I-Like-To-Bike

How 'bout some group pictures of your club in full battle dress on a club ride? I could use a new poster.

I-Like-To-Bike

None of these riff raff would be welcome in your club rides either: not Real enuff, eh?

wahoonc

Didn't you forget to mention it is mandated by law? (at least I am making the assumption based on your location)

Aaron

chephy

I don't get why everyone does not carry a lucky penny with them on every ride. It's so easy to do, weighs next to nothing, and decreases the chance of accident. Cuz, um, doesn't it?

Truth is, there is no credible scientific evidence that helmets do anything at all to prevent brain injuries. All the sensationalized studies you hear about (*prevents 85% of head injuries blah blah blah*) are SO seriously flawed, that they deserve nothing but extreme ridicule from anyone with a modicum of common sense and basic understanding of statistics.

I-Like-To-Bike

Nope, you are WAY off! You are so silly!

Everybody should be required to carry a Holy Medal or mount a plastic figurine to protect themselves from harm, just to be safe. Millions swear by the potent powers of these totems to protect them while traveling so it must be true; and it couldn't hurt.

I wouldn't want to ride with a club whose members don't share these true "beliefs" in risk management.

wahoonc

Actually rather than the lucky penny I wear my lucky Red Kangol cap....got to be better than that lucky penny of yours, at least it can be seen!

Aaron

I-Like-To-Bike

I wear my lucky headphones.

BrisbaneMJ

My helmet saved my life when I was hit by a car.

If you don't wear a helmet, you're an idiot. Why wouldn't you wear one? They're not an imposition.

In Queensland, helmets and bells are required by law, as are lights at night.

wahoonc

That would be MR. IDIOT to you They can be an imposition. And FWIW they aren't required by law where I live.

Aaron

mikesdca

Glad you`re OK, Brisbane. Were you run down from behind? Struck by a red light running driver as you went through on a green? Hit by a turning motorist? Run off the road? Just curious.

Feathers

Helmets weigh virtually nothing and the protection they provide is very valuable.
It's a personal decision, but people who opt not to wear a helmet are behaving in a very silly manner.

InTheTrenches

I totally see what you are saying. The higher incidence of brain injury in helmetless riders does not take into account the fact that they are already ********.

mikesdca

Trenches,

If all the guys in this post below (cut and pasted from another BF post) were wearing helmets, would that fact alone make them safer or more responsible than helmetless riders?


I ride a lot of evening and weekend organized club rides. Every one starts with someone stating that signs, lights, etc. are to be followed. And then many of us go out and ignore some if not most traffic laws. Wednesday night a rider was hit by a van where the road the group was riding on crosses a 4-lane, 55 MPH road. He went right past the stop sign and into the vans path. I wasn't there but I've heard the collision wasn't pretty and he's still in ICU. I've seen way too many riders do things like this and only by luck was there nothing coming. Now, I'm not preaching to stop at every sign when there's not a car in sight, just to make sure you look first and be sure.

I just want to keep all my fellow riders on the road so let's be careful out there.

joe_5700

I think the important thing is to not ride beyond your abilities. If you are cruising around on a comfort bike at a staggering 15mph, a helmet may be a bit overkill. Many sprinters or football WR's or DB's can RUN at those speeds.

I-Like-To-Bike

What would the "club's insurance requirement" say?

Wordbiker

I lead a Thursday evening MTB ride...and helmets are not required, nor are they in my state.

I wear one myself because it pisses the helmetless riders off when I won't argue with them.

InTheTrenches

I would have figured it was because you did not want your wife dealing with a drooling, incontinent idiot just because you got your foot caught in the pedal at a stop and whacked your head on the curb when you fell over.

Feathers

Witnessing someone taking a good smack to the head in the midst of a crash is usually enough to convince the doubters.

Prospector99

As someone brand new to cycling and this forum color me confused about this debate. Am I wrong to assume that wearing a helmet will provide some measure of protection? Wear a helmet or not but common sense tells me I'm better off with one on.

InTheTrenches

That is not common sense, that is good sense.
There was one claim here that there is no good evidence that a helmet reduces your chance of a brain injury(This is wrong). Followed by the point that not wearing a helmet in the first place shows prior ***********. A guy offended by this point, responded with an instance of a person, wearing a helmet, that was put in ICU after being hit by a van. And yes in the case of being hit by a car, the helmet alone might not save you. However, if you fall and bounce your head on the pavement, the curb , or a rock, then a helmet will help you escape the need to relearn how to speak and regain your basic motor control. This weekend, first time ever, I whacked my head in a suprise fall on a slick greenway. Went down quick, whacked my head hard enough to crack the helmet and give me a headache. The foam in the helmet gave my skull a chance to deaccelerate gradually, so my brain did not come to an abrupt stop against it. That is how you get a concussion, your brain bounces off the inside of your skull. Look up inertia. It can happen when your skull is moving at speed and suddenly stops(like hitting your head on the pavement) or if you get punched in the head just right, and you brain not moving(inertia again) has the skull acclerated into it. You can even have an injury opposite impact when the brain strikes the skull so hard it bounces off and strikes the other side.

If you have any questions, go buy a helmet and a bat. Put on the helmet and have someone hit you in the head with the bat. Now remove the helmet and have them hit you again. See the difference?

mikesdca

InTheTrenches

This statement, `A guy offended by this point, responded with an instance of a person, wearing a helmet, that was put in ICU after being hit by a van`, is in reference to my post, yes? You thought I was arguing against helmets because they don`t protect the head when struck by a vehicle going at highway speed? Not at all. You missed the point of what I was trying to show. I`ll try to be more clear this time.

On many group rides (for which there may or may not be a helmet requirement), the behaviors that preceded this rider being hit (blowing stop lights, stop signs, etc...) are unfortunately fairly common. It seems to be the case, though, that as long as a group has a mandatory helmet requirement, they are looked upon as being safe and responsible...regardless of their unsafe riding practices. That`s all I was trying to point out.

Wordbiker

If she's not used to it by now...it's her own fault.

mikesdca

Good one.

wahoonc

Helmets HAVE NOT been proven to be effective in the deacceleration. The standards are sparse and confusing, the testing (if it is even performed) bears little resemblance to real world accidents. ANSI and CSPC are built to standards and it is up to the CHINESE manufacturer to prove that it meets that standard. Snell actually tests a certain number of production helmets. Most of the "evidence" that helmets works is antedoctal....just like the post above. Unless that person was wearing sensors and recording the impact, g-forces and momentum it IS NOT hard scientific evidence.

Wear a helmet if you choose, just don't expect it to work miracles.

Aaron

cyclezealot

A club requirement. Not only that, the bike shop we are associated with gives us a discount so our helmets are all yellow and red.