View Poll Results: What Are Your Helmet Wearing Habits?
I've never worn a bike helmet
52
10.40%
I used to wear a helmet, but have stopped
24
4.80%
I've always worn a helmet
208
41.60%
I didn't wear a helmet, but now do
126
25.20%
I sometimes wear a helmet depending on the conditions
90
18.00%
Voters: 500. You may not vote on this poll
The Helmet Thread 2
10-18-22, 08:26 PM
#3501
Happy banana slug
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Originally Posted by JW Fas
The one thing I find annoying about helmet rhetoric is whenever a cyclist crashes or collides with a motor vehicle. The response from unaffiliated parties is always the same: "It's a good thing they were wearing a helmet." It's spoken even when the cyclist didn't hit their head. Nobody says it's a good thing you car had airbags in a low-speed collision where the airbags didn't deploy.
10-19-22, 01:48 AM
#3502
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Every objection to the use of bike helmets applies to every other type of helmet. A helmet won't save a soldier from a direct hit from a tank shell or a construction worker from being crushed by a steel girder, so why should they bother to use helmets?
10-24-22, 10:06 AM
#3503
Newbie
I started wearing mine 100% of the time about 3 years ago.. since then, it has saved my bacon twice. Now I won't even test a bike out without one.
It indeed won't save me from a car hit, but It sure works to iron out my clumsiness!
It indeed won't save me from a car hit, but It sure works to iron out my clumsiness!
11-12-22, 02:33 PM
#3504
Happy banana slug
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Here's an interesting article about MIPS helmets. I don't have one, and now I don't feel bad about it.
11-24-22, 11:29 AM
#3505
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Originally Posted by Trakhak
Every objection to the use of bike helmets applies to every other type of helmet. A helmet won't save a soldier from a direct hit from a tank shell or a construction worker from being crushed by a steel girder, so why should they bother to use helmets?
11-24-22, 11:54 AM
#3506
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Originally Posted by rydabent
But what if the construction worker is only hit by a nut or bolt that has fallen a couple hundred feet. I bet he would be glad he had a steel helmet.
People often argue against the use of bike helmets by pointing out that a helmet won't save a rider who is hit head on by a car traveling 60 miles per hour. My point was that extreme examples can be used to argue against the use of any type of helmet---military, construction, etc. If only extreme circumstances are considered, then all helmets are arguably useless.
By the way, I believe that most modern construction helmets are polyethylene, not steel.
11-24-22, 12:02 PM
#3507
Full Member
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I worked with a guy that had a gold coloured construction helmet. He was awarded it by the company because his prior helmet saved his life.
11-24-22, 12:58 PM
#3508
Junior Member
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Head first into a roadside marker
Saved my life? Guessing yes: Concussion, whiplash, broken neck, and shattered T3
My skull would have looked like the inside of the helmet (see photos). This was the result of a 15 MPH crash.
My skull would have looked like the inside of the helmet (see photos). This was the result of a 15 MPH crash.
01-17-23, 03:51 AM
#3509
Junior Member
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The Cult of Bike Helmets
Interesting article from slate .com:
https://slate.com/technology/2023/01...d-to-wear.html
They make the case that mandatory helmet laws for bicycles are counterproductive. Very interesting.
https://slate.com/technology/2023/01...d-to-wear.html
They make the case that mandatory helmet laws for bicycles are counterproductive. Very interesting.
01-17-23, 06:48 AM
#3510
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I noticed a father and son riding Sunday. The child looked to be 7-9 years old. I was surprised that neither wore a helmet. I do think there is a helmet requirement here for children under 12.
For me, wearing a helmet is like using seatbelts. It is just something I naturally do.
For me, wearing a helmet is like using seatbelts. It is just something I naturally do.
01-17-23, 06:54 AM
#3511
Senior Member
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Their entire premise is ridiculous. If helmets make cycling seem too dangerous, then airbags in cars should make you want to walk. Their statistic about more cycling deaths don't take into account that more people are riding, and more drivers are distracted while driving.
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01-17-23, 06:54 AM
#3512
Senior Member
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one of my new year resolutions is to stop wearing a helmet. I am 64yoa and never started wearing a helmet until I started racing and was required to wear one. So it has been about 40 years of wearing one but this is the year I stop. Probably going to feel weird for a while. I will however wear a helmet when I am on a beer drinking ride...
Last edited by jadmt; 01-17-23 at 07:15 AM.
01-17-23, 07:08 AM
#3513
Senior Member
Laws mandating bicycle helmets due to collisions with motorists instead of stricter traffic enforcement is like mandating flak jackets for students instead of...well, you know.
But I wear my helmet to mount my camera and head light.
But I wear my helmet to mount my camera and head light.
01-17-23, 08:32 AM
#3514
Half way there
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Putting the responsibility of safety solely on individual shoulders all but guarantees failure, said Kathleen Bachynski, an assistant professor of public health at Muhlenberg College, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, who has studied bike helmet and sports injuries. “It’s an enormous burden,” she said. Asking individuals to spend money on helmets, lights, and reflective gear without investing in better transit culture ignores the fact that the real danger to cyclists comes from behind the wheel, not from behind handlebars.
“We can talk about bike helmets because it’s something we can blame for individual decision-making,” said Alison Bateman-House, an ethicist and medical historian at New York University who has studied mandatory helmet laws.
“We can talk about bike helmets because it’s something we can blame for individual decision-making,” said Alison Bateman-House, an ethicist and medical historian at New York University who has studied mandatory helmet laws.
In North Carolina, contributory negligence law prevents a someone from recovering any damages in an accident if their "negligence" is found to have contributed in any way to the incident or its outcome. This means that if a victim is only 1% "at fault" then they are prevented from making any recovery for their injuries. Not wearing a helmet, whether or not it was a significant factor, could be seen as "contributory". AFAIK, NC is one of the 2 states in the country that has not adopted a shared or comparative negligence law, so victims are sometimes out of luck. There is a bill before our General Assembly to change this, though.
01-17-23, 08:35 AM
#3515
Chuffed Moderator
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Merged new helmet thread into the existing Helmet Thread 2.
__________________
Originally Posted by Retro Grouch
Fenders protect you from tire splatter. Mudguards protect you from tyre splatter.
01-17-23, 09:29 AM
#3516
cowboy, steel horse, etc
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Originally Posted by Bald Paul
Their entire premise is ridiculous. If helmets make cycling seem too dangerous, then airbags in cars should make you want to walk.
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01-17-23, 01:13 PM
#3517
Been Around Awhile
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Originally Posted by HelpSingularity
Interesting article from slate .com:
https://slate.com/technology/2023/01...d-to-wear.html
They make the case that mandatory helmet laws for bicycles are counterproductive. Very interesting.
https://slate.com/technology/2023/01...d-to-wear.html
They make the case that mandatory helmet laws for bicycles are counterproductive. Very interesting.
01-17-23, 01:23 PM
#3518
cowboy, steel horse, etc
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Originally Posted by Moe Zhoost
Are these laws really designed to prevent injury or shift responsibility when an injury occurs?
01-27-23, 07:44 PM
#3519
Junior Member
Wear your helmet!
Had a pretty good wipe out this morning. Had to make a sudden course adjustment to avoid another cyclist turning in front of me. Happened on slick smooth concrete and I guess to much rear brake. Went into a skid as I swerved and bike lost all traction. Next thing I new I was horizontal and going down hard. My leg, hip, shoulder and side of the helmet took the force of the fall. I am guessing the POC/Rapha helmet saved me. The styrofoam material on that side of the helmet fractured in a few places. Done with my favorite helmet! In any case I biked away. Not alot of choice as I was almost 20 miles from home. Sore but okay. Bianchi took a couple of scratches on the shifter and tape, but no frame damage. Happened so quickly.
QUALITY HELMET WAS CRITICAL.
QUALITY HELMET WAS CRITICAL.
