Saved a life or two.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/helm...aEO#.tmRA4y80x

I have one of those.

Ditto. However - and maybe you know this - the helmet is designed to crack upon a hard impact. It bears the force so that your skull bears less.

As a former MSF Instructor I know the value of helmets. When I hear the Harley guys (it's always guys and they're always Harley guys) talk about how helmets are dangerous because they "reduce your hearing", I have to force myself to shut up. Idiots abound.

I have.

Amazing how quick it can happen.

Thank goodness I had the helmet.

Put this in the helmet thread in A&S...so they can all enjoy the consequent back and forth

I've broken two. Suffered a concussion wirh one .of them, and had to be driven home. The other time I got up and rode home. Either would have killed me. Both of those occurred inside villages of less than 10,000 souls

Unfortunately for every article like that there are dozens of posts on Facebook saying things like, "We didn't wear bicycle helmets, we rode in the back of pickups, we didn't wear seat belts, and we survived!" Well you may have survived but not everyone did. Without safety equipment it's just a roll of the dice. Why not give yourself better odds?

And now I expect to see the "helmets don't increase safety" crowd soon with their "I never wear a helmet and I'm fine" arguments. My personal favorite is, "you don't need a helmet, just ride safer."

Those broken helmets remind me of the pro tour cyclist several years ago who fell on his face and died as a result. Wouter or something similar was his name.

#2 : "Them front brakes will flip you right over....Just lay 'er down...."
C: "Loud pipes save lives." ( No really, I'm not doing a "look at me" compensation for my manly parts diminutives and dressing like a Pirate is not silly either."

In my garage I have a poster that says...."If loud pipes save lives, just imagine what learning to ride that thing could do."

Then there is the ever popular line co-opted from the actual Old School Hardcore by dentists playing dress-up in the Hooters parking lot:

"If you have to ask the question, you wouldn't understand the answer."

-Bandera

Man! Those are some messed up helmets! I got hit by a car in 2014 and had to be life flighted to the trauma center with a head injury and my helmet looked ALMOST new compared to these...

All the heat, sweat and strap rubbing. The funny looks all the time! TOTALLY WORTH IT for the few seconds that it is there when put into crash service. I have destroyed several motorcycle helmets and two bike helmets and would not be a functioning human being if I was not wearing them. When riding, everything is great until it's not and no-one can control every situation out there so put a lid on it!

My last incident, I had just enough time to mentally say oh **** before I got whacked by an oncoming motorcycle. You are living in denial if you think you can control your own safety out there. A little protection goes a long way.

Exposing your unprotected ears to your 135db motorcycle reduces your hearing, too. With Harley riders, it's an image thing and no logic matters.

I thought it was the act of riding a Harley that reduced your hearing. In fact, I'm sure it does.

That first helmet was a full face helmet and HAD A HARLEY LOGO ON IT!

True story - when I got my MC license way back in 1992 the instructor ran us through the skills course. This was in CT, no idea how other states do it. One skill... we had to ride towards a line at I think 20 mph or so and the instructor would put one or the other arm in the air and we had to avoid that line on the side he indicated. The only rider to dump his bike was on a harley. Taking a license test on a harley, maybe not terribly smart. I did it on a crotch rocket, also not the best.

I've landed on my head twice in my life while bicycling and damaged my helmet both times. Would have had a nice gash in my head the last time from the rocks I landed on but ... didn't. A helmet will not save you from a speeding car or a nuclear blast but there are plenty of things it is good for.

That's by design. The helmet absorbs the impact energy by breaking, instead of transferring that energy to your skull.

Eh, the most important thing is to not get into an accident to begin with.

I think that helmets are prudent protection for any activity that has a significant likelihood of head impact, and certain protection when one does in fact hit one's head. I am not sure that the likelihood is more significant for cycling vs. walking, climbing ladders, swimming, or even bowling, though. Risk perception varies widely from reality and to label all cyclists as having equivalent risk for head injury is not reasonable. I do wear a helmet when cycling and was glad that I did when a golf ball hit my noggin. Should the pedestrians on that road also wear helmets? Probably not, but do I think the golfers should consider wearing athletic cups.

If you can guarantee I'll never get into an accident, then I'll stop wearing my helmet. I'm doing everything I can to ride safely, but I can't do anything about anyone else on the road. Nor can I do anything about wild animals jumping out in front of me.

It's about as reasonable as labeling all motorists at risk for injury so suggesting they should all wear seat belts. 999 times out of 1,000 you'll be fine, but you have to watch out for that 1,000th time that you never expect.

and then there are the kids that wear a helmet, but don't buckle the strap