Helmet use.

[Spire]

I was riding back home yesterday and I was just thinking about the number of people who don't wear helmets. But it wasn't just people on bikes either, there were a large number of guys that were obviously seasoned cyclists who were not wearing helmets. I just don't understand this at all. You'd think that riding that much they'd know that they will eventually fall and would wear a helmet.

I just don't understand it.

[Inkwolf]

Pure laziness. The same reason I can't be bothered to spend 30 seconds putting on my seat belt.

[Rich Clark]

I was riding along yesterday looking at the people driving cars. You know, not a single one was wearing a helmet! And yet head injuries are still the #1 cause of death in car crashes, and car crashes kill thousands of people every year.

Mandatory automobile helmet laws now! C'mon, who's with me?

RichC

[uciflylow]

I would rather wear a helmet in a car than to have those d-- airbags. I have seen more people with perment dammage caused by air bag inflation than the wreck would have caused.
I HATE AIRBAGS in cars (not the ones driving them), but I don't have a choice about using them!

[VegasCyclist]

Originally posted by Rich Clark
And yet head injuries are still the #1 cause of death in car crashes, and car crashes kill thousands of people every year.

if you don't drive you can reduce the risk of such injuries :p

[Spire]

There are issues regarding air bags and their inflation but it has been well documented that they save far far far more injuries and death than they cause.

[closetbiker]

The Helmets Harmful thread had a good discussion. I posted Culture of Fear and I think this applies as well.

In a nutshell? Some think helmets help, others aren't so sure. I think you're as likely to need a helmet when riding a bike as you need a helmet doing a lot of other things.

I don't think anyone would say wearing one is stupid but most think it should be a choice made by an adult.

As for seeing riders riding without one, if I'm right, most everyone wears one in Australia, about 70% of riders in the U.S and Canada don't wear them, almost no one wears them in Europe and Asia.

[Pete Clark]

Originally posted by Spire
I was riding back home yesterday and I was just thinking about the number of people who don't wear helmets. But it wasn't just people on bikes either, there were a large number of guys that were obviously seasoned cyclists who were not wearing helmets. I just don't understand this at all. You'd think that riding that much they'd know that they will eventually fall and would wear a helmet.

I just don't understand it.
Spire, I grew up riding a bike as a kid and nobody wore helmets.

But I'm not a kid today.

[Dutchy]

Mandatory automobile helmet laws now! C'mon, who's with me?

Don't laugh too soon. There are trials being undertaken here to test a plastic type headband that is designed to protect the front of a drivers head in car accidents. It has been designed in the shape of a headband so people can't complain about it ruining their hair. I would guess that they are mandatory within ten years down here. The article is from 1998 but I did hear more info last year.

http://www.magma.ca/~ocbc/carhelm.html

NB. An experienced rider went down hard in our race on Saturday and took a chunk out of his helmet the size of an avocado, he got up and finished the ride. Without it, he would most certainly have been hospitalised.

CHEERS.

Mark

[NuTz4BiKeZ]

In New Zealand it is law that you wear helmets on the road.

[closetbiker]

Originally posted by Dutchy
An experienced rider went down hard in our race on Saturday and took a chunk out of his helmet the size of an avocado, he got up and finished the ride. Without it, he would most certainly have been hospitalised.

from The Culture of Fear thread,

People react to fear

tricks of the fear mongers' trade,
* the use of poignant anecdotes in place of scientific evidence,

The British Medical Association has said the benefits of riding a bike outweigh the risks by a ratio of 20 to 1.

from Chris Gillham (Australian activist working to repeal all-ages MHL)

The number of Australians whose lives have been "saved by helmets" [according to anecdotal accounts in the media] over the past decade is staggering. I estimate that here in Western Australia the helmet law has saved about 5,000 lives per year... based upon the claims by cyclists who wouldn't know what to do without a helmet law.

It's curious that the average annual cyclist death toll in Western Australia before law enforcement was just 7. If the anecdotal claims are to be believed, it might be surmised that the wearing of helmets has caused an average 4,993 cyclists to have a near-fatal accident per year!

and from http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/advocacy/mhls.htm

Testimonials that "A Helmet Saved My Life"

Defending mandatory helmet use are testimonials by numerous cyclists that their helmets saved their lives in falls, often accompanied with such evidence as a smashed or broken helmet. In some cases, the cyclist suffered severe head injuries in spite of the helmet; therefore, the conviction is even stronger that the helmet must have saved the cyclist from death.

However, the evidence of dented and broken helmets is proof of nothing. After all, they are made of light foam with perhaps a thin coat of plastic. It seems that the helmet must have reduced the impact somewhat, but it's impossible to say how much, as many cyclists do land on their heads without wearing helmets and yet still walk away from the accident. In some cases, the size of the helmet may have contributed to its contacting the ground. In the case of those seriously injured while wearing helmets, one might equally argue that the helmet should have been stronger.

[cbhungry]

Most head injuries sustained in car accidents are actually due to lack of seatbelt use. When I was a paramedic in New York city, I never pulled a dead person out of a motor vehicle accident who was wearing a seat belt but all my pronouncements of death at numerous multi-car accidents were victims who were not belted in and sustained significant head and neck injuries. On the recieving end in the ER, the same seems to apply. Unless you treat these people on personal level, no amount of data is going to convince me helmets and seatbelts don't save lives or protect from major morbidity.

One significant head injury costs society bundles in money and medical resources.

To say helmets are not worth it unless it saves thousands vs. just a few lives per year is not a valid argument. The morbidity data is more significant than mortality data, and that is a difficult number to report since most people who avoided major injury will not bother to report it to the appropriate agencies.

At the same time I don't believe in mandatory helmet laws except for children.

If adults want to scramble their brains, I say let the laws of natural selection take them out and increase the average IQ on the population intelligence bell curve.

As for the following: but it's impossible to say how much, as many cyclists do land on their heads without wearing helmets and yet still walk away from the accident. I had to transport alot these bicylists with massive head injuries to local hospitals when I was a paramedic and I don't recollect any of them wearing helmets. The helmetted bikers were usually transported for broken femurs, etc. My personal experience may not mean anything but I'm not just pulling it out of my *****hole.

[Chi]

Originally posted by uciflylow

I HATE AIRBAGS in cars (not the ones driving them), but I don't have a choice about using them!

You can remove the airbag if you don't like it. You'll just have a SRS light on your dash all the time ... unless you remove that as well.

My roadie/MTB friend hates helmets with a passion. I never got a clear explanation of why he does, but he never wears one, unless he's in danger of getting a ticket for not wearing one. He's been in crashes on the road before, and yet he still insists on not wearing one. Go figure.

I, on the other hand, am forced to wear one by my significant other, so I kinda have no choice in the matter ... but I have grown to love my white Specialized helmet in the time I've had it. It's a nice, shiny helmet. :D

[OB1knobe]

Folks who do NOT want to wear helmets will rationalize you to death. Not enough proof... they're heavy... they're hot... etc, etc. I grew up in a country where bicycles were a major means of transportation. Rode my first two-wheeler at 5 years of age. Have raced road and track, and I just plain love velos and cycling. I have tons of experience (I'm on the wrong side of 60 now) and know as much about 'crashing/falling properly' as any one else I know. Here's the bottom line for me: A hard-shell helmet saved my LIFE at least twice. (and have saved me from many headaches that were probably not life threatening) The funny thing is that from my knowledge folks have worse crashes outside of racing than in racing. On one occaision I was knocked off my bike by a big farm-dog and fell awkwardly on my back. Broke two ribs and smashed my helmet to smitherines. But I walked away. The other time a helmet saved my life I was knocked off by a little old-lady in a big Chev. I was unconsious and was hospitalized but survived.

If you don't want to wear a helmet, I think you have that right. I don't believe that people should be protected from themselves. But as for me, I NEVER ride without my hard-shell on now. NEVER!:thumbup:

[closetbiker]

Originally posted by cbhungry
. At the same time I don't believe in mandatory helmet laws except for children.
If adults want to scramble their brains, I say let the laws of natural selection take them out and increase the average IQ on the population intelligence bell curve.

I'm with you on this one! :thumbup:

It's interesting that the American Medical Association commisioned study (at:http://archinte.ama-assn.org/content/vol160/issue11/index.dtl) that was set in Denmark (where 0.1% of the cyclists wear helmets) concluded: "Even after adjustment for other risk factors, including leisure time physical activity, those who did not cycle to work experienced a 39% higher mortality rate than those who did."

I'd say natural selection favors the cyclist!
:)

[cbhungry]

True, you are less likely to die biking than driving a car overall, but why take the chance of sustaining an injury that could make you a vegetable no matter how low the probability?


As for aforementioned study :http://archinte.ama-assn.org/conten...sue11/index.dtl


It was a study to predict all cause mortality which is going to be less in the group that is more active vs. non active (with more benefit seen in the bicyclists vs. non bicyclists). It did not have a subgroup analysis of the bikers (ie: comparing bikers within itself in terms of mortality, morbidity and injuries with respect to helmet use.) That would be a better study and real extrapolation for any conclusions regarding wearing bike helmets among bikers.

[closetbiker]

Yes, it was all cause mortality. Cycling increases your chance for a healthier life even if you don't wear a helmet. The BMA said by a factor of 20 to 1 this is true.

Truth is, the risks of riding a bike are overstated while the benefits are understated. If more rode bikes instead of driving cars, not only would the death toll lower from accidents, a much larger number of health ailments and deaths would lower.

In Canada about 80,000 people die from heart disease each year, 3,000 from car accidents and 70 die while biking. About 100 Canadians die each year from choking to death on ball-point pens. And from the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute website (at: http://www.helmets.org/stats.htm) cars have nearly twice the death rate as cyclists for the number of exposure hours.

Putting a helmet on is not a bad thing, it's just curious that people select this as a priority but if you read "Culture of Fear", I think the book explains this psychology well.

[cbhungry]

There are fewer deaths related to rock climbing than any other sport and driving cars but I would not forgoe the safety harness and protection used to anchor the climbing rope. The "free climbers" (those who don't use harnesses) have the publicised deaths. Don't have data on how many lives were saved with the climbing ropes when a rock climber slipped. Once again, within subgroup analysis, helmets would benefit bikers but none has been done.

Overall, engaging in rock climbing, biking , roller blading etc. is far healthier than being a slug driving around in a 2000 pound killer machine all day. No arguing with you on that. I think we are both on the same side regarding that.

[closetbiker]

Originally posted by cbhungry
Once again, within subgroup analysis, helmets would benefit bikers but none has been done.

Well of course it would (or so I would guess) but that's not the point. We don't live in a vacume and we take risks of all sorts every day. The point is, are we minimizing risks in order to what is most dangerous? For someone to smoke and tell that I'm taking an unnessary risk riding a bike in traffic is ridiculous. For someone who doesn't get their one hour of arobic exercise a day and say that I'm nuts for not wearing a helmet is ridiculous. Failure to get enough exercise (that cycling so clearly provides) has much more serious and more certain results. Henry Thoreau once said, "A man sits as many risks as he runs".

Extending the safety discussion, cyclists very rarely inflict fatal injuries on others, whereas the scale of injuries inflicted by motor vehicles is notorious. When third party fatalities are included in the calculation, the safety advantage swings decisively to the bicycle.

[cbhungry]

i think we are going around in circles reiterating the relative risk of biking vs. other more dangerous activities.

[ITALIA]

When I first began riding, I NEVER wanted to wear any helmet. I thought... for what reason? I wasn't on training wheels, I didn't like the look of it nor did I care for something on my head to mess up my fabulous hair do. :-)

A couple of years ago, I found one that I liked, so I gave in. For sure, it took some getting use too. As much I prefer my hair blowing in the wind, nowadays, I wouldn't ride without my security blanket. I don't wear my helmet when I blade because I don't do tricks.

:lol: :beer:

[closetbiker]

Originally posted by cbhungry
i think we are going around in circles reiterating the relative risk of biking vs. other more dangerous activities.

I don't think we are arguing in circles. I think you make a fair point. Mine is just a different point. One that is often overlooked in this car culture.

[Rich Clark]

The reason I brought up the driving comparison in the first place was to make the point that perceived danger and statistical danger are different things.

I always wear a helmet, personally. I like them, I find them comfortable, their ventilation helps keep me cool in the summer without overheating my mostly balt scalp, and I just don't have any issues about it.

I generally make use of whatever safety features are available to me wherever I am and whatever I'm doing, without being obsessive about it.

At the same time, I believe the hysteria over cycling helmets has damaged the sport and benefitted mostly the helmet manufacturers, tho are the primary purveyors of they highly-suspect "85%" statistic.

The more this hype grows, the more widespread becomes the unquestioned belief that cycling is inherently dangerous, more dangerous than other forms of transportation. And the more people retreat to their cars and SUV's.

I find myself torn, because I realize I contribute to this perception every day as people see me, an obviously experienced and well-equipped cyclist, wearing a helmet. But not wearing it simply makes me nervous and uncomfortable, the same way driving without seatbelts does. I'm a creature of habit, and change is hard.

RichC

[hayneda]

Originally posted by Rich Clark
The reason I brought up the driving comparison in the first place was to make the point that perceived danger and statistical danger are different things.

I always wear a helmet, personally. I like them, I find them comfortable, their ventilation helps keep me cool in the summer without overheating my mostly balt scalp, and I just don't have any issues about it.

I generally make use of whatever safety features are available to me wherever I am and whatever I'm doing, without being obsessive about it.

At the same time, I believe the hysteria over cycling helmets has damaged the sport and benefitted mostly the helmet manufacturers, tho are the primary purveyors of they highly-suspect "85%" statistic.

The more this hype grows, the more widespread becomes the unquestioned belief that cycling is inherently dangerous, more dangerous than other forms of transportation. And the more people retreat to their cars and SUV's.

RichC

Absolutely right!

I too, wear a helmet 99% of the time that I ride. But not always. Sometimes I accept the risk of riding without one, when coasting around the neighborhood, or running a short errand to the store in steet clothes. That's the nice thing about being an adult--getting to make decisions on what to accept or not.

All this mania about helmets has probably saved some lives--I know that I personally have had ny nogin saved--but I agee with Rich that it has done a overall disservice to the promotion and development of cycling.

I remember back to the days when there was no such thing as a bicycle helmet, indexed shifting, or clipless pedals; nor anything but steel frames. Riding was not perceived then to be at all hazardous; and as a kid, I was allowed to roam far and wide on my bicycle (on the roads).

Nowadays, the 'accepted wisdom' is that cycling is dangerous, and that only a total moron would ride without a helmet. But consider that the statistics show that you could ride everyday for the rest of your life without a helmet, and have a smaller risk of dying from it, than from riding in a motor vehicle everyday--which most of us do without a second thought.

Dave
who is amazed to still be alive
since he rode in the open back of his Dad's pickup,
used a lawn mower without any safety devices or auto cutoff,
never held the handrail in stairways,
dove off real diving boards at the pool,
used a BB gun and never shot his eye out,
walked to school without being abducted,
climbed trees without a safety harness,
scuba dived alone,
and rode his bike for 15 years before even owning a helmet.

[Pete Clark]

Originally posted by OB1knobe
I have tons of experience (I'm on the wrong side of 60 now) and know as much about 'crashing/falling properly' as any one else I know. Here's the bottom line for me: A hard-shell helmet saved my LIFE at least twice.

If you don't want to wear a helmet, I think you have that right. I don't believe that people should be protected from themselves. But as for me, I NEVER ride without my hard-shell on now. NEVER!:thumbup:
The "helmet issue" is really two separate issues that need to be separated and untangled from each other.

1) The value of helmets in protecting your head in a crash.

2) Legislating mandatory helmet use.

I've heard enough incidents of people whose lives have been saved by a helmet. But that's an argument for helmet use, not legislating mandatory helmet use. (Funny, I've never heard an argument against helmet use from somebody whose fallen on their head without one.)

[closetbiker]

Originally posted by Rich Clark
The more this hype grows, the more widespread becomes the unquestioned belief that cycling is inherently dangerous, more dangerous than other forms of transportation. And the more people retreat to their cars and SUV's.

Here's a good reason for promoting the cycling is dangerous thing. It gets more cyclists into cars where the auto industry makes big bucks!

If we're talking danger here, the first thing we should do is get people walking and riding to get healthier and then limiting dangerous activities by getting all those poor drivers off the road.

[Max]

Originally posted by closetbiker
getting all those poor drivers off the road.

Dreams. Nice dreams ..

So far I see only more and more cars in the city.

I begin to believe the the Automobilism wins hands down.

As for the helmets, I wish they did not look that ridiculous.

Once I left the office wearing my Met helmet, prepared for my commute home. Two girls, who were seating in the hall started to laugh uncontrollably, when they saw me wearing the helmet.

I can understand them. I look exactly like a mushroom in it. Perhaps the industry can make some sort of an inflating helmet. Similar to the air bag system in cars. On the other hand how to make it to inflate in proper time? If it inflates by error then it will be even more ridiculous.

[closetbiker]

Originally posted by Max
Dreams. Nice dreams ..

So far I see only more and more cars in the city.

I begin to believe the the Automobilism wins hands down.

Well I think we have a choice here to correct a problem.

from: http://www.ucolick.org/~de/AltTrans/helmet.html

"Passing laws to constrain the behaviour of cyclists as a way of increasing cyclist safety, to me, is too much like enforcing curfews on women to reduce attacks upon women. It's for each woman to decide how safe or dangerous she is on that walk across town or that camping trip in the desert -- else we become prisoners in our homes, wards of the state. Many Islamic nations claim that the imposition of the veil upon women is for women's safety, because it asserts their respectableness and hides their "provocatively beautiful" faces from untrustworthy men. The average American woman of any spirit says Bulls**t! If the men are doing the assaulting and harassing, we need to deal with their behaviour, not put sacks over all the women's heads.

When we think about gun violence in schools, do we start by passing laws mandating the purchase and daily wear of Kevlar vests for all school kids? No, we try to stop the shooting (even if we go about it wrong-headedly). When we think about cyclists getting killed by cars, we need to get closer to the cause: we need to stop the killing, and it is being done by the cars. No amount of helmet is enough to stop a charging SUV. Even an elephant gun wouldn't do it. The only thing that's going to stop that SUV is (sorry, all you libertarians) laws limiting its aggressive behaviour; laws banning it from residential areas and city centres; speed bumps; normalized gas prices; and such like things that only an outraged and activist citizenry can achieve. We don't need to "rage against" the empire of the automobile, we need to organize against it.

In Holland and some other European countries, the solution has been to slow down the cars, restrict auto access to city centers, and provide first-rate bikeways. The result has been the world's best bike safety record -- despite an almost zero helmet-wearing population! -- and a tremendously positive health and environmental benefit from so many people riding bikes daily instead of driving. Here in the US we regard the dangerous and irresponsible use of automobiles as given, as an immutable fact. We need to get over that; it's as silly as assuming that "boys will be boys and bring their Uzis to class with them" -- and handing out the Kevlar. "


Now I don't think we're going to stop the car culture here but I think it's in the best interests to enforce traffic laws already on the books to decrease "accidents" on the roads. We have a choice. Let Bozo drivers rule or get them off the road. So far, the drivers are getting away with a lot of destruction that we all are paying for.

[Pete Clark]

The responsibility for bicycle hemet use lies with the adult user, and with the parents of the minor (non-adult) cyclist.

Regulating cycling makes about as much sense as taxing the air we breathe. But we tax everything else, so why not?

Knowledge is more powerful than rules, and educating cyclists and road users is more effective than making laws to control us.

Often, politicians give scared people phoney solutions that don't really work (like mandatory helmet laws,) like an unscrupulous doctor might give a placebo (a sugar pill) to a patient that has an imagined illness.

If the illness is imaginary, an imaginary drug will often work.

[Max]

Originally posted by closetbiker
Well I think we have a choice here to correct a problem.

from: http://www.ucolick.org/~de/AltTrans/helmet.html



Nice stuff. Will read it all tonight.

I especially liked this:

I've got my helmet on
Nothing can do me wrong

-- The Bobs

[john999]

Well I had an accident recently in a car and the airbag went off - soft as anything, didn't even leave a mark, so I don't know what these people are going on about. (I was wearing a seatbelt).

Why don't competitive cyclists wear helmets (Le Tour, etc) ?
After all, motorcyle racers wore pudding basins 50-60 years before helmets became law.

[Chris L]

Originally posted by john999

Why don't competitive cyclists wear helmets (Le Tour, etc) ?

They do now. The UCI have recently made it mandatory.