chipcom 

It isn't a matter of riding with one or without one being 'better'. Of course most would rather be wearing a helmet when striking their head against a hard object than not. It's a matter of one's personal risk assessment.

To some of us, riding a bike is no more dangerous and carries no higher risk of striking our heads than many other activities that we do each day without helmets...like walking, going up/down a flight of stairs, climbing/working on a ladder, taking a shower, etc, so the thought of having to wear a helmet to perform such a simple and routine activity doesn't even cross our minds. If we decide to do something on a bike that we perceive will increase our risk beyond the norm, like racing, we wear helmets. It's not unlike a driver who doesn't consider wearing a helmet during their normal daily driving, but would wear one if racing. In over 40 years of riding (about 35 riding in traffic almost daily), I have had no reason to change my assessment of the danger of cycling and say 'whoa, I should wear a helmet'.

But, I guess you and others are the types who think cycling is dangerous and carries a higher risk of striking your head than your other normal activities. I'm fine with that, I don't call you stupid, a darwin candidate, a moron, a sissy, a wimp or any of the myriad of names that helmet wearers seem like to call those that don't. I wonder why that is? Insecurity?

Indeed, if I acted like so many of the helmet nazis in here act, and started calling you little gurly wussies who can't ride a bike without falling down and going boom all the time, you'd call me a meanie and go crying to the mods.

Speedo

Bell Biker: When the V1 Pro came out at half the weight.
V1 Pro: When the Giro (forget the model name) came out at half the weight.
Giro (forget the model name): When I found my current Giro with the better strap system.

I wear a helmet because, based on what I've read, it can mitigate against certain kinds of injuries in a crash. I have no illusions that it will save my life. I have no illusions that it will completely protect me against injury. I recognize that a person can make a rational decision not to wear a helmet.

Nothing annoys me more than people who say:"I wiped out on my bike and if I hadn't been wearing my helmet I would have died!! Everybody should always wear a helmet. Let's pass a law!!"

I'm definitely not anti-helmet. I'm anti-pro-helmet-zealot.

There is a helmets cramp my style thread. Why isn't there a helmet sub-forum. We need to be protected against helmet threads. Let's pass a law!!

Speedo

Speedo

I have a friend who suffered a life altering head injury in a bike crash. She was wearing a helmet. The helmet was completely undamaged in the crash due to the way her head hit a guard rail.

Speedo

genec

Well golly, what do you expect from toy manufactures? You act like cycling is some form of sanctioned transportation or something. Bike helmets get about as much of a standard and overview as skateboard helmets.

rotharpunc

after working in a rehab center, I saw more then one occasion where a helmet saved someones life. With that said, since the skull was protected, the force was transferred to the spine which was crushed, snapped of otherwise damaged, resulting in paralysis and other problems. So yes, the helmet saved these peoples' lives. Were they better off for it? Not in my opinion. I would rather die then live paralyzed, but that is just my personal outlook given the experiences I have had. I do not wear a helmet for this reason. I'm glad that many people do though, and if it gets more people feeling safe enough to get out on their bike, I'm all for it.

dougmc

A seatbelt certainly will save you in many head-on collisions, even if your car has no airbags.

Perhaps not at 70 mph, but at 30 mph, the odds are pretty good that you won't even be injured if you wear your seatbelt, thanks to the belt and the other safety features of your car, even if your car doesn't have airbags. Sure, it's not 100% effective at preventing 100% of injuries at 30 mph, but it's pretty good.

In any event, comparing helmets to seat belts is hardly fair -- seatbelts are far more effective in a much higher percentage of cases. Compare your helmet to a bulletproof vest instead, and if you think cycling is dangerous, consider yourself to be a cop, and if you don't think cycling is dangerous, consider yourself to be a normal citizen. Or just dispense with the analogies entirely -- it's not like this is a hard thing to understand. But if you do want an analogy, pick a good one, and seatbelts/helmets isn't a good one.

Speedo

AAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

Okay. I'm calm now.

How do you know?

Speedo

genec

Just as a bike helmet would probably save your head from a typical fall down injury... as I said, the majority type of injury.

prathmann

I started wearing a helmet for bicycling a few months after the initial 'Bell Biker' was introduced and continued to do so for over 20 years. But then I started reading more of the actual helmet safety studies and concluded that helmets may protect against relatively minor abrasions and similar injuries but appear to have no measurable benefit in reducing more serious injuries that result in death or extended hospitalization. Since then I've stopped wearing a helmet except when it's required by club rules or there are some special circumstances.

Yes, I may suffer some additional minor injuries, but that's even more likely for my unprotected knees and elbows and it hasn't caused me to start wearing knee/elbow pads either. Helmets are sold on the basis of protecting against serious head injuries but unfortunately the evidence has shown that the rate of such injuries has not declined in areas where helmet use has increased.

rotharpunc

did you even read my entire post?
I know because I had access to progress charts, medical records, friends and family, and occasionally helped out facilitate communication between police/lawyers and the paitent is an investigation or insurance claim/lawsuit was pending.

closetbiker

maybe people are realizing this and that's one reason some people are taking them off?

dougmc

I was referring to this statement of yours -- `A seatbelt will no more save you in a head on collision then will a helmet save you in a direct collision with a vehicle.'

But here's the problem with your analogy regarding `typical fall down injury' too -- your typical fall down injury does not involve you hitting your head. And if you don't hit your head, the helmet doesn't help. A seatbelt, on the other hand, generally helps in any accident serious enough to injure you. There's a few cases where it doesn't help or usually doesn't help much -- projectiles entering the car, impacts on your side or getting rear-ended (they still help, but not as much), etc. -- but mostly, they help, a lot. They often turn a serious, organ mashing impact with the steering wheel into a bruise on your chest at most.

Note that you said seat belts would save you in a `rear ender'. Well, if you rear end somebody, yes, they will. If somebody rear-ends you, then seatbelts don't help that much. They'll help a little, keeping you from bouncing into the steering wheel afterwards, but they won't prevent the most common injury there -- whiplash. That's up to your headrest.

Bicycle helmets, on the other hand, survive most accidents unharmed because they don't hit anything. Your hands and wrists might get hurt from catching yourself, but your reflexes tend to save your head from damage.

I'm not saying that helmets are bad, just that they're not as awesome as seatbelts. Even airbags aren't as awesome as seatbelts ...

John E

We are undeniably influenced by our personal experiences.

1) 1972, Los Angeles Wheelmen Double Century -- My 50-year-old friend, part-time employer, and cycling coach took a low-speed fall, kept going, and fell again 50 miles later. The second blow to his unhelmeted head put him into a coma, from which he never recovered.

2) 1998, commuting home from work -- My 40-year-old friend and coworker went over the handlebars at 30mph/50kph on a 12 percent grade. Four months later he was able to return to his job in electrical engineering, albeit with a modest level of lingering mental impairment. At last report, he had returned to his native U.K., where he was "doing quite well." Did his helmet save his life?

Since 1970 I have chosen to wear a helmet, but to ride as though I had left it at home. I do not judge anyone for making a different decision. The only people who should definitely not wear helmets are those who think doing so makes them invincible.

genec

Heck I'll go along with that "not as awesome" statement..."

And I'll stick to wearing helmets (not as awesome) for what ever they are worth... when I feel the need to do so. (always when riding in traffic). And the bottom line is still: everyone should make their own choice.

Heck in my case, I'm gonna wear something on my head... be it hat or helmet, just to reduce the glare on my glasses... may as well be a styrofoam hat.

Speedo

Yes I did.

So what you know is that they didn't die. You don't have the slightest idea whether it was because of the helmet. They might not have died if they hadn't been wearing a helmet. You don't know.

I apologize for picking on you, I did read your entire post and we are probably in fair agreement about helmets. But the "Didn't die because of a helmet" is one of the most frustrating aspects of the helmet debate. If all the "Didn't die because of a helmet" claims were true then there would be a dramatic decrease in deaths with increased helmet use. Yet the population stats don't bear that out. The results are so muddy that people end up fighting about statistical procedure.

It's frustrating because the justification that people use for promoting helmets as the number one end a ll and be all safety issue is their supposed life saving ability.

You see, this is why there needs to be a helmet sub-forum. Then I could easily ignore helmet threads.

Speedo

Shimagnolo

You must be new here.

rotharpunc

fair enough, I see the point you were trying to make. I wasn't basing my opinion off of statistics, rather basing it off of descriptions of accidents and human anatomy by police and doctors etc. I think following anything based solely on statistics is not a very good way to do things. I don't know for a fact that these people would have died rather than have been paralyzed, but after speaking with "experts" who had first hand knowledge of a particular situation I was willing to take their word for it given the other factors involved. And mind you the three or four situations I encountered regarding this aren't all encompassing, but were enough to sway my decision on the helmet issue. I was responding to the OP original question and i guess didn't realize I was getting into a debate about helmets here! I'm recent to reading the posts in A&S so I guess I didn't realize the debates it brings up. I guess that I was just trying to make the point that I would rather risk the low speed bumps and scrapes I may get at low speed riding without a helmet, rather then risk paralysis and a life of pooping on myself because I did wear one. Just my personal feelings, as long as everyone does their best to ride safely, no matter how that may be, its fine by me!

genec

Well considering that people have been riding bikes for about 100 years without helmets, and a good number of folks here grew up without helmets... and folks all over the world commute daily on bikes while not wearing helmets... one would really have to wonder why helmets are such a big deal in the first place.

Personally I am in the camp that they are great profit item for the helmet manufactures... (I have yet to see the protective difference between a $40 helmet and a $140 helmet)

But none the less, I do wear one.

juggleaddict

i'm kinda with joey on this one: "i don't care what other people do"

. . . i wear one unless i'm pooting around campus, and i probably should then, if i have an accident and die on campus, i'll let you know you should wear one but i won't stop you from not : )

Speedo

Lies, damned lies and statistics? Unfortunately while the war stories involved in anecdotal evidence are interesting, and probably do a lot to frame our personal views, they are not useful for getting at the underlying truth.

If you have some time to kill, read through the "Helmets cramp my style thread." You will be amazed, amused, frustrated, angered, and entertained. Oh, and maybe even educated. Some of the debate is thoughtful and there are links to many of the key studies.

Speedo

genec

yeah but how will you convince us that if you had wore one you'd still be alive...

Man, proving that you are dead because you didn't wear one is hard enough...

uke

I wore one from August to October, but stopped partway through November, and probably won't wear one again until March. I know I should buy a winter helmet, but I just can't justify the money at the moment. To be honest, I also really enjoy wearing my hats.

UnsafeAlpine

I don't wear a helmet when I'm riding around town. I wear one when I road bike, I think mainly because I'm afraid of sliding on my noggin after going down at X speed. I also wear when mountain biking for to save my head from branch whacking and rocks at slow speed. I don't know why I don't wear one around town, I just don't. I don't like how it feels, I guess.

Also, when I was younger, I was crusing down the street and hit a curb that was the daily jump. My foot flew off the pedal, got sucked in between the frame and tire and when I hit the ground, I crashed hard. Slammed my head into the ground, lost vision for a bit, and had to get stitches. I wasn't wearing a helmet. I survived and I had a minor head injury. Still don't wear one commuting, though.

apricissimus 

Try wearing a thin skull cap or do rag or some such thing under your normal helmet. It actually works better than you'd think.

But also make sure you have ear coverage. That's key.

Shimagnolo

https://www.performancebike.com/shop/....cfm?SKU=16115

I've had one of these for years. In the summer, I put it on when it rains. I leave it on all winter, and wear a fleece headband under it to keep the forehead and ears warm.