kunsunoke 

The reason I choose to wear one has everything to do with the other people using the road and/or trails.

I see women driving cute utes, cell phone glued to the ear, using their knees, not paying any attention whatsoever to their blind spots. One of the local morons of this type was responsible for the death of a local farmer's young wife (they were old order Mennonites and were in the buggy when the dumbass rear-ended them).

I've been run into while mountain biking, run off the road half a dozen times by Todd-zilla monster truck drivers, and even hit in the head by my own bike after crashes. I don't need to justify wearing one any more than Joe Barrista has to justify not wearing one when he rides the quarter mile from his flat to work on his ironic fixed gear bike. It's your brain - you get to decide how to do the damage to it.

For now.

Six jours

I always wear a helmet on the motorcycle. That is because A) I have no especial skill as a motorcyclist, B) speed/energy is high enough that I cannot be sure of keeping my head off the ground in a fall (falling from a motorcycle at speed has caused me to "rag doll" in a way I never have during a bicycle crash), and C) motorcycles helmets are large, demonstrably protective devices.

I do not always wear a helmet while cycling because A) I have been doing this most of my life, and for a few years at a very high level, B) I have never hit my head or helmet during a bicycle crash, even at 50+ MPH, and C) there is no convincing evidence that the few ounces of stylish foam and plastic that make up a bicycle helmet are very effective at preventing serious brain injury.

Now, you're welcome to your own opinion on the matter, but arguing that unhelmeted cyclists should be left to die in the gutter is, well, obnoxious and (as politely as possible) uninformed.

cehowardGS

Where you get that from?

Not only that, I have hit the ground from a bicycle crash, and slide head first into curb. Cheap wally mart helmet saved the day.

Politely? ha..

Six jours

If no tax money is to be spent on unhelmeted cyclists, EMS will be forced to drive away after unsuccessfully checking for an insurance card.

And yes, I am being very polite, considering my true feelings for smug, self-satisfied helmeteers.

noglider 

I wear a helmet pretty much every time. I rode to the lumber store today and met my wife there. She had driven there. I lashed the lumber to the car and forgot my helmet in the car, so I rode home bareheaded. I'm not obsessive about helmet use, i.e. I didn't ask her to drive back with my helmet. But I think helmets are a good practice. I got hit by a car head-on once, and it was a severe enough impact that I don't remember it, nor do I remember the ambulance ride. I think the helmet served me well.

eschlwc

^ i thought you were going to tell us that you took off your helmet and accidentally hit yourself in the head with a piece of lumber.

David Newton

I never wear a helmet except on those group rides, and I don't care for group rides.
Just this evening we were driving home at 65mph on I-10, and a couple of motorcyclists passed us doing at least 25mph faster than us, you know, at a high buzz. My wife said "well, at least they are wearing helmets". I think that is the common logic.

ThermionicScott 

I don't wear a helmet for tweed rides, generally do the rest of the time, so I voted "Yes."

Just wanted to post before this gets trolled to A&S.

3alarmer 

...

Reynolds 

62 yrs old, I wear a helmet on training/group rides, but not for errands/commuting.

billew

By your own addmission the helmet did not prevent your brain from impacting your skull resulting in a concussion. Helmets do one thing very well:make profit for helmet sellers and another pretty well: make people think that bicycling is dangerous and needs specialized equipment. I never have nor will I ever wear a chunk of beer cooler foam on my head.

repechage

The above gives no credit that the helmet reduced the magnitude of the injury, that might have been significant, might not. It is up to each individual to make that assessment before you need it. I have had experience where the helmet gave it's all for my noggin. Do I wear one every time? No. The majority of the time? Yes. When with my kids, all the time to set a good example. That written, the EPS that is the basis of almost all helmets ages and changes overtime. I give them about 2 years, no matter how they look. I also think that some of the designs are way over styled. Thankfully, the newest designs are swinging back to what I consider more useful, more surface area while still providing cooling (more aero, allegedly) and shorter or no pin tail. My view is the pin tail does you no good unless you never look down and might even increase the risk of a neck injury should your helmet's tail(s) spike the ground and you keep moving. The wind tunnel is leading designers back from the cartoon hydra look that was developing.

billew

As someone who has slogged through hundreds of pages of posts about helmets and safety and read many studies I can say that nothing can stop your brain from impacting your skull. Rapid deceleration is what causes the damage, all the helmet does is prevent cuts or scrapes or bumps. maybe you should spend a little time reading about football helmets and TBI it has been in the news of late.

onespeedbiker

In California bike riders and skateboarders under 18 are required to wear helmets. As a Bicycle Patrol Officer in my past life, I was occasionally asked by adults on bikes if they were required by law to wear a helmet and I usually replied, "No, you can't legislate intelligence". As far as helmets on car drivers, they are already in a steal cage, surrounded by padding, held in by a seatbelt with an air bag waiting to explode in their face; a helmet would be redundant. Their is no real argument against bicycle helmets as they do increase the riders safety. However once again we have the government infringing on our freedom for our own good. The fact that we may all pay for some riders choice to not wear a helmet is the price we pay for our freedom. There is no reason to rationalize not wearing a helmet; it is your right as an American, for now. BTW, except for a few incidental occasions I always wear a helmet and I have replaced several due to crashes on and off road.

jyl

I wear a helmet all the time. There is no downside, to me. They weigh very little; don't obstruct vision or hearing; ventilate better than the cycling cap I often wear underneath; help protect my head from sun and heat; make me more visible; give a place to mount forward spotlight and rear blinkie, and mirror.

Kind of like wearing my seatbelt. There is no downside to taking the precaution.

Most of my riding is in the city or outskirts, usually around cars, almost always on paved roads.

12mphflatout

I say yes, a helmet should always be worn, if only because of that one maniac out there on the road. In my city, cyclists get hit every so often, in all sorts of places, at all times of the day and night.

E1000

So the one or two inches of helmet serve as extra crumple zone, lowering the deceleration rate and thus lowering brain injury. Simple physics

nazcalines

I don't race or ride fast and/or drunk. I also ride on low traffic speed "bike boulevards", so a helmet is completely unnecessary.

cehowardGS

Respectfully and intelligently stated!

BruceWee

So no one suffers head injuries in car crashes anymore? Good to know.

rootboy 

Of course they do, and no one was trying to infer otherwise. There are a lot of safety features built in to modern cars. Not so bicycles.

BruceWee

So we can all accept that if people wore helmets in cars then it could make a difference in a crash? If so why not wear one? What have you got to lose by putting your cycle helmet on whenever you get in a car?

rootboy 

Life is full of compromises and trade offs. You could wear a full Nomex fireproof driving suit while in your car too, in case of the rare chance of a fire. Driving a car is generally a very safe activity. Until that split second when it isn't. Serious head injuries are not unheard of in car crashes, but they're far more rare than serious head injuries and/or death from a head injury in a bicycle crash. The statistics don't lie. But that's not to say I think others have to wear a helmet.

I never leave the driveway without my seat belt on either, even though 99.9 % of the time I don't get in an accident. I wear it in case of that .1 % time when it could save my life.

gomango

Did you register just to play debate 101?

Seriously, post a bike pic and I might listen.

Till, then, welcome aboard.

Not.

BruceWee

Thanks for the welcome.

I have been lurking on here for a while and I think I've posted a couple of things already. I tend to only post at work since that's the only time I can afford to get drawn into highly intellectual debates.

Is there a minimum number of bike pictures we have to post before we can express an opinion?