Commuting - no helmets in NY

Please, without getting into the whole helmet debate and their efficacy...

I was up in NYC this weekend and was amazed that in the hundreds of ppl on bikes I saw over the weekend, I only saw three wearing helmets. Whatever side of that fence one sits on, generally it seems that helmet use and acceptance is fairly widespread and that their efficacy (true or not) is well accepted. It struck me odd that in a city where there are so many cars, cabs etc weaving in and out that most bike riders would feel it illogical to wear one.

...and along that line, blinkies were almost as rare as helmets. Certainly nothing like many of the commuter setups around here.

Are NYers just tougher than the rest of us, or is life there so miserable bike riders don't care what happens? :D

Helmets don't fit into the hipster look.

/thread

:D

life must cheep in the big apple....

i was there recently myself and noticed the same thing.
I also just visited China, and THEY actually wear more helmets than New Yorkers! funny.

cheers

Haha, I think it's a toss up - i just got back from living in Beijing for a month and in that entire time i saw only one helmet and maybe two or three blinkies, pretty on par with what i've seen in NYC...

Maybe it's the Dutch influence.

It's valid. NYC was once a Dutch colony, so it shouldn't be surprising that a few traditions linger. And it's certainly no reason to persecute the citizenry for their ethnicity. I mean they have a much higher rate of utility cycling. Who are we to judge?

Haha, I think it's a toss up - i just got back from living in Beijing for a month and in that entire time i saw only one helmet and maybe two or three blinkies, pretty on par with what i've seen in NYC...

interesting, I was in Shanghai & Hohhot and helmets were fairly common.

as a side note, since the days have gotten short my headlights have helped me avoid more accidents with Biker Ninjas than anything else! c'mon, really now!

Helmets don't fit into the hipster look.

/thread

:D

Yeah, but neither do nasty skull fractures. Somebody might think they've given up their pacifist ideology for some good old fashioned fisticuffs. Of course, they could always claim it was oppression at the hands of the cops during a civil disobediance rally or something. That could work.

I'd guess it's the pace and the population density - nobody has time to put one on / take one off, and no place to store one.
Or that's what they might tell you.

I was up in NYC this weekend and was amazed that in the hundreds of ppl on bikes I saw over the weekend, I only saw three wearing helmets. Whatever side of that fence one sits on, generally it seems that helmet use and acceptance is fairly widespread and that their efficacy (true or not) is well accepted.

Your first sentence indicates that your assumption about widespread use and acceptance maybe in error.

I'd guess it's the pace and the population density - nobody has time to put one on / take one off, and no place to store one.
Or that's what they might tell you.

Also it is possible that the NYC cyclists that the OP observed are are not cut from the same mold as the stereotypical BF club/road cyclist who may also commute.

I'm thinking not much spanex either.

I'm thinking not much spanex either.

Nor likely to find many with shoe - pedal systems with mechanical connections when numerous stops are a fact of commuting life.

I'm sticking with process of natural selection on this one...

Nor likely to find many with shoe - pedal systems with mechanical connections when numerous stops are a fact of commuting life.

Given that most bicycle messengers use clipless pedal systems in an environment in which "numerous stops" are part of the job, your assumption appears specious.

track stand

Now if I can ever get it down. I must be the only rider on a fixed gear that can not track stand.

Interesting that this thread was posted today. At about 6:30AM today, I crashed my bike while commuting to work in Northwestern NJ. I was going about 28 MPH down a hill. There was no ice plus I have a set of Nokian Halkap..106 700cx 35's on. Went to adjust my helmet with my right hand and then suddenly the front tire hit something. I've got a bright light on the front. I'm wondering if I hit a squirrel or the likes...Anyway, I smashed my helmet on the right side, road rash and torn clothes. I'm fine except for a bruised ego and some sore ribs. There is NO question that I would have fractured my skull or maybe worse.

I plan to leave my helmet in my living room for my kids to see what kind of force can be delivered and absorbed by the helmet.

There really shouldn't be any debate about helmets' efficacy.

Woo

Maybe it's the Dutch influence.

It's valid. NYC was once a Dutch colony, so it shouldn't be surprising that a few traditions linger. And it's certainly no reason to persecute the citizenry for their ethnicity. I mean they have a much higher rate of utility cycling. Who are we to judge?

Except....that was before the bicycle was invented! :)


Yeah, but neither do nasty skull fractures.

Yes, they do. :)

Well, I am a Noo Yawker, I commute and I ALWAYS wear my helmet.
Sadly I must agree that there are way too many people riding without helmets in the city.

Why is that?
Perhaps, a belief that it may mess their hair?
If they cycle slowly the impact when they crash will be softer so they don't need a helemt?
The idea that their head has nothing of value in it?

I really get crazed when I see a child with a helmet and the adult without one.

Rob

I'm not confident that your observations are an accurate representation of what the truth is.

First, what bikers were you observing? What time of the day was it? Where was it? Who were they?

Club riders will always wear a helmet as most clubs force it, so you have probably hundreds (thousands) on any given weekend active. But you won't see most of them because many of the rides take place outside of the city.

Tourists visit, rent a bike for an hour on the Greenway and skip the helmet because the perceived low-risk of riding on the path and $2 helmet rental/charge.

Delivery guys, often on Mtn bikes, are now required to wear company-funded helmets. I'd say that more than half wear one

Couriers, often on single speeds, are in their own group.

Recreational riders, on the whole, don't wear a helmet. I've seen many have their helmet strapped to their handlebars, in their basket, on their backpack, etc. Maybe they are omnipotent or maybe they don't know any better.

Commuters are a seasonal group. At my company there are probably 40+ people who commute in the warm summer months. All but one that I have seen wear a helmet. Many don't have lights as they only travel during the day time. For the ones that do travel at night (maybe 5), most seem to have clear white blinky up front and a red blinky in the back.
Now that we're into the shorter and colder days, there are just two people who commute regularly, but these two people both wear a helmet and both have HID or better lighting systems. I think only one posts on this forum :D

It's vanity. Helmets make us look like dorks.

Ive visted nyc a few times and saw a very large amount of people in helmets.. Even hit up the Bike film festival one time, which was 99% hipsters and messengers on fixed gears and even a good amount of them had helmets.

Being a commuter myself in NY I don't thing there is a helmets=dorkie stigma that there might be in other places. I wear one myself, and see lots of others with them, but I see a good number of riders that don't. I don't think you can infer much sociologically from that. So many different types of people ride around this city. I will say I see very few lycra clad riders.

Perhaps it is just recognizing that there has not yet been created a helmet that helps you significantly when you get plastered by a car. Your head may be marginally better - but it doesn't help if your body is crushed.

If I had to choose, I would go with the light over a helmet personally. But, then again, why give them a clear target? :rolleyes:

Closer you get to the city center in New Orleans, the less helmets you will see. Besides the style points, and the expense (folks spend all of their helmet money on beer), I find that people who ride bikes for utilitarian purpose do not wear helmets as much. Just like jumping into a car and going to the corner store. A helmet in the car might very well be a good idea, but unless you are RACING your car, maybe not all that necessary.

I always wear a helmet, but I always ride like a jack*****. It holds my rear-view mirror nicely and keeps the sun off my scalp (mostly). Maybe if I ever rode carefully, I would feel differently. My helmet is a Bell Metropolis. Got a Gore-tex cover and zero style points. I don't care what anyone thinks about it, and I sure don't care what they wear or don't wear.

But it is interesting that people who live on their bikes often do not wear helmets, even in congested cities.

Closer you get to the city center in New Orleans, the less helmets you will see. Besides the style points, and the expense (folks spend all of their helmet money on beer), I find that people who ride bikes for utilitarian purpose do not wear helmets as much. Just like jumping into a car and going to the corner store. A helmet in the car might very well be a good idea, but unless you are RACING your car, maybe not all that necessary.

I always wear a helmet, but I always ride like a jack*****. It holds my rear-view mirror nicely and keeps the sun off my scalp (mostly). Maybe if I ever rode carefully, I would feel differently. My helmet is a Bell Metropolis. Got a Gore-tex cover and zero style points. I don't care what anyone thinks about it, and I sure don't care what they wear or don't wear.

But it is interesting that people who live on their bikes often do not wear helmets, even in congested cities.

It's a city thing. I'd say a good percentage of the non-professional fixie riders don't wear a helmet and no, -they don't wear spandex either. Doesn't fit the image.

There are also poorer people who ride because it's a cheap form of transportation. I could commute by car if I wanted. I choose not to. There's a world of difference.

Cyclists include such a wide and varied group of people. For some it's recreation. For some it's sport, for others it's transportation, and there's another group where it's about subculture and lifestyle.

I always wear a helmet, but I always ride like a jack*****.


+1 Exactly, but also you must worry about the other road users driving like jackasses.

Probably 50% of the cyclists in Montreal don't wear helmets. To me they are organ donors.

Interesting that this thread was posted today. At about 6:30AM today, I crashed my bike while commuting to work in Northwestern NJ. I was going about 28 MPH down a hill. There was no ice plus I have a set of Nokian Halkap..106 700cx 35's on. Went to adjust my helmet with my right hand and then suddenly the front tire hit something. I've got a bright light on the front. I'm wondering if I hit a squirrel or the likes...Anyway, I smashed my helmet on the right side, road rash and torn clothes. I'm fine except for a bruised ego and some sore ribs. There is NO question that I would have fractured my skull or maybe worse.

I plan to leave my helmet in my living room for my kids to see what kind of force can be delivered and absorbed by the helmet.

There really shouldn't be any debate about helmets' efficacy.

Woo

Anybody else notice some major irony going on in this post?

Yep - I noticed. You could title it "Wearing a helmet can cause accidents!"

track stand

Now if I can ever get it down. I must be the only rider on a fixed gear that can not track stand.

Right there with you.

Maybe if we ride together we can just lean on each other at stop lights.... no that didn't sound at all gay. Scratch that. Foot down. lol!

There's a huge category of cyclists in NYC that noone's mentioned yet, and I would bet that this demographic represents a significant portion of the cyclists mentioned by the OP. In all my years living in the city I can't recall ever seeing a member of this group either wearing a helmet, or riding a bike with lights at night.

Restaurant/grocery store delivery men. They are perhaps the most unsung cyclists of all: very low-paid workers, largely first-generation immigrants, and who for the most part use company bikes. Take-out is a way of life in NYC, especially Manhattan, and it's easy to forget about these guys when you think about who rides bikes in the city.

interesting, I was in Shanghai & Hohhot and helmets were fairly common.


Really? I see lots of helmets on people riding motor scooters and mopeds (required by law in Shanghai, not in Beijing), but almost no helmets on people riding bikes. The exceptions are a very few roadie types and Pizza Hut delivery guys.

Given that most bicycle messengers use clipless pedal systems in an environment in which "numerous stops" are part of the job, your assumption appears specious.
There may be one or two messengers in NYC running clipless, but it certainly is not even common, let alone something "most" do.
As to why the majority of NYC cyclists don't wear helmets: most are riding out of economic necessity or for utility, not as part of a middle-class fitness program or lifestyle/consumption regime. Since helmets are next to useless against the major hazard to cyclists here, omnipresent aggressive motor traffic, poor folks riding because they have no other way to get around don't buy them.
I wear a helmet most of the time, BTW.

Given that most bicycle messengers use clipless pedal systems in an environment in which "numerous stops" are part of the job, your assumption appears specious.

I suspect bike messengers are about the tiniest slice of the bicycling population that anyone could name; I wouldn't make any assumptions about bicycling commuters based on observations of bicycle messengers. Nor would I consider any statement a "Given" when it is nothing more than a WAG.

Anybody else notice some major irony going on in this post?

YEp. He ain't the only character to fall while adjusting his helmet; I've seen it happen before to a dummy at work. But I never heard of anyone before praising helmets right after he fell over while adjusting it.

I suspect bike messengers are about the tiniest slice of the bicycling population that anyone could name; I wouldn't make any assumptions about bicycling commuters based on observations of bicycle messengers. Nor would I consider any statement a "Given" when it is nothing more than a WAG.
Probably at least 50% of cyclists on Manhattan streets on a weekday are messengers, much higher during most of the day when 9 to 5 commuters are at work.
In addition to being a trendy lifestyle for some, this is a busy local industry.

Perhaps it is just recognizing that there has not yet been created a helmet that helps you significantly when you get plastered by a car. Your head may be marginally better - but it doesn't help if your body is crushed.

If I had to choose, I would go with the light over a helmet personally. But, then again, why give them a clear target? :rolleyes:

Around here it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of bike/car crashes are at fairly low speeds. Not that you still can't be really messed up. I met a guy who claimed to have been hit 7 times. I was a bit skeptical to say the least but in about 9 months of commuting 4 times a week, I've already had one collision and couple of close calls. In all cases it was a car not seeing me and either turning or pulling out in front of me.

A helmet is going to help you if the impact is with the ground, - if you're thrown from the bike.

My guess is that 99.9% of the bike commuters you see in large cities are not at all concerned with bike safety, helmets, blinkies, air in their tires or lubing their chain. They also don't visit BF or even know it exists. :D

To them, a bike is just the preferred mode of transportation for whatever reason. They don't care how old their bike is, how much it weighs, if the bike actually 'fits' them, or anything else. They push the pedals, it moves them forward. Period.

I commute in NYC on my bike, wear a helmet, have blinkies, and ride in the bike lane, etc. I can tell you after years of doing this I am in the vast minority...

But I have to say, there is something to someone just riding their bike not caring about anything (including safety) but moving forward...

Probably at least 50% of cyclists on Manhattan streets on a weekday are messengers, much higher during most of the day when 9 to 5 commuters are at work.
In addition to being a trendy lifestyle for some, this is a busy local industry.

Really? Where does your WAG about the proportion of cyclists who are messengers come from? The same place where the other poster gets his "givens" about messenger equipment?

http://www.transalt.org/blueprint/appendix/levels.html
Although it is beyond Transportation Alternative's resources to count cycling levels or percentages citywide, we have attempted to estimate the number of people who ride bikes in NYC on a typical day. We derived a figure of 75,000 daily cyclists — 5,000 commercial and 70,000 other riders.

Really? Where does your WAG about the proportion of cyclists who are messengers come from? The same place where the other poster gets his "givens" about messenger equipment?

http://www.transalt.org/blueprint/appendix/levels.html
Although it is beyond Transportation Alternative's resources to count cycling levels or percentages citywide, we have attempted to estimate the number of people who ride bikes in NYC on a typical day. We derived a figure of 75,000 daily cyclists — 5,000 commercial and 70,000 other riders.

Your source cites the difficulty of counting cyclists _citywide_ (all 5 boroughs) on a typical day & then arrives at a figure.
My statement was about _Manhattan_ (where the percentage of "commercial cyclists" is far higher than in the other 4 boroughs) during a weekday, and is based on 30 years of daily cycling in NYC (twenty of them spent as a messenger) & what I see looking out my office window at the corner of 23 St. and Sixth.

Really? Where does your WAG about the proportion of cyclists who are messengers come from? The same place where the other poster gets his "givens" about messenger equipment?

http://www.transalt.org/blueprint/appendix/levels.html
Although it is beyond Transportation Alternative's resources to count cycling levels or percentages citywide, we have attempted to estimate the number of people who ride bikes in NYC on a typical day. We derived a figure of 75,000 daily cyclists — 5,000 commercial and 70,000 other riders.

BTW, your source agrees with me:
"In the mid-1980s, this segment of the bicycling community — only about one-fifteenth of those who use bikes daily for transportation but half or more of bikes in motion at any time in the Central Business District south of 59th Street — was turned into a symbol for all that's wrong with traffic in New York City."
http://www.transalt.org/blueprint/chapter14/chapter14b.html
Not bad for a WAG, huh?

Your source cites the difficulty of counting cyclists _citywide_ (all 5 boroughs) on a typical day & then arrives at a figure.
My statement was about _Manhattan_ (where the percentage of "commercial cyclists" is far higher than in the other 4 boroughs) during a weekday, and is based on 30 years of daily cycling in NYC (twenty of them spent as a messenger) & what I see looking out my office window at the corner of 23 St. and Sixth.

And I suppose if I took a "survey" outside the HQ for the messenger service or a large legal office complex that used messenger service and saw all my pals, and based my "commuting" stats and opinions based on conversations with Messenger comrades I'd be as smart about the NYC bicycle commuting population as you!

BTW, your source agrees with me:
"In the mid-1980s, this segment of the bicycling community — only about one-fifteenth of those who use bikes daily for transportation but half or more of bikes in motion at any time in the Central Business District south of 59th Street — was turned into a symbol for all that's wrong with traffic in New York City."
http://www.transalt.org/blueprint/chapter14/chapter14b.html
Not bad for a WAG, huh?

And if I surveyed the bicycle traffic in Central Park on a summer Sunday afternoon and made statements about the NYC bike commuting population based on it, I'd be just as clever.

I-Like-To-Bike: Clearly arguing with you is a waste of time. But, I will anyway: in contradicting your claim that messengers are "the tiniest slice of the bicycling population that anyone could name", I said "probably at least 50% of cyclists on Manhattan streets on a weekday are messengers". You cited NYC cycling advocacy group's 1993 NYC Bicycle Blueprint as proving you right because it estimated 5,000 of 75,000 daily cyclists citywide were "commercial cyclists". I pointed out that chapter 14 of that document, entitled "Bicycle Messengers" (odd that such a tiny group would merit a whole chapter, unlike, say, commuters) exactly agreed with what I said. You respond by ridiculing my powers of observation & evaluation & the value of the same Bicycle Blueprint you cited.
I can't believe I am bothering to argue with someone in Iowa about NYC street life.

So we don't wear helmets. You got a problem w/ that?

Now that we're into the shorter and colder days, there are just two people who commute regularly, but these two people both wear a helmet and both have HID or better lighting systems. I think both post on this forum :D

Fixed. :D

I-Like-To-Bike: Clearly arguing with you is a waste of time. But, I will anyway: in contradicting your claim that messengers are "the tiniest slice of the bicycling population that anyone could name", I said "probably at least 50% of cyclists on Manhattan streets on a weekday are messengers". You cited NYC cycling advocacy group's 1993 NYC Bicycle Blueprint as proving you right because it estimated 5,000 of 75,000 daily cyclists citywide were "commercial cyclists". I pointed out that chapter 14 of that document, entitled "Bicycle Messengers" (odd that such a tiny group would merit a whole chapter, unlike, say, commuters) exactly agreed with what I said. You respond by ridiculing my powers of observation & evaluation & the value of the same Bicycle Blueprint you cited.
I can't believe I am bothering to argue with someone in Iowa about NYC street life.

You may be arguing about "street life", the subject was the attire of NYC bicyclists and the assumptions the OP had about the acceptance of helmets elsewhere as the norm for bicyclists.

Well, now that we've settled that more than half of cyclists on the road in Manhattan on any given weekday are messengers, a group not particularly likely to wear helmets (despite recent legislation requiring employers of commercial cyclists to make helmets available), that would explain the OPs observation that a great many cyclists observed weren't wearing helmets. See, I actually agree with your overall point that helmet wearing is only the norm among the minority of cyclists who think about cycling enough to read BF.
On further reflection, actually, messenger behavior can't explain the OP's observing helmetless NYers on the weekend (when they're not working), but the OP likely also saw few commuters on the weekend either.
Either way, helmet wearing, while common is certainly not "the norm" is NYC, as the OP noticed, despite horrendous traffic, probably because, as I & others have said above, helmets don't help much against cars (I've gone through a windshield helmetless for example).

i think i will go beat my head against a brick wall now








without a helmet on!

Interesting that this thread was posted today. At about 6:30AM today, I crashed my bike while commuting to work in Northwestern NJ. I was going about 28 MPH down a hill. There was no ice plus I have a set of Nokian Halkap..106 700cx 35's on. Went to adjust my helmet with my right hand and then suddenly the front tire hit something. I've got a bright light on the front. I'm wondering if I hit a squirrel or the likes...Anyway, I smashed my helmet on the right side, road rash and torn clothes. I'm fine except for a bruised ego and some sore ribs. There is NO question that I would have fractured my skull or maybe worse.

I plan to leave my helmet in my living room for my kids to see what kind of force can be delivered and absorbed by the helmet.

There really shouldn't be any debate about helmets' efficacy.

Woo

Woo, there is actually a lot of real debate about it which is why I mentioned not mentioning it here as you have. And this commentary is more so than emotionally charged my helmet saved my life or I need to be free with the wind in my hair posts. There have been several recent and well received papers questioning the efficacy of helmets. Helmets won't typically absorb the types of energy levels which cause serious injuries.

A skull fracture takes a lot of force to generate a skull fracture, typically 6-10kn and that's not easy to do in a blunt force impact. If you impact a curb or something hard edged where the force is applied to a very small area, then it's more likely.

No doubt your helmet protected you from injury, but perhaps it was just soft tissue injury, or a minor concussion.