Is this posted online somewhere? I haven't seen it...

He used an ultrasonic distance sensor that provides quite adequate accuracy and precison and is relatively low cost (~ $750 USD). He used a laser beam on the pavement as a guide to maintain distance within the lane. Considering how relatively low-cost the instrumentation is, I think a study to see if these findings can be replicated should be done.

Improvments in experimental design would be use multiple riders, ride the same segments of highway, and randomize helmet use etc. Then see what additional "engineering controls" could be done to get the passing margin to an acceptable lever, e.g. how long a Flash Flag (tm) would restore or improve the passing distance?

Yes, the foam does provide a little bit of impact absorption, and does help prevent some blunt trauma, but it is nowhere near as effective as say, a motorcycle helmet, a football helmet, or a kevlar Army helmet.

The simple way to prove my point is...

1. Get yourself a hammer.

2. Smack yourself in the head while wearing a cycling helmet. Not too hard, but enough so you really feel it.

3. Now, take off your helmet and do it gain.

Let me know how much it hurts if/when you wake up.

That said, there are still times I don't wear my helmet when bumming around the neighborhood, and not out for a fast ride. I do believe in the ineterst if freedom and having fun, a helmet in some cases is something you can decide on yourself without having some Nazi telling you how to live your life.

Do you even read what you write?

You are so silly, yet again. Did the dead horse smilie posted in here earlier not mean anything to you? I even provided for you two examples in the last thread that you conveniently ignored. I crashed and hit my head with a helmet and had no damage to my head even with the helmet cracked all the way through and a pebbled embedded in the side of it. Another guy in southern CA went down two weeks later, landing on the same side of his head that I did, only he wasn't wearing a helmet and he shattered the side of his eye socket requiring surgery. A helmet would have lessened his injuries at the very least, and had I not been wearing one, my injuries would have been signifcant. He and I are living breathing examples of why helmets are beneficial.

i didn't realize that getting hit in the head by a hammer is the same thing as hitting your head on the tarmac.

thanks for clearing that up.

Ok, use a nice big piece of concrete then. Or maybe you could just smash your own head into a cinderblock or something. Impact is impact.

Just give your Noggin a good whack, and let me know the differance.

You mentioned a study... has this been tried?

I agree that if someone is going to wack me on the head with a hammer, I'd rather have a helmet on... but this is an unlikely occurance while riding. When you crash there are lots of things going on, and in many situations I can see helmets being detrimental. At any rate we should see an overall reduction in serious head injuries and fatalities when helmets are used, if they *worked*... and we don't. So there must be something going on that makes helmets ineffective.

Like I said above, use a piece of concrete or a cinderblock then.

Why have head injury rates not really changed? The answer is simple. People really are more wreckless when they wear a helmet, as it gives them a subconscious feeling of empowerment. ********, I know. But true, none the less.

I don't have to take it on faith. My Giro saved my life. Big time. Hell, I was knocked unconscious by the impact with the helmet. I have no doubt that without my Atmos or similar gear, I would have probably sustained a life ending or altering injury. I'd say that qualifies as research, and I'm not making any 'claims'. That's a fact, Jack.

However, if you consider helmets to be ineffective, I would encourage you to never, ever, ever wear one again. If you think actually that's a good idea. Sweet Mother of Merckx the Idiot Factor on BF is staggering.

Like many others here you believe that the helmet helped you, and possibly it did. But these are just anecdotes... we have to look at statistics for the whole population to see if helmets are beneficial in general.

I don't enjoy these threads, but after I see something like 20+ posts in a row claiming that their helmet saved their life and anyone would be a complete idiot not to wear one... I feel it is necessary to point out that the evidence does not support this stance. We most certainly don't need MHLs, and frankly I'd like to find out why current helmets *don't* work, so that maybe something more effective could be done.

i think you've done a great job at illustrating what happens to someone who has cycled without a helmet.

Anecdotally I'm not friggin DEAD because of my Giro. My helmet saved my life and you'd have to be a complete idiot to not wear one (21 posts). Listen my man, it's your head, it's your life, it's your choice. I wouldn't bet my life on being 'right' on this particular topic, but your move. Just make sure when you crash (this is cycling, it's 'when', not 'if') you don't land on your head.

That's a contributing factor for sure. Here is my list of *possible* reasons:

1) A person with a helmet on feels that their head is protected, so
they won't try as hard to keep from hitting it on the ground. An
analogy I like that most people can relate to, is carrying a fine
camera in your hand while negotiating rugged ground. If you fall, will
you try to save the camera or not (ie by not letting it hit the
ground)? What if it was in a padded styrofoam case that you thought
would allow it to survive dropping?

2) A helmet makes it more difficult to keep from hitting the ground
when tumbling or falling backward, since it sticks out 1-3 inches.

3) Some people will take more risks while wearing a helmet than they
would otherwise.

4) Helmets are designed to take direct hits, but the vast majority of
bike crashes involve glancing blows. Brain and neck damage caused by
sudden rotation would be more likely with a helmet on than without.

5) Most serious injuries and death involve getting hit by cars... and
helmets are little help against those kind of impacts. There is also some
evidence that drivers give unhelmeted riders more room.

^^^ The proof is in the pudding. Ask any BMX half-pike stuntster to do his routine without a helmet and all the pads.

He'll look at you like, "NOT!!! Dude, I'm so totally gonna eat it, for sure!!!".

But when he does get munched, the helmet and pads save those joints and noodle pretty good.

since when did bmx 'stunststers' start playing around with half-pikes?

Just like in the last thread, you go on and on about statistics. Yet, the links to the studies you posted were biased. Still, you claimed (in the last thread on this topic) that the statistics provided by the studies in your links were more credible then any other link to any other study that quoted statistics where helmets DID save lives. And THEN you went on to post that you didn't need to prove this, it is just a fact (because you say so).

As for my post in this thread being an anecdote, you are again incorrect. I did have a bike accident and my head did hit the pavement. I'm not giving an account of what happened - I'm providing facts (and have the $4,000 ER bill to prove it). Perhaps if I were to add myself in with the statistics of those whose heads were protected by helmets, you'd accept the validity in that?

If you really want to find out why helmets *don't* work, I'm in agreement with Patriot. Put one on and go running into a cement wall over and over and over again head first. Then remove helmet and repeat. Maybe you can figure it out and change the world, making it a safer place where people's heads will never come into contact with pavement because they aren't wearing helmets that *don't* work.

How do you know this? I'm not familiar with the details of your crash.

I've been in plenty of bad crashes... at least 20. I had a helmet on for most of them. The only time I hit my head it was a really bad one... racing a crit ~30mph when someone ahead of me clipped a cone which spun around and got stuck between my frame and front wheel. That is all I remember. When I came to, my helmet was laying in pieces, and I had a concussion and a seperated shoulder.

It would be easy for me to proclaim that the "helmet saved my life", but after reviewing the evidence and talking to witnesses (spectators were at the corner), I likely wouldn't have hit my head at all if I hadn't been wearing the helmet! As the bike flipped over I attempted to tuck and roll, taking most of the impact on my right shoulder... but I couldn't really tuck my head, because the tail of it sticks out a few inches. I suspect this happens fairly often.

I don't have to ask... most of them are not wearing helmets or pads to start with.

It's a safe assumption. Trust me. Factor in the complete unconsciousness for 30+ minutes, the semi-consciousness after that, the massive facial injuries and the impact the helmet absorbed and figure it out. Let's put it this way: I don't want to find out.

Why are you so hellbent on convincing people that wearing a 9 oz helmet (that is so light I've gone out without it on and not realized it) is a bad idea? Are you completely nuts, or do you just have it in for all bike weenies (not that anyone could blame you)?

pcaddy, please don't feed the troll.

You have it backwards. The pro-helmet lobby are the ones who like to twist the stats. If you can show me one pro-helmet study that actually proves their point, then I'd happily shut up.

+ 1 Personally, I don't care if others don't wear helmets (except my friends and that's because I care for their well being). But it's a pet peeve of mine when people want to try and convince others to NOT wear them and try to use bogus "studies," articles (opinions) and such to back the dumbest claims going of late - "helmets aren't safe," "helmets cause injury," "helmets don't save lives."

Pure bull**** and mind boggling.

I owe it to him b, I'm a troll too.

Tell you what, rruff, why don't YOU show me one anti-helmet study that actually proves YOUR point...oh, wait, never mind. I've already asked you to do that repeatedly as did others in the other thread on this topic, but you don't have a need to prove yourself. Nope. You are just right, damnit, and those awful pro-helmet lobbyists pushing a $30 dollar death contraption on all of us is pure evil and a government ploy to rid the world of cyclists...beginning with our children.