Raiyn

It's amazing the amount of people who still bite on these blatent trolls.
You'd think that eventually most of you would catch on.

forum*rider

eh, I still wear a helmet.

It isn't inconveniencing me in any way, and if it does happen to help then all the better.

Plus I don't like getting cuts on my head, then all the hair gets ingrown and you have scars and patches were the hair doesn't grow anymore. ugh.

closetbiker

Wow! Almost 900 views in 1 day.

The sticky on helmets has been getting about 50 to 100 views a day.

I think this thread should be on the sticky, but I guess people find starting a new thread easier to follow than going over the large number of posts on an old thread.

John E

I concur. It is much harder to obtain and to retain a driver's license in the U.K. or most of northern Europe than it is in the U.S. Bad drivers are a strong argument in favor of public transit.

John E

Actually, you do know precisely what you are saying. The ideal situation is to wear a helmet, but to ride as though the helmet provides no protection (or isn't even there). Anyone who practices risk compensation by riding less cautiously when helmeted is better off without one.

closetbiker

As usual, good posts John. You always have something good to say.

Cyclaholic

Don't forget the other benefits of wearing a helmet. If soneone tries to mug you for your bike you can headbutt them with impunity to defend yourself.... and chicks really dig helmets, they're an aphrodesiac!

As for accident-prone seniors wearing them... nah, it would definately damage the sex symbol image bike helmets project - just like it ruined the sexy image of 'granny undies' when actual grannies started wearing them.

LittleBigMan

I threw my helmet away.

I landed on my head in a crash in Aug. 2001. My helmet was ruined. I threw it away.

Of course, they recommend that, don't they?

scroz

Helmets are made of expanded foam, and they act as shock absorbers in the case of an impact. Sure if you hit it hard enough, the pavement will go right through the helmet and cause diffuse brain damage. But why not wear one? They are light, they are cool, they are not an inconvenience in any way, why wouldnt you want to wear something that might be increasing your chances of surviving a cranial impact? Like someone said earlier (about halfway down page 2) even if it offers a 1% or 2% chance increase in survival, thats good enough for me.

scroz

What Troll?

wheely1

hi, new to the board, my first post and figured why not post on a safety issue...most importantly on protecting your head....i never really liked wearing a helmet but after reading and hearing many fatal stories from accidents due to riding without a helmet i don't think i would ever ride without one!... this thread may be a couple of years old but never too late to protect yourself...it's one life you got and everyone should protect themselves....it's true a helmet may not protect yourself from a head on ...but i think they're important from falling down especially sideways....why? because i was reading a police blog that was stating how someone died from trying to swerve a baby carriage and as he lost balance he hit his head on a hand rail in the park...when the ambulance came they found him in a puddle of blood on the sidewalk then they said if he was wearing a helmet he would of been alive today....that could of been any of us...so who ever feels that it doesn't look cool wearing one...think again about your life.....i know i love my life and riding bikes and that story has lead me to always were my helmet if even you feel you dont feel cool wearing one!....other stories i've heard of trucks killing people backing up while being struck and heads being crushed....and sorry for the gross words but please stay away from trucks while riding....its what i read...all in all its a great forum.....

SSP

Thanks for sharing....but, in future please check the dates on what you're replying to.

It's considered bad form to "resurrect" a 2 year old thread. Your posts will also be appreciated more if you take the time to craft them with "paragraphs" and "sentences".

San Rensho 

The first time you crash and hit your head while wearing a helmet, and you look at the crack or crush in the helmet at the point of impact, you will keep wearing your helmet.

SPlKE 

I busted a helmet in a wreck a few years ago.

I could have busted my skull, but the helmet got in the way.

wheely1

well, they advise to buy a new one when this happens.....

btw i have read that statistics show that cars seemed to drive closer to bike riders with helmets then riders without...figure that one out...

wheely1

sorry my bad....my anxienty got the best of me to post...btw,. you learn something new every day...

Very true, not easy on the eyes to read when words are bunched up like that....

Daily Commute

Geez. Why do so many cyclists worry about whether other cyclists wear or don't wear helmets? I wear one. I can't prove it has saved my life, but it has saved me from pain. That's good enough for me, but I don't chastise other cyclists for riding without one.

Recently, the anti-helmet crowd is becoming even more annoying than the always-wear-your-helmet ninnies.

SPlKE 

You don't have to apologize.

Posting to old threads? Crafting posts with "paragraphs" and "sentences"? Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

BFD. It's an internet forum, not grade school.

I could read your post just fine, and thought it worthy of an answer even after all these long years since the first post.

Brian

And I read that 91% of statistics are

wheely1

are what?

Brian

My quote about statistics was as informative as yours. Care to share the results of the entire study?

Fixitman

Again with this ... he sighs loudley.

StrangeWill

Hey, I need somewhere to stick my mirror >=(

atbman

Some other reseach: Dr. Mayer Hilman/Hillman? investigated head injuries for the Brit. Med. Assoc. and found that inapprox 92% of all cases where a rider had fatal head injuries, he would have died of other injuries, even if nothing had happened to the head.

I wonder how many fatalities are blamed on head injuries (because they are the most obvious cause?) and no other injuries are recorded in the coroner's/pathologist's conclusions.

Further information came in an article by an expert often used in court cases in the CTC (UK) magazine. He found that forces involved in a 30mph collision between cyclist and motor vehicle could exceed those experienced by F1 drivers in their high speed shunts.

Still wear a helmet, but only on offchance that an accident/collision might involve my head at speed low enough to cause damage, but not death

Mr. Underbridge

I think you're arguing with something that no one is saying. 1) Yes, bicycling can be safe. 2) Helmets can reduce injuries, but no one says they're successful in all situations. 3) Focusing on cycling safely is not mutually exclusive with taking precautions for situations in which one might actually crash.

Do you know that for a fact? Or is it that these areas of the world are simply accustomed to higher death rates and lower life expectancies? I wouldn't expect a cyclist's death to be newsworthy in countries where people still die of TB, cholera, and malnutrition. But that doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

You act like a martyr, as if people are persecuting you as some sort of odd minority group. Do whatever you want, nobody outside your mama cares. But don't use specious arguments and terrible statistics to justify your actions. Helmets have saved lives, they don't cost much, and they aren't difficult to use. And there isn't a cyclist alive who is so skilled that he can't be knocked off a bike by a careless driver. If/when that happens to me, I'll take the helmet.