Originally Posted by DocRay
Are you seriously telling us that car drivers judge whether you would survive a crash before deciding how close to drive you? Do you drive like this?
No you don't change your behaviour when you are about to smack concrete because you have a helmet on.
Where are these "bulky" helmets?? they weigh like 250g, or about twice a baseball cap.
Yes, I do think drivers react differently depending on how a cyclist presents himself to the world, perhaps not at conscious level, but if u could measure it I think there would be a difference.
If I see a lycra clad road cyclist with helmet on an expensive bike I immediately assume he has more experience and stability on the road than say some women on a utility bike with no helmet and civilian clothes flapping in the wind.
Also, the point I was making about accident agility wasn't that ther weight of the helmet would stop the body reacting properly, but whether during the accident the brain says "ok, i have a helmet on, so i'll allow limb y to move here and roll this way because my head is already protected"
In other words, does the brian take liberties with the protection of our heads in the spilt seconds during an accident if it's artificially protected?