rekmeyata

Honestly, everyone wants to be right, the problem is when the desire to be right overrides the overwhelming evidence to the contrary and they still think their right.

sudo bike

What we're talking about here has nothing to do with evidence. He said he can't understand why people don't... that isn't an evidence-based question. There are personal reasons for it, which have been explained ad nauseam.

rekmeyata

This whole thread has been hashed to nauseam.

rydabent

Look at the poll results. Helmet useage is over 80%. Trying to convince people not to wear helmets is a losing proprosition.

Have a nice day, ride safe, and wear a helmet.

vol

I find it laughable that whenever the topic comes up and if you say you don't wear helmet when riding on, say, a safe rail-trail with no vehicle traffic, or going to the local shops, then someone will come out and say something like, "Be careful! a friend/co-worker/friend's friend once crashed on a safe rail-trail/his way to the local store, after hitting something, hit his head and got serious injuries, blah blah; had he been without a helmet, he would have been dead/become a vegetable---therefore, helmets keep you safe! You can never be wrong to wear one!"

By that reasoning, we should all wear helmet 24 hours a day: it could only make you safer, since one could always cite an instance when someone hit his head and died/was injured in an accident, when a helmet "would have saved" his life/brains (I have heard about neighbors who were killed after being hit by a falling flower pot or kitchen knife that fell from high floor balconies: they would have been alive today had they been wearing helmets).

Now for an example of what I am talking about, see this recent discussion at the Hybrid Bicycles Forum (and note the comments by americandream).

What's even more laughable is how safe many people feel with helmets on their heads, being apparently more careful when not wearing helmets---or equivalently, less careful when wearing helmets (cf. the same discussion I linked above).

DrkAngel

I never used to wear a helmet ...
Maybe because people told me I should?

Till a geared up 5 year old pointed at me and told me "You gonna wek an you bwain wi faw out!"
Who could argue with that?

Well protection in case of an accident was still insufficient , for me, so I had to go a bit further!


Incorporates a wide angle mirror, flashing tail light and zoomable light with high, low, strobe and lighted ring.

Available now is a quick-cheap add-on improvement!
click on picture

- $14.95

gracieallen

I know the importance wearing helmet but i feel UN-comfort driving bike by wearing helmet so dependence up on situation i wear the helmet... But it's always safe to ride by wearing helmet.

3alarmer 

.........could this be the end ? Will the question of helment usage be answered once and for all ?

I am on the edge of my seat..........I hope I don't fall off and hit my head on something.

paulkal

Are you wearing a helmet? Because you should always were a helmet when you're sitting on the edge an a seat.

3alarmer 

.......see, here's the thing. I usually wear a helment when posting in the A + S, the P + R, and sometimes the C + V, but when I
post in the forums where I feel safer, sometimes I post without a helment, and if I switch back and forth, sometimes I forget where I am.

Actually, I'm not even for sure where I am even when I remember. I'm gonna have to get a seatbelt for this desk chair, I think.

mconlonx

Research posted in this thread indicated those who usually did not wear helmets were more cautious when they participated in a study where they wore helmets; those who usually wore helmets did not ride less safely without.

If people feel safe wearing helmets, buying into all the false sense security for which the bare-head brigade regularly chastises the helmeteers, then perhaps helmets are responsible for lowering the fear threshold for such riders to a point where they will actually participate in that daredevil activity, riding a bicycle. Where, if they actually knew the limits of helmet protection, they'd not feel comfortable out in traffic.

rekmeyata

Nope, it has become projectile vomit.

rekmeyata

That was my point too, and it's the truth, it's about fear, they feel more fearful riding without helmets so they ride more carefully. And for some reason the MODS here deleted it! Hmmmm, maybe the mod here doesn't wear a helmet and felt insulted that I called him fearful? And yet that is the whole substance if riding more carefully when riding without a helmet...FEAR.

mconlonx

For all of those wearing helmets for the wrong reasons, excuses for not going with full body armor are getting thinner and thinner...

3alarmer 

.........I'm in if it comes in bibs. I only ride with bibs, man.

mconlonx

Ew. This image may be worse than the Skater Dress...

(Bibs rock! )

curbtender

Sold a hardcase backpack to a guy with the note that if he went down on his back it would save some skin. Really, he couldn't even tighten the belt around his waist. I'm a little different. I ride at the edges sometimes and know when I'm there. I think my commute is the scariest part of riding. There is just no trusting someone late for work.

License2Ill

Just because a car is traveling at some given speed doesn't mean your head is going to impact anything at that speed. No helmet is claiming to handle a 65mph impact. They are made to handle a drop from two meters at the speed created by gravity. In other words, a fall, which is a hell of a lot more common when getting hit by a car. The anti-helmet crowd will continue to cite that the helmet doesn't save you from injuries over areas the helmet doesn't cover in that situation too. It's a never-ending game for them without any rational and real concern for making better choices in terms of standards of protection and marketplace awareness, etc.

License2Ill

Is that Dainese fashion crap even CE rated for motorcyclist protection? Their crap is always second-rate, and they've fought certification and performance standards like big tobacco over the years.

mconlonx

Why would body armor for bicycling be CE rated for motorcyclist protection...?

License2Ill

Because no standard exists for bicycling protective equipment and since Dainese is in the business of motorcyclist fashion.

mconlonx

Well then, you've answered your own question: Dianese bike products meet or exceed current standards for bicycle protective equipment.

License2Ill

Expect the results to match that angle. There's no reason they shouldn't be making items that meet the available standards for mc protective equipment or even horse rider vests which are more comprehensive in terms of torso coverage and force limits.

vol

I don't know what kind of study it was, but it is contrary to my observation.

mconlonx

I got it backwards. So much for memory...

Those who usually wear helmets slow down when riding without; those who usually do not wear helmets ride no faster if they are forced to wear one.

So the risk compensation issue is still far from settled. Plunking a helmet on someone doesn't mean they will ride more dangerously, but many wearing helmets are probably riding outside their comfort/ability/safety zone.