the main purpose of a bicycle helmet is to protect your head from a fall of about 5-6 ft while having a large metal frame on wheel between your leg that could prevent you from catching your balance and protecting your head from the impact.

A helmet and speed have nothing to do with each other.

When doing other things like jogging you do not have that metal frame between your legs so you are better able to protect your head in case of a fall.

Friend smashed his face in when he hit a bump at the end of his driveway. He was going 20 yards down the road to bring something to his kids. It's quite possible that a helmet would not have prevented the injuries, or the lost teeth or the pain and suffering, but it definitely wouldn't have made things worse. I'm sure he'd sooner have broken his helmet than undergo the raft of dental surgery he faces now.

I never wore a helmet growing up either, as has been said before, they just didn't exist.

I wear one now.

Here's a question. I'm just curious.

Why don't the Pros wear helmets half the time while training?

Is it because they want to look cool?

Is it because they don't really need one?

With the money they make, and the contracts they are held to, why do they still not wear them?


Only reason I ask all this, is because I have seen just about as many statistics now that show wearing helmets is not really that beneficial. matter of fact I've seen many more studies to show this vs studies that show helmets are actually a benefit.

To each his own. Everyone has some idea of the risks involved. I wear one because of the terrible drivers I share the road with. Even if I'm in complete control, and travelling at a sedate pace, somebody could wing me and bounce my head off a curb. I have plenty to live for, and hope to do so for a long time to come.

"How come you don't have a Daddy ? I thought everyone did"
"I used to have a Daddy, but I don't remember him very well"

or

"Honey .... could you please feed Daddy his cereal, he's spilling it on himself again"

or

"Mommy - If I don't wear a helmet, will I be dead too like Daddy is ?"

Do you have health insurance ?? You look fine, you don't need it.

Take the seatbelts & airbags out of your car and you'll improve your gas mileage.

Remove a few lugnuts too .... cut down on rotational weight.

Your post is full of all of my favorite anti-helment rationales - at speed it won't save me, I'm too hot, I won't give in to the fear, made it to adulthood just fine, if that truck has my number, I'm gone anyway.

You don't want to wear one, don't. But as with every one of these threads, I'm at a loss as to why people feel compelled to brag about it as though it's some sort of original thought. Does no more helmet rank as one of life's major epiphanies?

I've cracked two in the last two years. Both stupid, slow speed turns, couldn't get unclipped, one right out in front of my house after riding 10 yards. Two helmets that prevented a big, bloody, hair-gunked-up patch of scalp. I doubt I would've died, I might not even have had a concussion. I don't wear a helmet to avoid consussions nor to avoid dying, I wear one because it's bad enough to go 6 weeks with big bloody oozing patches on my knees elbows and shoulders, I'd rather not have one on my head too.

And as to Pros, well personally, I think they're stupid. But they have this whole bad boy macho jock tradition thing to live up to that we, as regular citizens, in theory, don't. You can be sure they don't get up in the morning and decide at the team meeting that their helmet is superfluous. I think they just don't give a hoot.

Ahhh, studies... Case closed guys.

^^^ Interestingyou say this. I was just reading an interesting article onhow most people who suffer injuries form cycling resulted from careless riding.

Australia is a good example.
About 80% of the known cyclists wear helmets.
About 80% of the people who die each year from cycling were wearing helmets.
Helmets in that obvious statistic proves that helmets did nothing to decrease the number of cycling deaths. As has most statistics. Most statistics they are now finding are actually skewed to promote helmet use, instead of actually giving the facts. Of the thousands of cases, you'll always find a few to rpove helmets are what saved the individuals lives. but, on an overall, I honestly don't think they have made the impact on saving lives as people think they have. I think people are so full of fear nowadays, they'll believe anything.

All this aside. I still enjoy the ocassional ride without my helmet. :)

P.S. I still wear one. (most of the time)

years back in ca.a friend of mine felt the same way, of course helmets were heavier back in the 70's and eighties.
We were riding one morning we stopped at a light @ an intersection to make a left turn he fell and hit his head on the curb,fractured his skull died two days later, sadly this is the first time I have thought about him in almost 25 years, you just never know do you.

When you look at those studies, you need to consider what endpoint was being measured. ER visits? Mortality? Severity of injury?

Deaths are a particularly bad one to use, because most of what kills cyclists is bike vs. car collisions, and the helmet won't do much of anything in a high-speed crash against a 3,000 pound vehicle. So they're measuring the effectiveness of helmets by counting the number of cases where the helmet use was probably irrelevant.

If I'm on the street riding with traffic, then I wear my helmet. If I'm on my commuter, and mostly on MUPs, then I will often forgo the helmet. Basically when I do my lazy recovery ride, I choose not to wear it. I know it's still not the safest or smartest course of action, but I'm comfortable with it.

I like the scare tactics used to frighten people into doing something. This is exactly what I'm talking about. It's one thing if there is proof to back it up, like seatbelts in automobiles have proven there necessity. Bicycle helmets have yet to do so.

My point is, you can point statistics in either direction, depending on who writes the report, who's collecting the data, who's paying who to make a few bucks here and there. I'm just sick and tired of everyone else telling me how to live my life, and what is best for me. We are all becoming sheep of the modern day nanny society.

I'm guessing someone pissed in your Wheaties this morning or something... Your points are just weak. For someone who claims to be OCP president, what the heck are you taking about helmets being cool or popular? People buy whatever helmet they want, based on comfort, style, color, etc… same as bikes. Yes, cheap helmets meet all the same safety guidelines as expensive helmets – so. We usually donate a couple helmets each year to the local bike rodeo the police have so they can give them to kids that can’t afford or have parents that don’t believe they are needed. Finally, Pros can be stupid just like everyone else. Also if you are trying to protest gov’t regulation, I can think of plenty of better causes than protesting helmet laws.

The odds are in your favor, you’ll likely never need a helmet, but for the minor inconvenience it’s just not worth the risk.

Word.

I also wear one virtually all the time, but I think the "need" for them is WAY overblown. Cycling is not a dangerous sport.

My standard response on the "I don't wear a helmet" threads.

I friend of mine, Harley rider, no helmet. He hit some sand at less than 5MPH, hit his head on the ground. His girlfriend, who was wearing a helmet, jumped up and asked if he was OK. He was dead before the ambulance got there.


Anyone that rides with their child and makes their child wear a helmet while they don't wear one.....well....probably doesn't really need a helmet. They are there to protect your brain.

dont fear death... fear brain damage

I wear a helmet to protect my children.

R900,

Nah, I think you're not getting my point.

My point is that we are living in a life of fear. Literally being traumtized into doing something out of fear. And for what? The "possibility" it may save a few lives.

I could care a less which helmet you wear. I wear a nice helmet too. My point was in retort to someone who said people wear helmets for safety only, not for style, which is absolutely false. I bought my helmet, thinking I needed it for safety, but I spent the money to get one that was "in style".

Either way, I just want people to stop being afraid of evrything like the worlds coming to an end. In our nanny state, it really is getting rediculous.

It's not fear, it's prudence.

Another misunderstanding. There is yet any proven statistic to show there are less people suffering from brain damage by wearing helmets as well. I think the whole thing is just way overblown to a point of hysteria.

The guy who died from a 5mph fall off his Harley. With the same logic, he should have worn one while walking everywhere as well.

i was in two accidents last month and hit my head both times. those add up after a while

It's not a matter of speed it a matter of setting a good example for your kid. But hey if you don't care whether or not she wears her helmet then no worries.

Personally I don't want my kid to end up like this:
http://pages.prodigy.net/mrwas/_uimages/Image18a.jpg

riskus,

Interesting. What type of accidents? What type of riding? Were you just being wreckless or inattentive? Were you hit? I have fallen plenty times in my life, and only bumped my head a few times enough to get a lump.

To me it almost seems like people see the availability of a helmet as a subconscious reason for being careless. Not much unlike using padding when playing sports. It allows one to hit harder and be less careful. As a result, more serious injuries actually occur.

I'm waiting for a helmet law to go into effect for professional boxing.

The flawed reading of your own (uncited) statistics is seriously entertaining. How 'bout this? In helmet town %100 of people wear helmets, and guess what? %100 of people who die cycling in helmet town died while wearing helmets. :eek:

Another "obvious statistic" confirming your spurious line of reasoning.

"Your culture of fear" philosophy is interesting but it doesn't automatically defeat good sense and logic.