Here's a question to ask yourself when trying to decide to wear a helmet or not...

If you knew you were going to be hit in the head with a piece of concrete would you rather have a helmet or just your bare noggin?


As far as the argument that cycling is at lower speeds and therefore no need to wear a helmet...

Most motorcycle helmet standards use impacts at speeds between 9–16 mph.


There are tons of great "this happened to me" or didn't, but in the end what is important is the overall average. I tend to think that a helmet is a good way to improve your chances of having less injury when you wreck. There are always exceptions. I've had two motorcycle accidents that sent me over the bars, the one I had a helmet on I got the most head/neck injury's and it was a far slower crash. I am of the belief that slower speeds are when the helmet will be the biggest asset. At high speeds (like motorcycles) over 35mph the helmet has far less chance to decrease injuries and in some cases can make them worse. This is strictly my opinion from my own experience/pain.

I am buying a cycling helmet when I pick up my new Sequoia Elite as I do not plan to cruise over 35 mph often. :)

As a former motorcycle road racer, I tend to think that helmets are especially important at high speeds! In high-speed crashes, a helmet may not completely prevent injury but you can be certain that it will reduce the severity of injury. This is one of the reasons why helmets are required by all motorcycle racing sanctioning bodies...

Always. Not law here. May be it'll become law one day. I dont want it to become law however. I dont want to be forced to wear a helmet. I just do, out of my own choosing.

im all for people not wearing helmets, it lets natural selection cull the herd. i think not wearing one should automatically nullify ones health insurance, so the rest of us dont have to pick up the medical bill, becasue someone wanted to feel the wind in their hair. this goes for seatbelts too. the gov shouldnt interfere in ones business, but the rest of us shouldnt have to pay for someone elses stupidity.

if your arms are magically bound to your side and you were going to fall forwards and hit your head on a concrete curb, would you want a helmet or not? its not a high speed crash, its not particularly violent or all that spectacular, it... you know, whats the use. its a free country and people have made up their minds. this argument has been rehashed countless times before and i doubt anyones minds has been changed, from reading opinions on the internet.

Same as jesspal...I am a nurse and I've seen more than enough cycling related accidents....wear a helmet people!

Big +1.

9 out of 10 times I'm strapped. However, when I pedal the pick-up truck to the grocery along the nice and quiet village streets, I do not want to be forced to wear a helmet. Granted, it is understood that I can get hit or have bad things happen when least expecting it, but I still don't want to wear a helmet when I am just tootling along at 5 to 10 mph in a low-risk situation. :ride:

Glad to see I don't even have to mention that I don't wear a helmet unless required...my minions of brain damaged zombies do it for me. Excellent.

Hey, Chipster, I think they're paging you over on the Spandex thread.

Too many years of off road/Woods and motocross racing om dirt bikes to not wear one. I've worn a bicycle helmet since i was 13 or so as well.

I was clipped by a mirror and sent into a drainage ditch when I was 14. It was on a pretty impressive down hill and I was moving along quite well. The driver ran off and I would have been left there unconscious had a following motorist not stopped to render aid. I was chewed up pretty badly and my helmet was severely broken but I only had a mild concussion.

I do not leave home without it.

I've had two seizures while riding and was hit by a car, all situations where I "used" my helmet, so to speak. The helmet had visible damage in all three cases, damage that didn't happen to my head.

I never understood the argument that, since a helmet doesn't protect all of your head, it's useless. I'll take what protection they give me.

Wow, thatnx guys... This is a very interesting thread. I love all the dofferent opinins. My wife is saying that I should get one. And I really don't mind. I have just never worn one before, and I don't wear caps, or tuques, or benies, or golf hats or... I think you get the picture.

Just have to get used to it I guess

Eric...

I always wear one. Sometimes when I leave in a hurry I touch my head to make sure I'm wearing it. :D So you can't actually say it's bothering me.

I've tried Giro Helmets and Bulls but I find Kask! the best.

I guess that settles it doesn't it? I know that us boys over here, state's side, wouldn't even dream of not listening to the wife. :D

BTW: Mine (well, GF) is still giving me grief over riding in a big windstorm---------9 months ago. :eek:

I haven't read the entire thread but to answer the original question, i'm one of those people that wears my helmet when i remember. I know i should always wear it but if it takes me more than a minute or so to find i'm going without it unless i absolutely need it, or it's raining. If i have to deal with poor conditions i'm wearing a helmet, the drivers around me are out of their minds when it's nice out, throw a bit of water on the ground and they don't even try to avoid me. Plus you never know when that puddle you're about to go through has a huge pot-hole or something in it. I'm trying to make it a point to wear it more.

And come to think of it, i haven't been on here in a while so i should probably make it a point to post more too. haha


kyle

I wear mine if I'm leaving the subdivision I live in. Which gives me about a half mile to play with.

I'd like to get one of those boarder helmets that have more upper-neck protection...

Once helmets are totally accepted. Which will without a doubt happen because most states have laws requiring children to where helmets, so they will never know any other way to ride. The injury prevention industry has more items that will be eventually be marketed then used then sworn by. "Approximately 200,000 oral injuries will be prevented by mouth guard use in the next year. Emergency rooms see over 150,000 bicycle related injuries each year."
Where will it end? http://fashionindie.com/wp-content/u...ubble_boy2.jpg

I just wish they brought back M-80's

I have not ridden without a helmet since I was a kid on my sting ray with the banana seat and sissy bar. How cool was that in the early 70's.

The only time I don't wear a helmet is if I already have a hat on. If I'm not going to the corner store I turn around and get my helmet. My commute is on 45-55mph roads. I don't wear hats very often so it kind of feels like the helmet is already on. Lost a helmet once in the winter beacuse I left it on my rack after putting on the balaclava then some other stuff. It really is such a minor inconvenience.

We used to make choppers out of them by extending the forks with 3 feet of conduit pipe. My mom still has the old photgraphs in an album somewhere.

Please post if you get them scanned.

Most of the time. When riding around campus, no. When riding on public roads, usually. I know I risking it when riding without it, but it something else for me to carry around when I am out that I dont wanna deal with

No, I don't wear a helmet, but I probably should. I've been meaning to get one, but still haven't gotten around to it yet. I HATED helmets as a kid, and so this is mostly a hold over from that. Of course, I had one of those helmets that looked like half of a ping pong ball with a strap which was "so uncool". I also worry that I could end up being really hot in a helmet. But in either case, I would like to get one... I just have to... do it.

Seems to be a lot anecdotal evidence presented.

I honestly can't see how anyone can say "a helmet saved my/someone else's life".
There really is no way of knowing.

Some times i choose to wear a helmet other times i don't.
That decision should never be in hands of the government or insurance company (in the way of payouts).

As i said previously, from my own personal experience i've had crashes where mates who where following dare not look as they were that sure i'd be seriously injured or dead.
Yet a brush down and i was on me way.

It's supprising how flexable and how much abuse the human body can take.
One example that springs to mind:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbmp8L0D5ro

In the same context i've crashed at ridiculously slow speeds and hit things at the wrong angle and been badly injured.

It's really just down to luck at the end of the day, wearing a helmet may increase your chances of walking away, but there is still a chance you'll be severely injured even wearing a helmet.

Another thing worth considering is, looking at it statisically will the fact that your more likely to crash wearing a helmet due to a false sense of security and taking more risks outweigh the statistical reduction in injury?
I honestly don't know, but i think it is something that needs to be taken into consideration.


If you want to wear a helmet then fine, i agree and do 95% of the time.
But please do not advocate the removal any more personal responsability from the indiviudual and don't judge people without having all the info.

Someone riding a bike or m/bike without a helmet does not make them a irresponsable jerk, especially when they are flying you to your holiday destination ;)

International Safety Union for Cyclists
 

The ultimate scare "info", well done, but do not take it too seriously. :innocent:

www.bikehelmetsnow.org

In the same vein as the post above from ringdandoo:
http://www.bikehelmetsnow.org/2008/0...-to-i-suc.html

http://bp2.blogger.com/_kSNVKrktKUQ/...tysuit_002.PNG

In my eyes, the worst thing about the bike helmet discussion are the self declared safety advocates a la "Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute" (www.bhsi.org). One would certainly expect bike helmets to have a minimally positive effect on the outcome of accidents. But the statistics promoted by the "Institute" are so obviously misleadingly interpreted or non-informative due to any lack of context - it just makes makes your head spin in disgust.