Advocacy & Safety - Do you wear a helmet when riding?

Testing out the poll feature, please vote :)

I did it backwards, first I was hit by a car, then I bought the helment. That's life, some people learn just by being told and others need to get slammed by a Buick in order to get the point. I remember lying on the ground thinking, I can't move my legs, and then thinking, maybe I can get a sympathy date out of this...

how and where do we vote?
Maybe I should move to Florida ?

When I first started full-time bicycle commuting years ago, I was casual about helmets.

Then, a full-time no-car bicyclist friend of mine was in a car-bike accident. He told me that the helmet saved his life or at least his brain.

He made me promise to always wear a helmet. Because we are good friends and because I could feel his sincerity, I have kept my promise to always wear a helmet - even when just going around the block.

O.k., o.k., I'm going to post it here, too:

www.bikexprt.com/bicycle/helmtrd1.htm

A quick read.

Hi Pete!
Great site, thanks for the link. That article shows how suddenly things can go wrong even to the best of riders - reason enough to wear a helmet.

I originally started wearing a helmet for safety reasons, now I find that I also appreciate the bold fashion statement that it makes...

carl

Yes, I ALWAYS wear my helmet when I ride. Of course, I just started riding in December, but much as I hate helmet hair, I always ride with my helmet on. When I was a kid, I didn't have one. Back then, it wasn't required, and we were lucky to share that one bike amongst the five of us (little bro had the infamous Big Wheel)! :D I also wear a helmet when I scooter, too.

Hey, thanks,Pete, that was a really informative link. It scared the bejeezus out of me, though. Well, you know, I'm such a scaredy cat anyway...;)

Absolutely i like my brains on the inside.!!!!

Here in Australia helmets are mandatory, although I don't often see that law enforced. Personally I will always wear a helmet as I have way too much cool stuff inside my head to want to take any unnecessary risks with it.

Chris

Always wear my helmet. Besides, where else would I put the pansies that I've been wearing since early March when I got sick of winter?

I'm a big helmet advocate! I have to admit, though, that helmet hair doesn't plague me.

As a kid, I never would have thought to wear a helmet. I don't think I had ever heard of bike helmets back in the 70s. Sometime in the 80s, that all changed.

Jonathan

I wear a helmet for three reasons:

1) Gary Busey. OKAY, so he had a moto get-off, but he was travelling at a bicycle-like 20 mph, and split his head open on the concrete kerb. He was an idiot before that accident, and now he's a slightly-mentally-deficient idiot. I am not an idiot. (I'd wear my moto helmet when bicycling, if it wasn't so heavy.)

2) Professionalism. I believe that a helmeted cyclist, dressed in cycle-appropriate clothing, travelling on the correct side of the roadway, presents an image to motorists that he knows what he is doing. Police tend to agree, and (usually) leave me alone.

3) Vanity. A helmet covers my bald little head. Add a visor and a pair of Uvex wrap around sunglasses, and I can pass for a much younger man. (Until the sun highlights my shiny scalp through the vents...)

I have to admit, until recently I only wore my helmet when mountain biking or commuting (on a highway), but around town I never wore it. The past year or two I have had people ask me if I wear a helmet when I bike and I would usually answer yes (with guilt).

My mom is a speech therapist and deals with some head injury children, so she has always preached the benefits of helmets.

Now that I am older and more mature (28), I have decided to wear my helmet full-time (except when not on my bike). Maybe I am just paying closer attention, but it seems like more people are wearing helmets than did a few years ago.

I liked the story in the link the Pete posted about the cyclist who got the stick caught in his front wheel.
I was reminded (in a very unpleasant way) just a few weeks ago of how the unexpected can happen. I was riding a century and after about 65 miles developed a cramp in the leg that I put down when I stop. I massaged the leg as I was riding hoping the cramp would go away. Well, you know things never work out the way you'd like them to. After another mile the cramp got really bad and I had to stop -NOW-. I guess the pain from the cramp screwed up my brain functions for a few seconds. I thought I was unclipped, but... Well you know the rest.

This was not the first time I was glad I was wearing my helmet and I'm sure it won't be the last. There will always be wet leaves, gravel, potholes, cars, pedestrians, and the list goes on and on.

Yes, I always wear a helmet!!!

Ron

My wife makes me wear a helmet. Reason enough.

Originally posted by Steele-Bike
My mom is a speech therapist and deals with some head injury children, so she has always preached the benefits of helmets.
Maybe the most convincing argument for my wearing a helmet is not the risk of dying, but of living brain-damaged.

Anyone that has seen the results of getting a head bashed in is a serious helmet user.

Don't leave home without it!

But you can also enjoy it, by getting a really cool helmet, and one that fits well with sufficient venting.

Well, a helmet saved me from getting additional brain-damage when I was "egged" recently. Although I'm not totally sure this was what the designers had in mind.

Chris

Always, always, always... Wonder if that's why I get strange looks in Church????

I can't believe I'm the only one who feels: 1) the risk, for an adult who is a careful rider, is SO minimal; 2)if I fall off my bike, I'm not going to land on my head; 3) in a collision with a car, that hunk of styrofoam isn't going to help; 4)here in AZ, a helmet is the difference between a ride being miserable and a ride being fun; 5) it's a form of protest against bike clubs that attempt to impose their political beliefs (re. helmets) on others; 6) a helmet reduces your perifrial vision; 7) it acts as a folcrum and actually increases your chances of a serious neck or spinal cord injury; 8) somebody is making tons of money off this paranoia (eg. little old ladies w/slick, streamlined racing helmets); 9) last but not least, they look GOOFY AS HELL. So please, don't hassle me about not wearing a helmet ( I have legitimate reasons) and I won't laugh at you for wearing one.

Originally posted by mwmw
they look GOOFY AS HELL.

True, they look goofy, but I prefer to be safe rather than sorry.
I respect your opinion here, I suppose it's kinda like the seatbelt vs no seatbelt issue. Some states (USA) require a helmet, some don't. One has to be really careful when evaluating the statistics, since there are so many varied cycling situations. And I think alot of the injuries and fatalities are inexperienced users. Still the most important thing for all of us is to make an U]informed[/U] decision. Which addressing the topic in a form like this is a good method of ensuring an informed choice.

Thanks for being open-minded, AlphaGeek, and at least considering another point of view.

While I would NEVER support legislation requiring the use of bicycle helmets (former polictically active motorcyclist) I always wear one when street riding now. I ride in the early morning and evening hours and just feel like it's another thing I can do to prevent serious injury IF some idiot in a car hits me or forces me to complete an evasive action that causes an unplanned get off.

I admit it felt pretty wierd at first and I'm still a little self conscious about it and...get it off as soon as I'm off the bike. When I was a kid only the wimpy kids with way overprotective parents and wierdos wore helmets on bicycles.:D

Having survived long enough to learn that most people's opinions are basically worthless (forum members excluded, of course), I don't really care if I look goofy or not. I certainly agree that helmets contribute to that kind of look.

But after serious thought I decided that for me it was irrational not to wear a helmet, and now I won't ride without one; it was the kind of irrevocable decision I made when I quit drinking: there is simply no turning back.

That doesn't mean I like wearing a helmet--far from it. It's just one of those things I don't like but have to do anyway.

As a kid, I rode a lot without a helmet. In fact, there was no such thing as far as I knew. So I would have really looked geeky in a football helmet.

I thank goodness I never spilled my brains.

When I see a cyclist without a helmet now, my immediate reaction is, "that sure is a fragile helmet they're wearing."

Reading through these posts makes me realise that I'm pretty stupid for not wearing my lid all the time when out riding...

I'll make a point to wear one from my next ride out onwards...

Thanks for the post!!!

Rich

I wear a helmet , just as a last-resort backup in case I get unlucky or meet someone stupid in the road. The first resort for safety is observation, roadsense and riding skill.

I am really dubious of the safety-lobby statistics. They include childrens accidents, and I am not a child learning to ride. In their list of helmet anecdotes, they include a lot of stupid off-roads riders like: "I just started MTBing, and was charging down Kamikaze Hill, when I flew off the trail and hit a tree. A helmet saved my life.."

Originally posted by MichaelW
The first resort for safety is observation, roadsense and riding skill.
I agree with this statement and MichealW deserves credit for saying it. All too often in our "bikes are toys" mentality, we fail to recognize the supreme importance of cycling training in maintaining safety.

Statistics indicate that while helmets do save lives, far more important in reducing injuries and fatalities on the bike is the level of skill and knowledge of the cyclist. No helmet can protect an unskilled, unsafe cyclist from himself.

Originally posted by Cambronne
1) Gary Busey. , so he had a moto get-off, but he was travelling at a bicycle-like 20 mph, and split his head open on the concrete kerb.

If memory serves (age, not helmetless crash), Busey briefly became a helmet advocate after his crash. Then changed his mind.


He was an idiot before that accident, and now he's a slightly-mentally-deficient idiot.

Slightly? If brains were dynamite, this man could not blow his nose.

There was a time when cars had no seat belts.

Seat belts and helmets were used routinely in auto racing and still are because they save lives. Funny, even motorists could benefit from wearing helmets, as head injuries are a significant cause of death in car crashes.

Fashion vs. safety, "helmet head" vs. "protected head."

Originally posted by Pete Clark
Funny, even motorists could benefit from wearing helmets, as head injuries are a significant cause of death in car crashes.


Wouldn't wearing a helmet interfere with talking on your cell phone as you drove?