise, even without a helmet, rather than not ride and become couch potatoes, because it show some perspective that's lacking in looking at this video. Sure a helmet could help prevent some injuries, but the benefits of cycling even without a helmet far exceed those rare risks that could be prevented the same way we prevent head injury in all other activities we take part in when we don't wear helmets. By using safe behavior.

Zeuser

You missed the point despite the fact I underlined the part I was making a point of?

Are you stupid, blind or both?

Just for you, here's a complete repost of what I posted in message #4065.

Now... pay close attention to the underlined part.



Setting a good example! Way to go Hazel!

PS: This post was to counter Closet's pics of "smart" people not wearing helmets. If you know "Hurricane" Hazel, you'll agree she's one smart lady and you'll understand why she gets elected unopposed.

Zeuser

Darwinism = Survival of the fittest!

Did you miss that in school?

Zeuser

I wonder which one of us is Kettle and which one is Pot?

In any case, you're being a hypocrite; you're just a troll!

Zeuser

And it's totally irrelevant to this discussion.

Of course, but helmet or not those who shoulder rolled would still come out the same way. But for those who did in fact hit their heads, the helmet probably helped.

That has always been the point here.

ubrayj02

Give it up Zeuser! 4chan awaits you. Begone.

Tommyr

closetbiker

shouldn't that horse be wearing a helmet?

chuckguy

My bike helmet saved me from a vicious widow maker tree branch when I was limbing my huge trees. Saw stars after that one almost knocked me off my ladder. Yep all I had to wear was a bike helmet. Otherwise they just make me feel safe. I have fallen off my bike at 1mph or less a couple times and skinned my knee. Helmet just fine. However on a motorcycle my helmet save my life when i was hit by a car and I superman-ed into the curb. So with all the drivers scaring me daily on my commute, I will remember my motorbike accident and keep wearing the helmet, even if it makes my hair look liek a waffle and my head sweaty.

closetbiker

Don't Get Scared, Get the Facts

https://vimeo.com/1857813

surchekian

a red herring! i can smell it!

in a country where they have areas for cyclists set aside and there isn't really a threat this post makes sense.

imho: you can't predict entropy. probability and odds of accidents happening don't necessarily correct for human error.

closetbiker

It's pretty amazing that helmet promotion has entered Denmark.

This video is just one of the responses to a campaign that's attempting to get the Danes to wear helmets.

John C. Ratliff

It seems that you think Danes do not have bike accidents. Take a look here:

John

closetbiker

where did even hint at that John?

I said, it's pretty amazing that helmet promotion has entered Denmark.

Your response is not not surprising

closetbiker

Using this same logic, I'd also bet you'd try to get an inmate on death row to stop smoking out of concern for his health.

John C. Ratliff

If my response is not not surprising, I guess it is surprizing Well, you seem surprised that some in Denmark would advocate for helmets. Why not, if there are people getting hurt and worse from head injuries while biking there.

John

John C. Ratliff

No, the concern would be for the others, the jailers and other prisoners, who might have longer to live. Also, why give him or her the "pleasure."

John

PS--My Mom died of lung cancer and emphysema from smoking at age 76, so I have very little positive to say about that activity. My Grandmother died of natural causes in her 90's, and she did not smoke. So if you are a smoker, my heart-felt recommendation is that you quit, now!

closetbiker

nice side step John, but you've avoided the analogy in dealing with the prisoner.

You're missing the big picture and showing no sense of relativity, context or perspective.

Zeuser

4Chan... is that where you hangout? I have no clue what it is.

And if this is the best you can come up with, you've simply given up yourself.