zeytoun

I'm not fooling myself.

I just avoid things like riding on a snowboard towed by a pickup through un-plowed streets... and getting in drunken brawls at weddings....

Did you have adequate lighting?

Don't get me wrong, maybe your accident was unpreventable (I wasn't there), but someone always comes into the discussion with stories like ebrake above, or saying that if you don't ride fast enough (like them) or pull enough stunts (like them) to crash, you're not really bicycling.

Now, there are a slew of reasons people may choose to wear helmets, or not.

Someone may choose to wear a helmet because they engage in riskier cycling behavior, like off-road, downhill racing, for example. They're certainly smarter to wear a full helmet, than not, given the high frequency of crashes in such activities. However, they are engaging in a thrill sport in spite of risks, and using the helmet as mitigation, and have no business lecturing other people about risk management.

There are others who choose to ride safely, and add a helmet to the mix. They have proper lighting at night, they think about the safest way to ride, etc. Their motivation really is safety, and even if the protection of helmets is dubious, their reasoning in choosing to wear one is rational.

There are some who do not wear helmets, but are very focused on being safe. For me, one of my life philosophies is to generally avoid most activities where a helmet is required. I don't wear a helmet when bicycling for several reasons: 1) when calculating risk, up to this point there has always been some other purchase that would have a greater positive effect on my safety (better lights, newer tires, upgraded brakes, etc) and I will always choose to get the biggest return-on-investment; 2) Everything I've read leads me to believe that my cycling activity is not inherently more dangerous than the rest of my life activities (in fact, every moment on my bike has a net positive effect on my lifespan).

---

Ask anyone who has put themselves in risky situations as part of their job (police, military, etc), and most of them will tell you that their greatest assets for ensuring their survival are their wits and awareness.

If you're not using those, and you ride at night without proper lighting, engage in dangerous pranks in the snow, ride so competitively you cut safety corners, are oblivious to your environment (don't know you're being drafted), etc., etc. Then you should not be lecturing anyone on safety. A helmet is a poor substitute for safe behavior.

Throwmeabone

Reading this thread makes me want to bash my head (unhelmeted) against a sidewalk.

capejohn

The Brooks Saddle and running red light and stop sing posts can't be too far off.

Brace yourself. Here we go again.

BTW. Have you renewed your subscription to "Darwin awards on bikes" yet?

SlimAgainSoon

You're mistaken ... Pee Wee Herman was cool.

Basil Moss

I like the way that since everybody got bored of the helmet flame war sticky, it just took one new post being started to get everyone at it again.

I found a shattered bearing when repacking my hubs today. Doesn't life suck...

I-Like-To-Bike

He is infamous for engaging in activities that do not require a helmet on the head to be safe.

Speedo

No. That people are out there repacking bearings makes me feel like the sweet smell of spring is just around the corner.

Is that a ball bearing, or some sort of caged roller bearing?

Speedo

Speedo

I don't know about that. What if someone in the back row started throwing popcorn?

Speedo

cudak888 

There isn't much to protect in the first place.

-Kurt

chipcom 

Though a cover on the 'helmet' might be prudent.

cudak888 

A brain for Pee Wee's helmet would help.

-Kurt

longbeachgary

It's just a piece of advice - take it or leave it.

EatMyA**

Sounds like you should have worn your SHOULDER PADS. You know what we call people that dont wear shoulder pads while driving a bicycle?

Basil Moss

It was a righteous ball bearing. I'll have none of these heathen cartridges or roller bearings on MY bike, thank you very much!

It's weird, actually, the shattered one looks like it was hollow. Maybe was a mistake in manufacturing it?

crtreedude 

Well Chipcom, yesterday, I fell four times!!! It was one of those times that you had to do something, and you wish you didn't. We have had rain just about everyday for the last 2 months or so (normal for this time of year) and I had to GPS a plot of land which was very hilly. Slip slidding away.

I am ashamed to say, I had no helmet, and I knew it was dangerous... I have a perfectly good motorcycle helmet I could have warn too. But, I escaped with my life and my brain intact.

Oh, and I was walking. But what is the difference? People fall while walking too, and their head is normally further from the ground. But for some strange reason, people think they will die without a helmet on when they cycle, but think they are safe while walking, yet the same argument applies - and if my experience is any indication, you are much more likely to fall while walking than while riding.

I can count on one hand the amount of times I have fallen while riding a bike (in more than 40 years), yet the times I have fallen while walking - innumerable...

Do what you want folks, but don't imply that helmets are necessary till I see them on your head while you are walking. After all, the same risk factors are there, and the same issues with injuries. Let me see you walk around your office today (photos or it didn't happen) with a helmet on your head, and then you can tell me how I should be wearing one when I ride.

Oh, in Costa Rica, almost nobody wears a helmet while riding a bike, or a horse for that matter - and in most of the world, especially places where they still think a bike is used for transportation, not just for sport. Amazing that these places can be so wrong - or perhaps they are just better riders?

MichaelS

What you are not mentioning, is that if you ask any of those people (police, firefighters, military, etc to go out and do their work without their protective gear, they will tell you to get lost. The ones that survive the longest have a real awareness of and respect for their protective gear.

Now I am not telling anyone (other than my kids) that they HAVE To wear helmets, but I also don't want to have my taxes pay for the long term upkeep of a now eggplant, former person who would have been fine if protecting his/her head.

Not all accidents are the rider's fault. When I went headfirst off of my bike at 35 (after being pushed by a car) I did have some pretty significant head injury but if I had not been wearing a helmet, it would have been much worse,. There is no dispute to that possible.

Ajenkins

In the case of first responders, their protective gear has actually been tested and demonstrated to be protective. That is not the case with bicycle helmets. In fact, what testing has been done demonstrates that they offer little protection at all.

Once again, people start chucking around campfire stories and claiming that these anecdotes are data. They are not. The data that does exist does not support the daily use of cycling helmets.

I-Like-To-Bike

And what do you say to those self righteous jerks who huff and puff about not wanting to pay taxes for the long term upkeep of a now eggplant, former person who would have been fine if they hadn't been so stupid as to ride a bike in traffic, or to ride off road trails, or in fact to take unnecessary risks by riding a bike anywhere?

BTW, what percentage of your precious taxes are now being used for the upkeep of eggplants, formerly persons who would have been just fine and dandy if not for their allegedly "unprotected" head? Is it a bigger percentage of your precious taxes than the children who will become slothful unhealthy adults to be supported by your taxes because of the counterproductive efforts of Nannys who end up discouraging healthy activity for youth?

My strawman argument has at least as much weight as your specious argument about tax supported eggplants.

closetbiker

but don't you see that that's the point?

While it still hasn't been shown that cyclists as a group receive head injuries at any greater rate than anyone else, it most certainly has been shown over and again that people who cycle on a regular basis live longer than those who do not get the benefits that riding a bike provides.

Cyclists lower health care costs for the average person. In fact, cycling specifically lowers the chance of receiving a brain injury. It's cyclists that are paying the costs of the people who need health care because they made the choice not to get the aerobic exercise cyclists are getting.

AlmostTrick

Normal? *prepares for funny answer*

Speedo

Uh, yes there is. You don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been wearing a helmet. There is no way for you to know. You just don't know. There is no dispute to THAT possible. Other than providing an interesting story your anecdote is worthless!

Look, if all the people who claim they were saved from injury, or much worse injury, or even death on the basis of a their isolated experience were correct then we would expect to see dramatic effects due to helmet use when examined across large populations. But we don't see that! We see that helmets can mitigate certain kinds of injuries in certain circumstances. In particular the "helmets can save your life" claim has very little to support it.

I wear a helmet because I'm happy to take that marginal bit of safety, but I have no illusions that it's the giant killer that many posters seem to think it is. What drives me crazy, and keeps me responding to these stupid helmet threads, is the monomania of some helmet zealots. Why is it that helmets are the first item on "Bicycle Safety" lists? Why are we commanded by this thread title "Always wear a helmet". It's crazy. In the post that started this thread, the first thing the poster and his buddy should have done was learn to ride safely in a paceline! The funniest (because no one was hurt) bike crash I ever observed was four women riding on the wrong side of the road on a quiet street. They were all packed together, but looking around and enjoying the scenery. A car pulled out in front of them because he hadn't seen them (wrong side of the road). The first one slammed on her brakes and the rest piled up on top of her. (riding closely and not paying attention). But, oh yes, they were wearing their helmets! Not that the helmets did them any good 'cause none of them banged their heads. The first thing those ladies should have done was learn to ride safely on the road!

My guess is that most of the posters to the various helmet threads that would be perceived as anti-helmet are not really anti-helmet. They are anti-pro-helmet-zealotry.

Speedo

EnigManiac

It sure seems as if those who so vehemently promote the use of helmets need to learn how to ride and maybe try not to be so accident-prone. Allow me, a 40+ year cyclist without any kind of crash or fall in daily urban riding in about 30 years, to suggest slowing down, watching where you're riding and what you're riding on, choosing better routes or even walking your bike where there is the potential for injury. May I also suggest that you stop pushing your agenda like some evangelical bible-thumper. These threads are always started by some self-righteous safety nanny promoting THEIR agenda. You don't see non helmet wearers trying to convince you to get rid of your helmet, so give us the same consideration will you, please. Do you people all work for the helmet companies or something? Give it up already.

JohnDThompson 

Allow me, a 40+ year cyclist to respectfully disagree with you. You have been lucky, nothing more. Accidents are not always avoidable. After many years in the bicycle industry, I now work in health care and spend a significant portion of my time working on an inpatient rehab unit providing direct care to patients suffering from traumatic brain injuries. Recovery is expensive, slow, uneven and not always complete or successful. Wearing a helmet seems a small price to pay to reduce the risk of this happening.

JohnDThompson 

I don't think anybody seriously claims that helmets can prevent accidents; all they can do is mitigate the effects of an accident.

And who are the "they" you refer to above who purportedly demonstrated that a helmeted head is more likely to be hit in a fall?

chipcom 

Then I am sure that you wear a helmet when driving, climbing a ladder, working on your roof, using the stairs, taking a shower, diving into a pool or river, climbing a tree, playing basketball, baseball, touch football, soccer, tennis, etc. or any other activity that carries about the same relative risk of head injury as riding a bicycle...right? It seems a small price to pay to reduce your risk, right?