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I've got this mentality in my head that I do not want to wear a helmet when I resume bike riding after an accident. So, my parents will press me to wear one. While given what can happen; I find myself still not wanting to wear one. I only ride on sidewalks, and such - no streets or anything. While that's not an excuse to wear one I still feel like not wearing one.
However, at the same time - I kind of want to.
Convince me.
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Why?
If you don't consider your brain worth "the effort," no one else will.
Sidewalks are more dangerious than streets. Let your parents win, it may give you points for the next argument.-;)
Joe
Why? Do you think they look stupid? or are they uncomfortable? uncool? because your parents want you too? I don't get it?
And so you had an accident and are taking up riding again and don't want to wear one? were you wearing one then?
Sidewalks are more dangerious than streets. Let your parents win, it may give you points for the next argument.-;)
JoeI ride on suburban sidewalks with absolutely to no or little traffic.
Why? Do you think they look stupid? or are they uncomfortable? uncool? because your parents want you too? I don't get it?
And so you had an accident and are taking up riding again and don't want to wear one? were you wearing one then?Neither do I. I just do not feel like wearing one - while at the same time I want to, cause you never know what happens. A nice one would look just fine to me, the uncomfortable factor gets to me, but once I wear a nice/decent one that's fit for me - that's not the idea. It is not because they are uncool. My parents want me to of course.
And I am taking up riding again, and no I was not wearing a helmet when I was in my accident.
Bike riding isnt any more dangerous than many other activities that we do as part of a normal life, like traveling by car or climbing a ladder. However if you have an accident on a bike, serious head injury is one thing that wont fix itself with a few weeks rest. Helmets are available that can give good protection without discomfort and look OK. Wear a helmet and when you go in a car, put on the seat belt.
Another point for your safety - dont ride on the sidewalks, they are much more dangerous for cyclists than the roads. Cars coming out of driveways or approaching an intersection, arent looking for bikes coming along. Many bike accidents are caused by having to make sudden manoeuvres around lamp posts or telegraph poles.
Do your self a favour,Just wear the f/ing helmet !
wear the helmet...
go ahead and get a nice expensive helmet if you want. A $100+ helmet is worth it if its going to keep your brains from getting splattered all over the road.
I was 'nudged' into a curb by the end of a semi on a 25 mph street in a quiet little town. When my front wheel hit the curb I went head first over the handle bars to the concrete sidewalk. Most of the impact was on the front of my helmet - some on the left side of my body. If it weren't for that helmet......
I don't really want to wear one either, but I always do because even though I may be in control of my actions, I cant control those around me. To use an old saying, better safe than sorry.
Convince me.
Convince yourself. Here is an experiment:
Find a nice hard wall. Preferably concrete or brick, although the sturdy side of a wooden garage would work. stand about eight to ten feet away, and be sure that there are no obstacles between you and the garage. Next, bend over and run as fast as you can into the wall. Be careful to let your head hit first.
When you get up, write in a journal all of things you are feeling, because you may not remember them later.
For the next stage of the experiment strap a helmet to your head. Stand the same distance from the same wall. Bend over and run towards the wall. Try to attain the same rate of speed as you run towards the wall, although the memory of your last collision may make this difficult. Be sure that your head impacts the wall first. When you get up write down your feelings in the same journal, and go buy yourself a new helmet because you just wrecked a perfectly good one.
For your journal you may want to make two columns and label them "pros" and "cons" in BIG letters. This will make it easier to compare your experiences. It will also make it easier to find the columns while your head is a bit foggy from your collisions.
For statistical validity you may have to repeat the experiment a minimum of three times
Legal note: By outlining the experiments above I in no way suggest that you attempt said experiments. I am not responsible for any property or bodily damage caused by attempting said experiments. If you attempt these experiments I will deny ever having written to you (and most people you know will deny knowing you).
On a serious note, do not attempt the experiments outlined above, just get and wear a helmet. In the end your brain is worth a lot more than your perceived image and the feeling of wind in your hair.
On a separate note, how old are you? You know in a lot of communities it is illegal for someone under 16 to ride without a helmet.
Enjoy your riding.
Not to sound to crass, but as a friend of mine once said "I wear a helmet because I really don't feel like have someone else wipe my ***** for the rest of my life."
Wear a helmet because you are already stupid enough. Do you want to be an even bigger dumbass? Drop a watermelon from ten feet up. Now pretend that that watermelon is your head. Get the picture?
Wrap a watermelon in an inch thick layer of styrofoam and drop it again. The results will not be very different.
Fact is, helmets offer fairly minimal protection, but enough to make it worthwhile to wear one. But don't be under any illusions that it'll protect you from serious collisions. Fortunately, sidewalk riding is the ideal environment for wearing a helmet. A) your crashes are generally going to be at low speed - most likely they'll be a direct hit with the ground rather than sliding along it - the exact kind of crash that a helmet is designed to protect against and B) You're much more likely to actually have a crash.
Sounds to me like you were convinced of wearing one before even starting this thread. Don't worry about any imagined discomfort or looking like an idiot by weraing one - you'll get used to it.
I know you are not generally riding on the road, but I have an excellent scenario where a helmet saved my wife considerable damage to her brain.
She was at the back of a paceline riding in an unexpected rain. Coming down a small bridge, a crosswind caught her and blew her into a crack in the road.
Endo, smash handlebars into the ground and then crushed her helmet with a head first implant into the pavement. She was still knocked out when the ambulance drivers took her to the trauma center.
They said she was extremely lucky not to break anything and that even though she had a concussion, whe would have crushed her head had she not had her helmet on. The helmet was totaled.
$800 ambulance ride, $2200 ER Visit, $900 MRI, $300 in bike repairs, $100 for a new helmet.
Preventing Brain Damage: Priceless.
Wear the helmet with pride. Get a cool looking helmet, just do it!
If you do not want to wear a helmet then dont wear one. I rode for a while without a helmet and realised I was able to use my body quite efficiently to avoid head injuries. Not everyone has these abilities....the first thing they do in a crash is fly head first over the bars.
I know you are not generally riding on the road, but I have an excellent scenario where a helmet saved my wife considerable damage to her brain.
She was at the back of a paceline riding in an unexpected rain. Coming down a small bridge, a crosswind caught her and blew her into a crack in the road.
Endo, smash handlebars into the ground and then crushed her helmet with a head first implant into the pavement. She was still knocked out when the ambulance drivers took her to the trauma center.
They said she was extremely lucky not to break anything and that even though she had a concussion, whe would have crushed her head had she not had her helmet on. The helmet was totaled.
$800 ambulance ride, $2200 ER Visit, $900 MRI, $300 in bike repairs, $100 for a new helmet.
Preventing Brain Damage: Priceless.
Wear the helmet with pride. Get a cool looking helmet, just do it!
Holy Moly. $800.00 for an ambulance ride?!? Good to here your wife was ok, but jesus, medical is expensive down there huh?
Fact is, helmets offer fairly minimal protection, but enough to make it worthwhile to wear one. But don't be under any illusions that it'll protect you from serious collisions.
Spot-on, Allister! The only people who should NOT wear helmets are those who take additional risks while helmeted. Wear a properly-fitted helmet, but ride as if you weren't.
On a separate note, how old are you? You know in a lot of communities it is illegal for someone under 16 to ride without a helmet.
...And for somebody over 13 or 14 to ride on the sidewalks ;)
As for why you should wear a helmet:
I met a guy at a party, friendly fellow, who walked over to my friend and I, introduced himself and warned us that he had a head injury. We talked for a little while, and then separated. 20 minutes later, give or take, he did exactly the same thing, having absolutely no memory of having done so already. Because of a head injury, he's got essentially no short-term memory.
I'd never worn a helmet for any reason up till then, but I went out the next day and bought myself lids for biking and for snowboarding, and I wear them every single time nowadays. I did enough damage to my brain in school... now I need all of it that's left!
-chris
Convince yourself, go visit your local trauma unit and ask to see any head injury victims. Then think what you will put your family through if for some reason you do a header while riding on the sidewalk.
A beautiful mind is something to protect not waste.
Survivor of an accident one year ago, impact at the frontal lobe, if I had no helmet I wouldn't be here to convince you.
Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it. Live life prepared for the risks that are inherent to your lifestyle. And hope for the best but don't count on it.
Holy Moly. $800.00 for an ambulance ride?!? Good to here your wife was ok, but jesus, medical is expensive down there huh?
Yep, medical care here in Houston is supposed to be some of the highest in the US. Mileage of around 40 miles at $8 per mile added a large chunk to it, but the rest was mostly deemed "expanded care." To be exact the bill was something like $764! I almost fell out of my seat when I saw that.
The doctors stated that she was very lucky to have walked out of the ER that day. They attirbute most of it to the helmets help. We still have the helmet in our study. It looks more like a jigsaw puzzle inside than a helmet now.
While that's not an excuse to wear one I still feel like not wearing one.
However, at the same time - I kind of want to.
Convince me.
I have worn a helmet from day one so never got used to the 'wind in your hair' mentality. Not only do helmets provide a modicum of safty, they also can be more aerodynamic than your bare head. I always get a white helmet, which is actually cooler in hot sunlight than my bare noggin. I use a helmet mounted mirror. I also stick all kinds of political buttons on the straps. Wearing a helmet with the mounted mirror makes ya look like a Borg.
Way cool.
roughstuff
If you do not want to wear a helmet then dont wear one. I rode for a while without a helmet and realised I was able to use my body quite efficiently to avoid head injuries. Not everyone has these abilities....the first thing they do in a crash is fly head first over the bars.
That has to be one of the stupidest statements yet. Are these Superman like abilities? Have you been watch the Matrix to much? Hope you wise up soon sonny, else mom and dad might someday be feeding you through a straw.
Wear a helmet, wear eye protection.
Don't worry about any imagined discomfort or looking like an idiot by weraing one - you'll get used to it.
I am seriously considering this as a new signature line. It really seems to describe my situation well most of the time.
Dan
Are your sidewalks made of foam-rubber? Are the streets you occaisionally cross made of foam-rubber, too? Are cars banned from these foam-rubber streets? If the answer to all these questions is "yes," you don't have to wear a helmet.
Seriously, the other writers are correct, sidewalks are more dangeous than streets. But even if they weren't, sidewalks are for walking. There is a reason they aren't called "sidebikes." When you ride on the sidewalks you are being rude to pedestrians.
And you should wear a helmet if for no other reason than you look like an idiot if you don't. You shouldn't ride on the sidewalk because riding on the sidewalk is for little kids learning to ride. You've outgrown that.
P.S. There are a few helmet stories in this link: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=47592
If you do not want to wear a helmet then dont wear one. I rode for a while without a helmet and realised I was able to use my body quite efficiently to avoid head injuries. Not everyone has these abilities....the first thing they do in a crash is fly head first over the bars.
Actually since it has never happened to you that is not at all true. When you do an endo it is not because you chose to. It is because that's the way you are catapulted in the impact. Most people if falling tend to do a tuck and roll thing to the side which also can still involve head injury.
if you want to test my theory take your bike out and ride 18mph then hit something head on (like maybe a car that wasn't there a nano second before) and please for your loved ones sake do it with a helmet on.
There are any numerous things that can go wrong when you ride. And to say that you have the ability to fall right in all these unplanned and instantaneous situations, is ludicrous.
Yeah, but you'll be grounded if you don't. Better do what Mommy and Daddy say.
Yeah, but you'll be grounded if you don't. Better do what Mommy and Daddy say.
Now thats the best reason yet :)
Go ahead. Don't wear one while you're still young. God knows the gene pool could use the help. ;)
I am seriously considering this as a new signature line. It really seems to describe my situation well most of the time.
Dan
Please correct my goofy spelling if you do. :)
If you do not want to wear a helmet then dont wear one. I rode for a while without a helmet and realised I was able to use my body quite efficiently to avoid head injuries. Not everyone has these abilities....the first thing they do in a crash is fly head first over the bars.
Oh this is rich. You made my day, really...thanks!
<rant>
Here I was thinking that even though I thought that I could have avoided the car the cut me off (causing me to fly over the hood of the car and sommersault on the ground - I was foolish enough to leave the bike planted in the right fender of the car) when I was going 25mph/40kmh or have fallen somehow such that I wouldn't have totaled my helmet (VERY cool stripes were left on my forehead, btw)
</rant>
Ok. I feel better now. The only way that you can ride without a helmet successfully is to
- ride slow
- be lucky
- not ride much
I like to
- ride fast
- make my luck
- ride all the time
Now...I respect the desire to ride helmetless...I've even done so on a motorcycle. That being said, I don't do that anymore, and even back then I was an organ donor. Even if your brain isn't worth much, there's lots of other nice organs that people can really use.
have fun,
Tom
P.S. I hate getting trolled...but...sheesh.
I've got this mentality in my head that I do not want to wear a helmet when I resume bike riding after an accident. So, my parents will press me to wear one. While given what can happen; I find myself still not wanting to wear one. I only ride on sidewalks, and such - no streets or anything. While that's not an excuse to wear one I still feel like not wearing one.
However, at the same time - I kind of want to.
Convince me.
Part of me wants to tell you that brains on the street are just as ugly as brains on the sidewalk; then, part of me wants to tell you that not being able to dress, eat, and urinate without the help of mom or dad, or a family member who really cares for you, for the next 40 years, is going to be a real burden. Hmmm, I don't know how to convince you.
Convince me.
Convince yourself.
How much risk should I be willing to run? This is a an individual choice based on your own beliefs. Are you a gambler or high stakes player or a moderate risk taker or maybe a person with a risk phobia?
Nothing is without risk.
Unless someone can tell you what level of risk is associated with a given activity, then they have no business telling you it is risky to begin with.
Mary Douglas, the eminent anthropologist who devoted much of her career to studying how people interpret risk, pointed out that every society has an almost infinite quantity of potential dangers from which to choose. Societies differ both in the types of dangers they select and the number.
Dangers get selected for special emphasis, Douglas showed, either because they offend the basic moral principles of the society or because they enable criticism of disliked groups and institutions.
Just go down to your local emergency room and your local fire department and ask the kind folks there if they think wearing a helmet is worth it. Maybe if your lucky you'll see someone rushed in who did not wear a helmet while your there. Is wearing a helmet a guarntee that nothing is going to happen to you? Don't be foolish, of course things happen to people all the time and of course you could be vegitized or killed wearing a helmet, but you increase your odds of those things not happening it you wear the helmet; and anything that will increase my odds of preventing that sort of thing then I'm all for it.
Caught the draft of this very beautiful young lady riding a really nice metallic orange Kona.
We stopped at the light, I wanted to say "hi, nice bike, etc"
She was not wearing a helmet, so I said nothing.
IF I HAD SPOKE-...and why I didn't...-I would have said
"You are very beautiful and VERY STUPID!"
Stupidity is a turnoff, stupidity is uncool.
Drooling brain dead cyclists are not cool.
Listen to your mum, She wiped your bum for the first few years of your life- She doesn't want to do it for the remainder.
If you don't wear a helmet, at least make out a body donor card so what's left of your organs can be utilized.
Have not heard of a brain transplant being successfull. A helmet is cheap insurance!
Take my advice sonny: wear a helmet. I have cycled over a quarter million miles, am 71 years old and ride 100+ miles a week; oh yes, I wear a helmet!
Now go to your room, clean it up and get a helmet . . . or we'll junk your bike for ya!
I've just changed my sig line in respect to this thread.
by the way... where is a good place to get a safe cheap helmet? would you order online?
Last 2 helmets I got on line. Watch for sales and check out places like overstock.com
"You are very beautiful and VERY STUPID!"
Everyone, just worry about yourselves. That should keep you plenty busy enough so you don't have to worry about what's right for everyone else around you.
God knows the gene pool could use the help. ;)
Always good to stop the disease before it multiplies...
(not advocating violence or the death of anyone who flounts the law, common reason, but also less sympathetic to the injured of those..)
let's not hash him. but man. get a helmet. i can't afford one now... so i'm scared as hell when i ride ... cus i need my brain in excellent condition. but i will get one! and soon! which is sillier? layiing in a hospitlal bed drooling while putting yer family in debt from hospital bills or wearing a helmet and saving yer health?
Freedom's just another word for nothing left to loose.
I've got this mentality in my head that I do not want to wear a helmet when I resume bike riding after an accident. So, my parents will press me to wear one. While given what can happen; I find myself still not wanting to wear one. I only ride on sidewalks, and such - no streets or anything. While that's not an excuse to wear one I still feel like not wearing one.
However, at the same time - I kind of want to.
Convince me.
You want your parents to know you can make your own decisions. This is the part of you that does not want to wear a helmet.
The other part of you wants to wear a helmet. This is the part of you that makes your own decisions.
Follow your heart.
Look if you want to ride with breeze between you hair, loving life and living la vida locka then by all mean ditch the helmet. Me riding without a helmet dosent make me dumb it makes me free to do what I want. I also know some riders namely motorbike riders that have died wth helmets on. Do you think a helmet is gonna save you against a head on colllision with a car at 18mph.??
Look if you want to ride with breeze between you hair, loving life and living la vida locka then by all mean ditch the helmet. Me riding without a helmet dosent make me dumb it makes me free to do what I want. I also know some riders namely motorbike riders that have died wth helmets on. Do you think a helmet is gonna save you against a head on colllision with a car at 18mph.??
Perhaps not, but then, I've never had a head-on collision with a car -- mainly because I don't put myself in situations where that is likely to occur. However, there are numerous crashes in which a helmet will offer protection -- I know because I've had three of them myself. The question is whether you want that particular protection, or whether you want to be without it. Your head, your choice.
How can the "Pro Helmet" folk make it any clearer?
If I hit a car at 18mph I am 100% sure that I would rather do it wearing a helmet than not. Try this example and then tell me you would rather feel the wind blowing through your ears(sorry hair). Put on a helmet and then run parallel along side a brick wall, now push your head onto the wall and keep running while dragging your head along the wall. When you get to the end of the wall take the helmet off and go back and do the same thing without the helmet this time and tell me you prefer the second option.
A guy in my club went down last year on a long descent. He was doing about 40 mph. His helmet is why he's wlaking around and working today. He's still nervous about twisty descents, but he can at least be nervous. He was in a coma for about 2 weeks while his brain healed, then in therapy for a few months. Seems normal on rides now.
... take your bike out and ride 18mph then hit something head on...
I did exactly that, flew over the handlebar, hit the ground head first without a helmet and walked out with a few bruises and a headache.
I won't dicourage anyone from wearing a helmet. It is certainly safer to wear one but saying that one will automatically end up in a vegetative state for not wearing one is a bit far-fetched.
... take your bike out and ride 18mph then hit something head on...
I did exactly that, flew over the handlebar, hit the ground head first without a helmet and walked out with a few bruises and a headache.
I won't dicourage anyone from wearing a helmet. It is certainly safer to wear one but saying that one will automatically end up in a vegetative state for not wearing one is a bit far-fetched.
First you were lucky
second if you didn't believe in a God maybe you should now!
Your odds increase 80% with a helmet that is far from being "far fetched"
Your odds increase 80% with a helmet that is far from being "far fetched"
This is getting a little too rich for me.
First define "injury". A scratch or major trama. Seems they both are injuries but one can live easier with one than another.
80%? I don't think so. As you may know, we have a mandatory, all ages helmet law up here in B.C. that has been in place or a number of years and our monopoly insurance company (ICBC) has been keeping track of our accidents. Part of this involves cyclists who receive head injuries. For the years that they have been keeping this statistic, there has been a difference of 10% or less between those receiving head injuries who were wearing helmets and those who were not.
If you read the case files of the accidents, you will find the leading causes are gross violations of traffic law.
The net result of the helmet legislation is a high level of compliance in wearing of the helmets but no change in following the rules of the road. The most common site is someone wearing a helmet but riding on the wrong side of the road. You tell me what's going to prevent more head injuries, riding on the correct side of the street or wearing a helmet.
All this is somewhat of a tempest in a tea pot however as it's been proven that cyclists are not dropping at an abnormal rate from head injuries. We get our share, to be sure, but not at any greater rate than anyone else and unless someone can tell you what level of risk is associated with a given activity, then they have no business telling you it is risky to begin with.
We chronically tend to minimize or under estimate the size of common risks. There is a reverse tendency to exaggerate the size of rare or unusual ones. ICBC reports that cyclists make up 2% of traffic but are only involved in less that 1% of traffic accidents.
80%? I don't think so. As you may know, we have a mandatory, all ages helmet law up here in B.C. that has been in place or a number of years and our monopoly insurance company (ICBC) has been keeping track of our accidents. Part of this involves cyclists who receive head injuries. For the years that they have been keeping this statistic, there has been a difference of 10% or less between those receiving head injuries who were wearing helmets and those who were not.
One item constantly left out is the number of unreported accidents by helmeted (and non helmeted) riders. I endo my arse over the bars, landing on the old noggin. I get up, curse myself and go on.
Did my helmet save me? Maybe, maybe not. Was my accident reported. No. What was the condition of my helmet afterwards. Split, cracked, scrapped, scuffed, pristine? The data used for support the argument (pro and con) is so incomplete as to be laughable.
I wear a helmet for the same reason I wear eye protection while riding. It affords me an addtional layer of protection. I am not under the illusion that it will save me from possible serious injury in a full blown high speed collision. But when that punk threw that rock at me, I was able to chase his ass down rather then laying on the ground in a daze.
And if mandating helmets save just one life, then its worth the hassle in my book.
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