Originally Posted by
Raleighroader1
I personally know of two people who were saved serious head injuries in bicycle accidents by their helmets, and I am pretty sure I was saved from a concussion in a fall I had.
Certainly helmets aren't going to help in some kinds of accidents, but they help in quite a few.
If you want to run the risk of being helmet-less, don't kid yourself that it's actually as safe. It is an additional risk to run.
Similarly, wearing an ASTM-1952 or DOT motorsports helmet will help prevent injuries to the face, which can also cause concussions (the type that I sustained in 1999).
Foregoing this added protection in favor of a regular bike helmet is
an additional risk to run.
So why are people on this thread so quick to decide for others that a regular bicycle helmet is the "correct" level of protection? Maybe I need more. Maybe I need less.
Also: Everyone claims to have either has had brain damage prevented by a helmet, or knows someone that has. But I can't remember ever seeing ANYONE in a helmet prior to 1990. No one. Zero.
So to everyone making these claims, I have to ask... did you wear a helmet prior to 1990, and if not, how much brain damage occurred as a result?