I've said it above, but I'll say it again, I would not be here right now without a helmet on May 17, 2002. Wear a helmet--they're not bad lookin', provide ventilation, give sun protection for your eyes, and may allow you to live to a ripe ol' age.

John

hehe I think some of them look kinda cool... Giro pneumo comes to mind :D

When I read news articles about accidents with serious injuries or death that end with statements like "Alcohol appears to have been a contributing factor" or "The driver was not wearing seatbelts" or "The rider was not wearing a helmet," there usually is not an accompanying statements that suggests whether the opposite would have prevented the death or injury. It is just a statement.

Though I am always disheartened by the misfortune of the victims in these cases, I generally react with a bit of a shrug as though suconsciously concluding that the person was a contributor to his or her own fate somehow. I don't react with a definitive statement like, "They deserved to die for not wearing a helmet," or anything like that. There's just this "feeling" that they somehow must have gone through life with at least a bit of disregard for their own safety.

I also don't have a reaction that says "At least they died with their rights and freedom in tact," or anything along those lines.

Generally I support a person's right to choose. That right exists in my mind whether or not I choose the same or have an opinion about a person's choice.

I don't suppose even for a second that all of the available information on a story is given in a brief news report nor that the absence of the alcohol, seatbelt or helmet statements necessarily absolves the victim of all fault or responsibility.

I suppose I wear the appropriate gear for cycling habitually so that should I die during cycling, regardless of fault, there is no one who is allowed to shrug it off even subconsciously, just because of a brief statement that says "Rider was not wearing a helmet." If my helmet contributes to my survival or prevents an injury at some point, I suppose I'll feel justified in my position while being irritated at having to buy another. I am under no illusion that my helmet will save me from all consequences of a moving encounter with a stationary object or another vehicle.

Carl

The outrage and anger of some cyclists toward others who don't wear helmets always cracks me up. "Knee jerk" is the only phrase that is apt. If anyone ever doubts the effectiveness of advertising or political propaganda all he need do is read a thread about helmets to see otherwise intelligent and articulate people reduced to shouting slogans.

Helmets increase safety, surely, but they're a marginal safety device, particularly for road riding. They help, but they reduce an already small chance of serious head injury or death from proper cycling by some unknown, significant, but ultimately small amount. Whether someone wears them or not just isn't that big of a deal, and it's certainly not worth all of the fulminating it generates here on this board.

To see this, notice that no one here on this board wears a cycling helmet while driving a car. Certainly no one here would get angry, indignant, or start with the predictable remarks about life insurance, organ donation, etc., etc., if someone posted here that he didn't wear a helmet when he drove his car. But why not? It's not because wearing a helmet while driving would provide no benefits. After all, the pros do it. And even in a car with front air bags-- and not all of them have air bags, even today-- there are always side collisions to worry about. Yes, helmets won't prevent all serious injuries in motor vehicle collisions, but they might well prevent injury from your head colliding with the interior of your car. And isn't your brain worth the money and effort of strapping on a styrofoam hat before you start driving? What about your family? What about your ablity to type without drooling on yourself? What about, to use the most hackneyed and overused remark on the internet, Darwin? Yes, an accident is unlikely, but all it takes is one. And so on and so on.

And before someone starts quarrelling about the relative risk of helmetless driving vs. cycling, my point is not that the comparison is exact (though the comparison is reasonably close). It's just that the difference between the two activities is hardly enough to explain why helmetless cycling in particular should be the focus of so much special ire.

I'm all for wearing helmets; it's a fine idea. If it makes you feel better, do it. But it is a hugely overblown issue, made so by so many cyclists who for reasons unknown to me want to get all p*ssed off about other people's hats. Stop, will you?

As far as the original poster goes, I myself will run errands helmetless a lot. I do it because I don't always like strapping that thing on to run across town, or head to work, or even to take a ride. I've done it for years, and I will do it as long as the law allows. Maybe longer. But I have helmets. I wear them sometimes too. When I visit countries that require them I wear them, too.

Commuting without a helmet is not some deathwish; it's just running another very small risk for some certain convenience or pleasure. Just like a lot of other choices you make. It's certainly not worth feeling like you're throwing your life away or some nonsense like that.

personally, i always wear a helmet. i feel i owe it to myself and my family. you can lose your life and/or well being in an instant.

now let me hasten to add how distasteful i find self-righteous riders who criticize people who choose not to. if you want to ride without a helmet, more power to ya. it is your right.

to the self-righteous: how easy it is to criticize when your choice to ride a bike (instead of drive a car) could just as easily be judged stupid and irresponsible. who are YOU to decide where anyone draws their personal risk line? isn't that a little pompous and arrogant? i think so.

personally, i will respect all cyclists on this list, both those who ride with helmets (like me) and those who choose to go lidless. the only group that i have big-time issues with are the judgementals. you people really need to get a life.

Wear the helmet!

I never ride without mine. No matter what! ;)

Okay, let's talk about helmets for driving, and let's get personal. You don't see professional race car drivers going helmetless in races. I wonder why?

In the 1970's, I was involved in a head-on auto accident. Shortly after that, I decided to drive in some stretches of highway with my motorcycle helmet on. I reasoned that I wore a helmet while crewing an Air Force helicopter, and the impacts were about the same as a helicopter crash from an engine-out autorotation. After a while, I stopped that, but it was a reasonable reaction to my accident. I've had three auto accidents of significance, and no head injury (although seat belts saved the day on one, and I always wear the seat belt).

I've also had three bicycle accidents of significance. As a kid, I fell off a bicycle going home for lunch, and smacked the side of my head on the pavement--no helmet, and the start of life-long migraine headaches. Last May's accident was my last one. I've said it on other threads (and perhaps here too, above, a while back); the doc said that, if I had been unlucky that day in May, 2002, I would have lived without a helmet. With a helmet (now in more than ten pieces), I have recovered fully, and can type this reply.

Those of you who continue to bicycle without a helmet are in denial--the "it cannot happen to me" syndrome. It can! Ask whether you and your family would benifit from the minor inconvience of wearing a helmet if there was an accident involving a head injury? Then, I ask you, if you continue to not wear a helmet, who are you trying to fool? Certainly not the ER doctor.

John

let's talk helmets and taking a shower, and let's get personal.

the fact is, more people are injured and killed in shower stalls and bathtubs than any other place in the home and on the road. if you REALLY want to be safe, wear your lid while scrubbing.

oh, and if you really, really want to be safe, don't think of riding a bicycle. don't even think of driving a car. just stay at home and watch soap reruns.

wait! harmful radiation from that television. sit quiety in your room and read (under flourescent lights, natch) while eating only foods high in fiber and low in fat. no alcohol. only open windows on low-smog days.

my point is: let's let each individual decide what's safe and what's not. that's all. one person's recreational pursuits are another's maniacal dare-deviling.

i am not about to judge someone else's sensibilities. live and let live (or die, whatever the case may be).

personally, i'll always wear a helmet while cycling and motorcycling, but i'm not likely to wear one while driving my auto, thanks much. if you feel compelled to do so, be my guest. who am i to judge?

come to think of it, who are ANY ONE OF US to judge?

*yawn* Is this thread dead yet?

I think there may be a generation gap about "getting personal." The context I meant it in was about my personal experience. I can have my own views that people who don't want to wear helmets are not facing the reality of an accident. That doesn't mean that I go around and tell people that they must wear one, nor does it mean that I favor helmet laws.

What it does mean is that I want to build a culture where wearing a helmet is "in," and protecting oneself in many different ways is also "in." This includes highways and roads engineered for bicycles, well-built bicycles, and good riding techniques.

'Sorry if I bent someone out of shape, but then you might want to look at your own thoughts about it too. Having just escaped death from an accident by wearing one, I felt my personal feelings about helmets might just be valuable to someone. Just so you'll know what I'm talking about, here's a photo of my helmet, as it is now (held together with scotch tape).

John

Here are a few images John sent me...

...

Maybe she has a BIG insurance policy on you that you don't know about?

I never ride without a helmet. Not even a quick ride down my street after an adjustment to something on the bike.
I'd like to be around to ride again tomorrow. ;)

I rode both bicycles and motorcycles without a helmet for years. I then smarten up at about 32 and started wearing a helmet all the time when biking. About a year later I had my front wheel pop off (older Cannondale road bike) while crossing some railroad tracks at about 26 MPH. There was no way for me to react fast enough to put my hands down. I landed on my head and slid on the helmet and my left shoulder for a ways. I only had minor road rash and no injuries to my head. The helmet was worn right down to through the shell and into the foam. I am quite sure I would have been badly hurt without the helmet.

Like most arguments, it all comes down to the math:

wear helmet = smart

not wear helmet = not smart

Not very original Ron and no I don't have any life insurance. I doubt you can buy a life insurance policy on someone without their consent but I could be wrong.

interesting that insurance has come up.

since i'm both a biker (motorized) and a biker (pedaler), i figure i'm in an especially high-risk group, so i've taken out a substantial supplemental life insurance policy, should my wife and son need it. i assume all the helmet evangelists have done likewise? i mean it IS the responsible, intelligent thing to do, right?

right?

judge not lest you be judged, brothers ....

The real responsible, intelligent thing to do would be to get a sizeable disability insurance policy as well. Unfortunately, head injuries are not black (bash your head and it's over) and white (slight bash, no injuries). There is a vast gray area of head injury disability ranging from slight memory loss to vegetative state.
I hope wearing a helmet reduces my chances of injury of any kind.

Ah, so you wear a helmet to walk down the street and to climb a ladder.

Examining the math, to do otherwise would be stupid.

It appears to me that the helmet pictured above cracked.

Helmets are supposed to compress; I can't tell from the pics whether this one did.

With the negligible amount of tensile strength of helmets, no significant amount of energy is dissipated by it cracking.

Aside from this, the hyperbole which rolls in, while amusing to some degree, only reflects the ignorance of the subject on the part of the writer.

There is no doubt that helmets can help prevent or reduce certain injuries.

That they have 'life saving' cababilities is absurd.

Yes, this is the crux of the issue. Helmet zealotry has very little to do with helmets and everything to do with a character of smug self-righteousness on the part of the lecturer.

It seems like a waste of time to continue the debate, but unfortunately there are those who would choose to make a law for manditory helmet usage (only for bicycles). Presumably it will have the same startling statistical effects as it did in Australia and New Zealand (this is sarcasm). It also projects the image of cycling as a dangerous activity, an image readily encouraged by cyclists, some of whom purport to be cycling 'advocates'. Any incident involving a cyclist is clear to mention whether he was wearing a helmet, regardless of the circumstances.

It's asinine.

A quote from this article

http://www.ucolick.org/~de/AltTrans/helmet.html

sums it up for me:

"And why, in allegedly liberty-loving America, where handguns are easily available, gun control is repeatedly defeated, universal healthcare is barely on the political radar, and Less Government is the motto of the day, is there such popular support for Big Brother helmet laws? It just don't seem Amurrican, nohow."

What is it the Europeans call it, the 'American Obsession'?

To answer a question above, the helmet pictured did compress over my right temple area about 1/3. The helmet also shattered. The second impact left me with a cut on my head which required three staples, located on the top, back area of my head. I've heard that helmets should not shatter like mine did; but I've also heard that helmets in hard crashes do shatter too. I don't know the answer to this, and would appreciate anyone else's insights here. I will try to get a photo put in here to show that aspect of my helmet more clearly.

To those who continue to harp (carp??) about us for saying it is smart to wear one, go ahead an not wear one. It is your choice. However, this is a forum, where opinions are aired, comments made and ideas discussed. The aim is to convince people of the need to change habits. If we were the ones who wanted to force everyone to wear helmets, not choose to do so, then we would not waste our time here. We'd be out circulating petitions to get laws on the books.

So, if you insist on not wearing a helmet, that's your choice. You can also ride the opposite way of traffic, or do any number of what safety professionals sometimes call "unsafe behaviors."

To those who feel that simply taking out insurance will fill the bill, realize that insurance simply "spreads the risk." Those of us who do not have insurance claims will pay for those who do. That's what this "pool" of money called insurance is all about. How is this pool of money developed? By insurance premiums, based upon risk.

The risk is determined by people called "underwriters," who look at the activities covered, and make a reasonable attempt to see how much money they will need in the future to cover the claims. As the claims costs raise, so to do the insurance premiums. So, in effect, you will be relying upon those who remain either without a claim, or who keep claims costs low with appropriate protective equipment, for you insurance rates.

Underwriters sometimes give rate breaks for those who use good safety practices (you see that all the time in car insurance). Maybe sometime this will happen for those of us who choose to wear helmets too.

John

as ive posted before it should be a matter of personal choice for adults, like smoking, we are all well awear of all the facts & make our choices according to our own priorities & preferences. may be for kids it should be encouridged:eek:

this same disscusion is happening in advocacy & safety!!!!:confused: :confused:

At the risk of inflaming the tone of the board, I have to agree here. That is, cycling w/out is a helmet is closely comparable to walking on a sidewalk near traffic without a helmet, riding in the back seat of car without a helmet, or backpacking without a helmet. Who here reacts with disgust seeing a backpacker on a steep trail without a helmet?

The hold that helmets have on the imagination of even many cyclists is weird. Cyclists are a freethinking lot, usually, particularly those who mix it up in traffic. Yet on this issue there's so much unthinking pro-helmet commentary it's puzzling.