Another helmet save
05-10-12, 01:31 PM
#51
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex
Posts: 5,058
Bikes: 2013 Haro FL Comp 29er MTB.
Mentioned: 9 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1470 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 45 Times
in
35 Posts
Something many people would support. 
05-10-12, 01:38 PM
#52
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Southwest MO
Posts: 782
Bikes: (2) 1994 Cannondale R900, red, Silver Trek hybrid
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 69 Post(s)
Liked 4 Times
in
4 Posts
45 years of bike riding and not once did I ever fall and hit so hard that I would have had a bad head injury. If 45 years is considered inexperienced, then what is?
05-10-12, 02:00 PM
#53
Semper Fi
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 12,942
Mentioned: 89 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1172 Post(s)
Liked 358 Times
in
241 Posts
This isn't as straightforward as you make it.
How much energy the helmet absorbed before it broke depends on the extent to which the styrofoam liner compressed before breaking. If it didn't compress at all, that indicates that the helmet fractured pretty much instantly and the helmet didn't absorb much of the impact. If it compressed a lot, fair enough the helmet absorbed some energy before it failed. But the question then moves to how relevant that was in the context of the crash.
Helmets are required to be tested to a very low standard. They are only required to withstand a simple fall onto a flat surface from seven feet at zero forward speed. The amount of energy they can absorb is very limited. Even if they work as well as they possibly can, they are massively and immediately overwhelmed by the forces involved in a collision with a motor vehicle and will make no material difference to the cyclists' safety.
This may be why helmets, despite all the anecdotal evidence such as one sees in this thread, have made no difference to the casualty statistics. They are likely to be more effective at preventing minor bumps and scrapes than at saving lives or brains, and of course minor bumps and scrapes are much less likely to be reported and recorded.
How much energy the helmet absorbed before it broke depends on the extent to which the styrofoam liner compressed before breaking. If it didn't compress at all, that indicates that the helmet fractured pretty much instantly and the helmet didn't absorb much of the impact. If it compressed a lot, fair enough the helmet absorbed some energy before it failed. But the question then moves to how relevant that was in the context of the crash.
Helmets are required to be tested to a very low standard. They are only required to withstand a simple fall onto a flat surface from seven feet at zero forward speed. The amount of energy they can absorb is very limited. Even if they work as well as they possibly can, they are massively and immediately overwhelmed by the forces involved in a collision with a motor vehicle and will make no material difference to the cyclists' safety.
This may be why helmets, despite all the anecdotal evidence such as one sees in this thread, have made no difference to the casualty statistics. They are likely to be more effective at preventing minor bumps and scrapes than at saving lives or brains, and of course minor bumps and scrapes are much less likely to be reported and recorded.
__________________
Semper Fi, USMC, 1975-1977
I Can Do All Things Through Him, Who Gives Me Strength. Philippians 4:13
Semper Fi, USMC, 1975-1977
I Can Do All Things Through Him, Who Gives Me Strength. Philippians 4:13
Last edited by qcpmsame; 05-10-12 at 02:07 PM.
05-10-12, 02:09 PM
#54
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Newport News, VA USA
Posts: 3,325
Bikes: Diamondback Edgewood LX; Giant Defy 1
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times
in
2 Posts
Well, I glad you been so lucky, but I wouldn't dare ride, especially with cars around, without a helmet--helmet has saved my head at least a few times. Read my post above as I have had a fall with a "bad" head injury when I was 12. I'd rather not have a concussion, even a minor one.
05-10-12, 02:30 PM
#55
Randomhead
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Happy Valley, Pennsylvania
Posts: 24,402
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4 Post(s)
Liked 3,700 Times
in
2,520 Posts
because history shows that there can be no rational discussion of this topic, I'm closing this thread with a pointer to the helmet thread in A&S. You might want to read a few pages before you jump right in and assume your point hasn't been made. It probably has been made over and over, and people are just ignoring it.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
jefnvk
Advocacy & Safety
45
06-21-16 11:13 AM
Mithrandir
Advocacy & Safety
20
07-22-12 09:03 PM
