IAMAMRA

I also ride with my left ear bud out, so that I can hear what is coming up behind me.

flan48

Very simply, no.

Best regards

GVLaker09

Yeah, when I have my helmet on I ride blindfolded against traffic

mr,grumpy 

That's so backwards......

I crashed twice on the road. Once on my MC going 10 MPH and once on mynpeddlebike going about 30. Hit my squash both times and am very thankful I was wearing a helmet! I don't always though. On the road or on the trail I'm 99%. Around the block or on the MUP? About 80%.

Delmarva

Am I tempted to ride with no helmet when it's 95 degrees? You bet! Do give in to temptation? No, I just schedule stops to cool down. A skull fracture long ago convinced me to take care of my head and other body parts.

Sixty Fiver

It should be noted that the countries with the highest ridership have some of the lowest helmet use and lowest accident rates and that many studies show that helmets are of little benefit for low speed accidents and do very little to protect you from a 3000 pound car.

One of the most significant types of injuries is not impact but rotational injuries to the spine and a helmet can make this worse.

One thing my helmet provides is a higher degree of visibility as it is reflective and has lights but then there are studies that show that motorists give more space to cyclists who are not wearing helmets, unless of course that helmet is small and pink and has a long braid of auburn hair coming out the back.

AdelaaR

Stops will not cool you down ... riding faster will!
May be you need a helmet with better ventilation?

fietsbob

If you feel insecure with out one because the infrastructure for cycling sux where you ride, is chaotic & unsafe..

then by all means wear the helmet, best would be to wear it when you go to the city/county

political representitive meetings and campaign to have the infrastructure made safer as well..


Do more than, just Shopping ..

MikeRides

I have no problem with helmets. Mine ventilates and protects my head from low branches and heaven forbid if I fell it would protect me more than not wearing one. I never have to worry about losing it to the wind like I would if I was wearing a cap(not one for tight fitting caps). The only part of wearing a helmet I dislike is the irritating straps in 90 degree heat. I've been tempted a couple times to wrap some cloth around the strap when I fasten it but haven't tried it yet. It's better to be safe than sorry.

Delmarva

+1
Although when it is 95 degrees and humidity to match evaporative cooling is severely compromised. I'm using a Bell Delirium which.is well vented.

SPiN 360

I think this is a pretty misleading statistic. If a region has a lot of cyclists, then drivers will be much more accustomed to watching out for cyclists and driving accordingly. I would also hypothesize that a region with a lot of cyclists will be a generally small, urban, flat countries where you don't get people used to these long highway stretches with nothing by motor vehicles driving at 100+ kph.

In my area, I know very well that a lot of drivers just don't think of watching for cyclists because we are really not so common compared to pedestrians and motor vehicles. More than once I've seen a driver make an emergency stop or swerve to avoid me, but I wasn't in any real danger because I saw them all the way, and was riding based on the assumption that they were not watching for cyclists.

MickeyMaguire

I value my brain too much to go without a good helmet. I can't wait until more helmets have torsion protection designs.

Reynolds 

Just came back from a 100km ride on my hybrid, in jeans and no helmet. Mostly country roads, very little traffic, felt great.

Sixty Fiver

Rider awareness is a major factor in accident prevention.

I rode today with nothing but my wool cycling cap and had no worries despite riding in traffic... my cycling jacket is rather bright and is reflective in the daytime so feel I should be quite visible and harder to miss.

lilpoindexter

i put a new stem on my bike today...i rode it up and down my street about 400 feet without a helmet...but not something I consciously set out to do.

iflabs

I've ridden without helmets and still do. Entirely up to you on how confident you are with your bike skills and awareness of your surrounding.

vol

It seems if someone has worn a full body armor every day all his life, he'd feel very vulnerable when he is without it one day.

DocsDad

I always ride with a helmet. Um, well, until yesterday. I just wanted to run a quick couple of errands in town so I left the lycra and helmet at home. Its was quite nice although my shorts were a bit sweaty at the end. lol

I will still use the helmet most of the time though. I like the sun protection and the visor also helps block car lights at night. I also ask my son to wear one, so when I ride with him I must do the same.

jerseyJim

Hardly ever wear one.

So much more pleasant to ride without one and I don't believe they offer enough protection to offset the increased comfort and enjoyment I experience riding without one.

americandream

Saw another rider today riding in regular clothing and no helmet on. Go figure they were riding on the wrong-side of the road toward oncoming traffic.

LOL always the same kind of people. Probably the same people that criticize riders for wearing lycra and helmets (usually the smarter cyclists).

TomCat_Ford

There is not any sense in overgeneralizing.

silvermitsu10

I've personally only ever worn a lid on a bicycle when I was made to do so in order to participate in a group ride of some sort. I grew up in the city, riding bikes on the roadways a good bit. I had my fair share of falls and have a number of scars from those accidents, but my beliefe is that if it's my time to die, a thin piece of plastic with some foam over a small portion of my head won't change that. I also ride motorcycles, and in those instances I will not put a leg over one without a helmet on. Speed is a definite factor there, and the fact that a wreck on a motorcycle could result in me being unidentifyable, not so likely on a bike. If I was really to worried about the risks of riding a bike with no helmet I would probably just stay in the house all day, because I'm more likely to be shot and killed by a mugger than I am by riding a bicycle.

vol

Overgeneralization is a sign of smartness.

Slackerprince

If I'm in the immediate neighborhood, either doing some adjustments/test riding, or riding with my son while he's on his 12" SpiderMan bike, I'll go without.
If I'm doing any other riding, I wear my helmet. It's a Bell Sweep R and very comfortable, and it hides my Halo headband. Honestly, the Bell is so comfortable that I don't even feel it.
Super-easy insurance policy against skull damage.


S

BiKiNginTX

I guess out of habit (and because I make my kids wear one) I always wear a helmet. In fact, in the last ten years I can only think of one time I didn't wear a helmet. I was doing a 30 mile organized ride here in Dallas and when I got back to my Jeep after the ride I noticed my helmet on my spare tire. I had ridden the entire ride with just my skull cap on! I still to this day can't believe I didn't notice I was riding without my helmet!