I speak for myself as a former physical education teacher, and now insurance agent. Ha! Recently I dissociated with a bunch of wannabe tourers - some of whom were dissing me that I didn't wear a helmet during our short 80 mile (estimated, total distance 120km) tour on rural roads. One near accident that could have happened to me (which is FAR RARE) was when one girl in the group was cycling in slippers (heavens forbid!) and one slip dropped off. The guy immediately behind her, say, 30 ft behind, kind of slowed down and shifted left (the roads in Malaysia are right-hand drive) and then he BRAKED TO A HALT... when I was not aware of his intentions to STOP, he didn't give a verbal cue, and I was clueless that was the girl's slipper. It has always been my habit to ride with fingers on the brakes, and I could have collided into the back of his bike at probably 12 to 15 mph with full touring load (3 rear bags, 2 front bags and handlebar bag). The irony of this incident was that the girl, was TELLING me to wear a helmet. And both of them are drivers - when I have no driving licence. By my insurance line of work, it does not matter if the cyclist gets banged on the head from a fall without wearing a helmet, but it DOES make a difference if it's a motorcyclist - being a powered vehicle. The guy later tried to get me to admit that if i got a fall... bah! Both of them are bloody guilty of unsafe practices, and I got away by being situationally aware. This incident happened just under 10 miles into our ride for the day's worth of about 30 miles.
Originally Posted by
chasm54
The accident in which it is least likely to do you any good is the one in which you are hit by a car. Even the helmet manufacturers will tell you that their products are not designed to mitigate the forces involved in such crashes - the tests they have to pass merely simulate a simple fall to the ground from seven feet from a stationary position, which is radically less impact than being hit by a two-tonne vehicle at 20mph. So choosing to wear one in town but not when off-roading, say, makes little sense.
The above I agree - when one is given a 50 mph wham from the back by a car, it's hard to pinpoint on statistics what the outcome may be.
Originally Posted by
Bacciagalupe
In general I believe helmets are a good idea. However, I do concur that switching to a hat isn't going to result in instant death, especially if you're riding at touring paces.
Precisely!
Originally Posted by
Tansy
I have, however, had severe, horribly painful sunburn on my face and ears(right through sunscreen, too). The sunburn feels like the greater risk, most days.
I'll be getting a helmet to wear for RAGBRAI, both to avoid comments from sneery helmet advocates, and because a helmet probably -is- actually a good idea when riding in a crazy mob. I'll keep it with me for the rest of the tour, if only to protect my melon from falling hailstones.
Yup. In insurance terms in Singapore (that's where i am!) skin cancer is excluded under Major Illness/Dread Disease/Critical Illness insurance, as the odds are stacked fairly high. Imagine my chagrin when I was TOLD by that girl to WEAR A HELMET. Gee... and yes, she and the other guy are my "crazy mob"...
All that being said... I do practice wearing a sunhat (
http://www.frillneck.com.au) for rural/backroad riding or commuting, and a helmet when going through cities or heavy traffic.