thomj513

Did an endo on my road bike in '02. To this day I still don't remember what caused me to crash. Helmet, cheap Bell model from Sport Chalet, was totally trashed. No fractures but had a lot of cuts and bruises to my face and upper body. Took three stiches to my left ear lobe that was cut by the helmet's plastic as it cracked. Spent two days off work and suffered with aches and pains for months. To this day I still have "ghost" pains at times. I'm now very cautious while riding and don't intend to crash like that again.

operator

This poll is biased. It already assumes you've fallen on your head. I deem this poll invalid.

my58vw

As some have read in the poll in general discussion, I was just hit by a hit and run driver, me going 25, the guy going about 50 MPH. Thrown off the bike, planted my head directly in the ground. Cracked my helmet in 2 places, hit my face right below my eye, distroyed my leg (lucky that I shave my legs), both of my hips, sprained 3 of my fingers on my right hand, and really messed up my sholder. Xrays all negative, no borken bones luckly. I am going to be off work for a couple of weeks, I am a bike officer and I do not forsee being back on the bike for some time.

Helmets save lives...

randya

How about adding two categories?:

- Wear helmet but never fell on head.

- Never wear helmet, never fell on head.

rule

Endo'd coming down the side of a hill at speed and the top of my head landed right on a watermelon-sized rock. The impact cracked my helmet like an egg. It rattled my fillings a bit, but my head was completely untouched. The rest of my was just a bit dusty. No way I would have come through that without the helmet.

LilNole

I have a long list.....i've gone through lots of brain buckets....
i hit a tree root one time that was covered in leaves. i went flying over the handlebars....cracked my helmet.
i slid on a curb that was wet lost my balance and landed head first on the asphalt....cracked a helmet.
got hit by a car (it wasnt my fault) got thrown off my bike....cracked a helmet.
i decided to show off and see if i could ride down a staircase....oh i went down it alright...head first...cracked a helmet.
thats only a few. i broke a few bones here and there, but i never cracked my head. needed stitches a few times to my scalp....and broke my nose once. brain buckets are good.

GeezerGeek

About 30 years ago I was going down a hill real fast with a heavy load on the back of my bike. When I hit the RR tracks on the bottom of the hill my front tire bounced up and the bike did a back flip. Landed on the head and shoulder. My right arm was paralysed for 3 days but the head and helmet were both fine. They used to make helmets to survive crashes and still protect the noggin. Today you bump your head once and its time to go shopping again.

slvoid

You can still get those helmets at bmx/skate stores.

CRUM

I have broken 5 helmets in the last 20 years.

andygates

I'm a heavy commuter, always have been. My head's a standard braking surface. Don't ride with a helmet as it makes me ride like a psycho (risk compensation). I'm smashed out teeth and road-rashed most of my face, bouched off cars, all that good stuff. Still walking, talking, and annoying mandatory-helment people .

And for the record my dear sister, who isn't on this forum, had a head-impact probably made worse by a helmet (came off on ice, the extra torque offered by the lid, we reckon, turned a sprain into a slipped disk); and my younger bruv did a human torpedo into a brick wall, was knocked out, and was fine two days later.

closetbiker

The number of Australians whose lives have been "saved by helmets" [according to anecdotal accounts in the media] over the past decade is staggering. I estimate that here in Western Australia the helmet law has saved about 5,000 lives per year... based upon the claims by cyclists who wouldn't know what to do without a helmet law.

It's curious that the average annual cyclist death toll in Western Australia before law enforcement was just 7. If the anecdotal claims are to be believed, it might be surmised that the wearing of helmets has caused an average 4,993 cyclists to have a near-fatal accident per year!

-- Chris Gillham


Defending mandatory helmet use are testimonials by numerous cyclists that their helmets saved their lives in falls, often accompanied with such evidence as a smashed or broken helmet. In some cases, the cyclist suffered severe head injuries in spite of the helmet; therefore, the conviction is even stronger that the helmet must have saved the cyclist from death.

However, the evidence of dented and broken helmets is proof of nothing. After all, they are made of light foam with perhaps a thin coat of plastic. It seems that the helmet must have reduced the impact somewhat, but it's impossible to say how much, as many cyclists do land on their heads without wearing helmets and yet still walk away from the accident. In some cases, the size of the helmet may have contributed to its contacting the ground. In the case of those seriously injured while wearing helmets, one might equally argue that the helmet should have been stronger.

---- Ken Kifer

clevernamehere

Sorry, can't vote, no category for me.
I've fallen but not hit my head
My only real fall so far was at a corner. Temp was about +3C, light rain, wet roads with sand/gravel on the corner (which I forgot was there!). I went down at about 30km/h. Hit my elbow, hip & knee. Amazingly not a scratch on the bike or helmet. Could have been much worse though. I could have hit my head pretty hard if I'd landed differently...I always wear a helmet!

closetbiker

Collisions between bikes and cars comprise about 17% of all bicycle accidents.

This is from, A Review of Collisions Between Motor Vehicles and Bicycles in British Columbia, by Hamilton and Associates prepared for ICBC (the provincial auto insurer)

Distribution of cyclist bodily injuries:

1. no injury, 24.3%

2. knee/lower leg/foot, 20.9%

3.elbow/lower arm/hands, 10.8%

4. shoulder/upper arm, 9.0%

5. head, 8.4%

6. hip/upper leg, 7.5%

7. back, 5.7%

8. entire body, 3.8%

9. face/nose, 3.4%

10. neck, 3.0%

11. chest, 1.7%

12. abdomen/pelvis, 1.4%

13. eye, 0.1%

Maelstrom 

Curious Closet, Would you ride MX with a helmet (and no I am not saying you are wrong for not wearing a helmet on the road, just curious as to where the limit is for a helmet being useless, if there is one)

khuon

Freak accidents can happen anytime... Perhaps we should be wearing a helmet just standing around too.

At anyrate, an interesting datapoint is that I've actually had more accidents while riding a bike when I don't have my helmet on than I have had with. I attribute the reason for this have been totally psychological. The majority of helmetless accidents have occurred during "quick rides" usually to test something I've changed on my bike. "I'll just take this for a quick spin..." I neglected to put on my helmet because I wasn't thinking and wasn't being focused on riding safely but rather was more concerned with whatever adjustment I had made to the bike. Thus for me, for the most part, the helmet imparts a certain level of focus on riding safely. And even if that's the only safety aspect a helmet will peform for me, I'll take it and happily wear one.

closetbiker

I'm curious as to why you think I don't ride with a helmet.

If you meant BMX, I'm not interested in doing tricks but if you mean would a helmet be a good idea if there is an elevated risk of falling on my head, (like flipping upside down and trying to land rubber side up) why wouldn't I? If it's reasonable to expect you're going to fall on your head, doesn't it make some sense to wear a helmet?

Conversly, if I'm planning a nice, simple ride keeping rubber on the road, and looking out for potential problems that may occur so as to avoid them before they happen, maybe going without a lid, isn't such a problem.

closetbiker

Yes they do.

More people in Canada died from falling out bed than died on bicycles.

Many more people in Canada died from falling on or from stairs than died on bicycles.

More people in Canada died from falling from ladders, chairs and other household furniture than died on bicycles.

There will never be a risk free life and we will never protect ourselves from everything, so we have to ask ourselves, at what point do we feel able to carry on with productive enterprise without worrying ourselves to the point of being counter productive? If I don't worry about head injuries on the stairs or in a bed, why should I worry about it on a bike? If I ride carefully, I'll be as fine as anyone could expect anyone could be doing anything carefully.

Maelstrom 

I don't think you don't wear a helmet. Was just seeing what happened when you elevate the sport up a couple of notches on danger. MX and dh and freeriding a pretty akin to each others. You point of view to this last point seemed pretty skewed. Was just wondering if there was a limit to it.

I completely agree with what you said above. It had just seemed you didn't think helmets served any purpose. When I commute to work or such other mundane tasks I may not wear a helmet...stick my on my dh bike on any of the trails here and I wouldn't leave home without it.

Man we suck....

Maelstrom 

I found the opposite. When I dawn my fullface I know there is some degree more protection, and I ride as such, however within or at my limits.

when I ride with a xc helmet I can't bring myself to ride some stunts or do some trails as I just don't trust the potential consequences

khuon

Well, before you say that, you should look up the statistics in the US for people who have died doing stupid things like use an office swivel-chair as a ladder or stepstool to change flourescent lights in their ceiling.

P.S. - I'm guilty of the above.

khuon

Oh, I'm not saying I don't ever exceed my limits when I'm wearing a helmet. But I will usually do so consciously... as I believe you have said. However, doing something careless has always seemed to have been linked to me not wearing a helmet. I guess for me, even the act of not wearing one while riding translates into general carelessness.

Maelstrom 

You died ...

Maelstrom 

I dh...thats careless enough ahah. Giving my life over to an angry mountain and a bike...now THATS dumb.

closetbiker

Also, like maybe, riding on the wrong side of the road at night with no light, drunk and running a stop sign looking away from the traffic flow.

People make stupid mistakes on occasion. Doesn't mean we all do them all the time. Thankfully, they're fairly rare events.

closetbiker

Sorry, I guess I'm a little defensive after some responses I get just for suggesting a helmet is not the most nessesary thing for safety.

I've often been seen as a no helmet wearing, anti-helmet troll just because I have some critisisms on the general convention of thought here.