Aw, man. I had a sweet helmet question up there. Then I posted a second thing about "armoring mentality." And nobody commented on my helmet question! Geez!

It's a good question!

I guess nobody looks past the last question? So I'll try again...

Certainly helmets improve safety to some degree. The relevant items are: what was the risk to begin with? And does the improvement change the risk enough to make the effort worthwhile? But mostly: What are the numbers and who set them and why?

For instance, helmet wearing for car drivers, walkers, bathroom users, or shower users, would certainly save thousands of lives, probably billions$. Certainly older people walking in icy winter conditions. And older people driving -- or maybe first-year drivers: for some demographics crashes become more likely in cars or anywhere else. Why aren't people pushing for those demographics to armor-up?

Certainly for very popular activities a tiny amount of safety improvement could still equal huge injury reduction. So what if a miniscule number of people hit their heads while walking? If everyone wore a helmet when walking then perhaps thousands of head injuries would be avoided -- yielding huge improvement in quality of life and money savings. The helmet industry and insurance and healthcare industries all alike would naturally want everyone at all times to wear a helmet.

Helmet effectiveness must be vastly greater the SLOWER and WEAKER is the activity's potential impact-energy. Biking and motorcycling often have too much energy in crashes for helmets to be relevant. Walkers would almost always benefit from a helmet in a head-strike.

Are ice-skating officials pushing just as much for helmets? Headstrikes are very common there. Like in ice rinks with rental skates. But even among trained skaters the 'feet out, head strikes' scenario is common given the slippery physics of ice. Again, speeds are generally low and the fall is ideal for helmet design -- so helmets would give near total protection.

As to the supposed convenience, sport bikers cantilever their heads. Any weight or wind resistance on the head is a strain on the neck. Also, biking is often done in the hot summer: helmets can easily overheat a head and definitely make for definite unpleasantness every time they're used above a certain temp or humidity level. In sharp contrast to the cooling breeze of biking w/o a helmet. Nothing theoretical there. And nothing convenient. For tourers a helmet is just another bulky item to manage and not forget.

While I'm piling on, because biking is often socially integrated -- bikers are seen by the general public; they go into stores, pubs, workplaces, etc. What bikers wear helps determine the acceptance of biking which affects its safety. (Ice-skaters don't worry about this.) Normalizing the bike is a huge social effort. Helmets are a barrier to normalcy. So their safety improvement in one respect is reduced by a loss in another respect.

Lastly, I've seen the following about crashes but it's still interesting: for motorcycles nearly all crashes involve two groups: *young, fast and drunk, or *old newbie on heaviest moto. When you take those out you're left w a safe activity for skilled, sensible, sober people. I've seen similar biking stats: when you take kids, drunks and newbs outta the equation, the extra safety precautions are piling safety on top of what's already safe.

OK, go!

How do helmet buffs account for rest of world?
 

Not to bump my previous questions from consideration, but here's another:

How do proponents of helmets for urban biking account for 99% of the biking world not using helmets?

I note that helmets aren't designed to protect from car accidents so "better infrastructure" or "separated bikeways" doesn't seem like a good answer. All those countries would still have all the most common accidents. And I doubt that separate facilities is all that common.

Not to be rude, but we've been arguing those questions for years on this thread, and its predecessor. I've probably posted different risk measures half a dozen times myself, and several times on testing standards. You're just asking too broad a question.

No worries. Maybe there should be a FAQ on these things?

Like, why aren't helmets encouraged for iceskaters and car-drivers...

Jeff, maybe because this is a bicycling forum, not n ice skating or car-driver forum. But in my mind, the risk in bicycling rarely justifies a helmet, but clearly others evaluate the risk differently. Those who are pro helmet think its a good thing that my genes are not kept in the pool - I don't care what they think.

Because people are not consistent in their judgment. Near as I can tell there is (very roughly) some lless than one order of magnitude greater risk of severe head injury biking as there is driving, or being a passenger of a car. It isn't completely logical to always wear a helmet biking, and never wear a helmet in cars, when the risks are that similar.

Oh please. That's quite the gross generalization. There are only two, maybe three pro-helmet participants in this thread that resort to the "gene pool" hyperbole.

Most of us don't care whether you use a helmet or not.

You are correct MMACH5, I should have said some of the pro-helmet crowd. Sorry to have offended your delicate self.

No need to get defensive. Just pointing out what you already knew, but ignored.

Some people dont wear seat belts in their cars, and some cyclist dont were a helmet. IMO both groups are somewhat less than smart.

I don't know about the smartness, but I'm not going to criticize people for taking measures that they feel safer about, especially as they have to bike in more dangerous circumstances than me.

But can we at least agree that the objective should be that people can safely do their commutes and utility cycling without a helmet?

I strap my helmet on each and every time I ride. Tipping over and knocking your head on the ground would be a stupid way to die.

why helmet is necessery for road biking?
 

A few weeks ago, I read Elizabeth Rosenthal‘s article in the New York Times, ” To Encourage Biking, Cities Lose The Helmets.” I’ve always been a big proponent of wearing helmets while cycling, but Rosenthal’s article, which basically posited that helmet laws discourage people from riding bikes, completely changed my perception of biking and helmets. Intrigued, I set off to find out if bike helmets are really as necessary we think they are.

I’ve always wondered why I frequently see celebrities (like Lauren Conrad) and popular bloggers (like Joanna Goddard) riding without helmets. Was it because helmets are almost universally ugly? Was it just a one-time oversight? Regardless, it struck me as both dangerous and irresponsible. I mean, you only get one brain, so why take any chances with it, right? I’m not the only person who thinks that way—but among some cycling enthusiasts, the idea that helmets are necessary is about as popular as Lance Armstrong‘s doping charges. Over the past few weeks, I delved into the very controversial, very passionate, very heated world of the cycling helmet debates.What you are thinking about that ?

Helmet discussion: http://www.bikeforums.net/advocacy-s...l#post18913538

Yes, but the stupid part is hitting your head on the ground and tipping over isn't very smart to begin with.

Personally here why i always using an helmet.
- Drivers don't know how to drive , so the main reason is related to my security. I'm not unsecure on my biking skills but sometimes i feel the fear to see idiots around me.
- Sometimes skill does not count , since even a pro can done something worste. One time i hit the floor at insane speed , i hit the head and leave a big crack on my helmet. I was pretty happy becouse i was not hurted (and i roll down for a lot of meters) becouse my head got the same sensation as i hit the pillow. In that case i think helmet save mt life.
- Also Is cool if you think that little gadget can improve your aerodynamic penetration rate.


Thanks god the only incident i had with a car (i was whitout helmet) my head never touched the ground. that day someone in the sky really show me his love.

:)

Well I NEVER wore a helmet, or rode a light CF bike either. I have slid out 15 times or so, including a half barrel roll on a road construction fence with a 2 foot drop, on a 120 lb tour bike. Zero hits to my head. I don't blame CF riders for wearing them, however often useless they are in a collision. ALL 9 bikes in that recent death rampage ASPLODED. Anybody think their helmets made a flying fart difference ??? Over half of fatalities now involve older guys on these tinker toy bikes. I suppose speed does matter.

2 winters ago I rode 4178 miles in VN and China, 5 wipeouts/ tipovers . Plus on the third day I got broadsided at my chainstay by a Honda MC at 3 mph . The bike jumped an inch, I didn't even lean over. Another day I was felling poor and got a MC to push me 9 miles at up to 27 mph. ha. The only helmets were on other tour guys and the few tinker toy riders.

So anyway, over 60% here are wearing them. Why, I don't know. Most years there are 1 or 2 fatalities in 1 million pop.

Have you ever been "helmet-shamed?"

I wear a helmet sometimes. My decision is based on roads and time of day.

I have been out and about not wearing a helmet, and random motorists have felt compelled to comment. One time a woman, who nearly buzzed me while passing at less than 3 ft, had the nerve to pace me and say "you should wear a helmet."

Another day, a woman walking by, saw me about to pedal off and said "It is really great you are staying active and biking. But you should wear a helmet. I am a nurse and helmets save lives."

Why can't people just keep their opinions to themselves?

Both motorists and pedestrians suffer far more head injuries due to traffic crashes than do cyclists. Were either of these people wearing their helmet at the time?

Several years ago as I rode by a jogger, she on the sidewalk and me in the bike lane, she called out "where is your helmet?" To me it's ironic since jogging on the sidewalk puts you in more danger of a head injury than cycling on the road. Looking back at it later, I had to wonder if it was flirting and not shaming since that happens so infrequently.

I'm of the opinion that helmets are necessary (for road bikers) largely because of inattentive motorists. I was involved in a car vs. bike crash recently (I was the bike) and my head was the first thing that hit the ground. It would be an overstatement to say that the helmet saved my life, but I do think the helmet made the injuries less severe than they would have been without one - and to be clear, my injuries were pretty severe even with the helmet.

I was wearing a POC Octal AVIP MIPS helmet. The ER doctor - a cyclist herself - remarked that my helmet performed much better than most car vs. bike crashes she sees. Take that for whatever it's worth.

The POC is an expensive helmet, but if there's a chance that the extra money provides even a modicum of extra protection I'm willing to pay it. I like the idea that my wife and kids have a husband and father coming home to them after a ride.

I'm far from one of those helmet advocates that thinks everyone should wear one. People should do what is best for them and I firmly believe that helmet laws are stupid. That said, there's a 0% chance that I would ride without one.

If you collide with a car going faster than ~20mph. you will likely die, helmet or no helmet! Cars can easily exceed ~20mph. Wearing a helmet as a hedge against incompetent driving is insane. Wearing a helmet as a hedge against your own incompetence is up to you. I personally think it is a lot better simply not to fall or crash in the first place than to be so careless that you do these things and have to rely on a helmet to save your marbles. But that's me. I'm weird like that.

If you're doing sports there's always a degree of carelessness that comes with trying to be faster or trying to win. In sports you're always at the limits of your competence, so it seems very sensible to me to prepare for situations you go over your limits.

But people shouldn't act like the helmet makes the difference between safe and unsafe cycling. It will offer protection to the individual cyclist's brain, but only in certain circumstances. The helmet doesn't have many statistics going for it, in profession cycling with the pro's crashing regularly, the helmet is only used since 2003 and there's not a decrease in serious brain injuries. In commuting and utility cycling the countries with the least helmets are the safest.