Originally Posted by jakub.ner
Please stop being ignorant and take a good look at the research regarding the styrofoam lid you're promoting.
Neither will your duvet protect you from the boogey man in the corner, nor the helmet protect you from brain injury. It will help against superficial lacerations though.
I think anyone that exagerates helmet's ability to protect is ignorant: especially without basis for their argument. What exactly was your argument? Just a blank statement?
This sort of hand waving leads to ignorant riders thinking they are safer than they really are.
I have a right to my oppinion, as you have a right to yours. I do realize that if you're riding at 50 km/h and crash the helmet won't help. I also realize that the helmet isn't a force-field that'll protect you from everyting. The idea of the helmet is to
absorb and distribute the force of impact.
I'm referring to statistics, as you probably read in my previous post; no helmet wearing biker in Finland, that had an accident, has ever died of brain injury even though the head was impacted and the helmet cracked. I know there's controversy about the usefullness of helmet-use. I've even read that it may be harmful to wear a bicycle-helmet in certain situations. However most studies (I'm sure you can google some) conclude that
using a bicycle helmet will reduce the risk of brain damage if the impact is directed to the skull. As someone had in their signature: "I'd rather look like a mushroom, than be a vegetable".
It's obvious that wearing a helmet is a problem for many and I agree that the protective features of the helmet are somewhat exaggerated. No, that's not the right word, misunderstood is better. Commonly people think a helmet will protect them from everything related to brain damage, which, of course simply is not true. However, as I already stated, it will reduce the risk of brain damage.
It doesn't really bother me that adults don't use helmets, they're grown-up and are responsible of their own actions. I'm more concerned about children. They don't cycle that fast, and their small stature makes the fall alot smaller so eventual head-injury would effectively be prevented by a helmet.
As a disclaimer, I base my opinions on what I've read. I've tried to gather many different perspectives on bicycle helmet use. Be that as it may, You may have other sources about the protective qualities of the helmet and I would happily familiarize myself with them if you would post a link.
EDIT: I just like to clarify; I have nothing against people who ride without helmets. But I do believe that if you have no good reason for not wearing a helmet, you are ignorant. If I get intoduced to studies that indicate that helmet use is more harmful than useful my opinion may change. If you can't afford a helmet, fine. If you're not really biking that much, fine, don't use a helmet. But don't bicycle without a helmet because you think it looks silly. This world is superficial enough already.