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dickydutch - they are awkward and uncomfortable and make your head sweat. I simply don't like wearing one so only wear one when the risks of me hitting my head are more than tiny.
I actually own two helmets - a pisspot and a xc one.
why wouldnt you wear one!? Especially if you own one......
* A study showed that drivers passed helmeted riders more closely than helmetless.
* Wearing a helmet increases the perception that cycling is dangerous. this leads to less people riding, which makes the roads a more dangerous place.
* Helmets make you sweaty and mess up your hair.
* My commute is 3 miles each way, mainly on quiet roads of bike paths.
* I don't want to cart a helmet round the shops, work, meetings, etc.
* Because I understand the risks and choose not to.
miketually - * Wearing a helmet increases the perception that cycling is dangerous. this leads to less people riding, which makes the roads a more dangerous place.
not sure i fully agree with that one.
Mine aren't uncomfortable and/or awkward either?!
I guess it's a case of whatever you're used to.
Out of interest miketually, do you have a link to the study regarding drivers passing riders with helmets more closely. not so I can argue the toss with you - just interested!
And, right on cue, the dodgy arguments make an appearance... 🙄
the design criteria of a helmet do not include hitting your head on the edge of the pavement at 30+mph.
Why should they? If a lid was deigned that could protect fully against this it would be as bulky and uncomfortable as a motorbike helmet.
above 20 and the forces are likely to mean the helmet won't make much of a difference,
You don't know that. And unless you're Mystic Meg, you don't know what speed you're going to crash at.
kids have been falling out of trees for thousands of years, the human race is still around the skull is tougher than some give it credit.
You don't have to fracture your skull to sustain a brain injury. An inch of polystyrene is a hell of a lot better at absorbing impacts than a few mm of skin and hair.
I bearly even notice my helmet is there, in fact the only time I do notice it is when its straps pull out my earphones (when I choose to use them). If you do find it a problem then maybe your helmet is badly fitted or badly designed?
I have no question that even at 30, something soft between my head and the floor gives my skull a fractionally better chance of surviving intact. If that fraction is small, who cares, its no problem to put a helmet on. I believe that in all but a freak accident a helmet will improve your chances of having reduced injuries. On rough/lumpy surfaces it allows your head to slide/glancing blow off things easier for a start. Anything that reduces your chances of injuries is good.
Bear in mind that in the result of an accident the car driver can (and will) claim the lack of a helmet was contributory negligence on your part. This was recently tested in Court and came down on the side of the driver.
There used to be a great Bell Helmets ad back in the day, which read if you've got a £5 head get a £5 helmet, so to update that to your circumstances, if you've got nothing to protect then don't protect it.
Personally the concept of being swept over the bonnet of a car and spreading my grey matter over their windscreen automatically makes me want to defend what little I've got.
I don't get the "Wearing a helmet increases the perception that cycling is dangerous. this leads to less people riding, which makes the roads a more dangerous place."
And???
Drinking is dangerous, but it hasn't stop people drinking...
Thanks mr agreeable!
I know I shouldn't get drawn into this argument, but i cant help echoing the sentiments of G!! No more responses from me now anyway!
Bear in mind that in the result of an accident the car driver can (and will) claim the lack of a helmet was contributory negligence on your part. This was recently tested in Court and came down on the side of the driver.
That was a loony decision which has yet to be applied in another case. And may never be.
kimbers - in summary if you dont want to wear one go ahead and if you are knocked off and killed/ seriously dmaged please do it before you breed, not only will it save your offspring from having to wipe your bum/pull the plug etc
but you will also be increasing the intelligence level in the human gene pool
Do you also wear a neck brace kimbers? as they are easilly [url= http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=leatt&btnG=Search&meta=cr%3DcountryUK|countryGB ]available now[/url] and breaking your neck is a distinct possibility if you fall onto your head and not uncommon among cyclists, [url= http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENGB314&q=cyclist+breaks+neck&aq=f&oq=&aqi= ]Google news results[/url]. Im getting a Leatt neck brace for DH riding but wont wear one for XC. I also have a spine protector for DH but dont wear it for XC/commuting, should i wear that too? afterall i dont want to spend the rest of my life in a wheel chair. Infact my biggest accident so far involved getting hit by a car and landing on the base of my spine, was that a close call? should i wrap myself in bubble wrap from now on? please Kimbers i must know your opinion!!!
(please dont take offence, that was all supposed to be tounge-in-cheek, im just trying to point out that you cant force people to take action against every concievable risk as breaking your neck is as likely as giving yourself severe brain damage by not wearing a helmet, and yet we dont all go round wearing neck braces)
Mr Agreeable - Member" Bear in mind that in the result of an accident the car driver can (and will) claim the lack of a helmet was contributory negligence on your part. This was recently tested in Court and came down on the side of the driver. "
That was a loony decision which has yet to be applied in another case. And may never be.
IIRC the judge in summing up said (paraphrased)
"if it could be proven that not wearing a helmet contributed to the injuries then compensation could be reduced" however in that case it was not proven so compensation was not reduced. Indeed it is impossible to say in any accident that wearing a helmet would have reduced injuries so that is never going to happen. this has been tested in courts many times - no neurosurgeon will state that wearing a helmet would have reduced injuries as there simple are too many uncertainties.
[url= http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopModules/Articles/ArticlesView.aspx?TabID=0&ItemID=168&mid=13641 ]CTC position on helmets[/url]
[url= http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=5180 ]CTC analysis of the judgement refferd to above[/url]
Yep I've had some dealings with CTC hierarchy. Ian Warby and his efforts for MTB apart, hand clasped to forehead and **** me! Sum it up fairly well.
Personally I would never quote them in support of an argument about anything at all!!! It weakens your case rather than strenghten it IMHO
In a car I wear a seatbelt. On a bike I wear a helmet. Why waste the NHS's money on a vegetative me?
stato i agree i cant force anyone to wear one i just think they are foolish if they dont
yes i wear spine protection for dh but not for xc or commuting
dont have a neck brace though have considered getting one though have read that tehre is some evidence they transfer crash energy back into your head and increase movement of brain within skull
besides neck braces 200 quid u can get a helmet for a tenner
here is an anecdotal story
[url= http://www.nosacredcows.co.uk/blog/1136/bicycle_accident.html ]journo has a bike crash[/url]
In a car I wear a seatbelt. On a bike I wear a helmet. Why waste the NHS's money on a vegetative me?
Why don't you wear a helmet in the car? Surely a lot of car accidents result in head injuries?
In a car I wear a seatbelt. On a bike I wear a helmet. Why waste the NHS's money on a vegetative me?
Why do you not wear a helmet in the car?
Just ordered one of these: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=34183
Will it arrive before I ride home?
I always where a helmet when I get on my bike, road or off-road. I spend probably 10 times more time off-road but have hit my head probably 5 times more often on-road*. For me, I suspect I get more "value" wearing my helmet on the roads rather than mountain biking.
Evey since I found out the polystyrene coating in helmets causes cancer, I've stopped wearing them.
Ever since I discovered that my high vis yellow bobble hat was a babe magnet, I've forsworn Helmets.
more than you do offroad in my opinion.
if you come off, offroad, you will naturally avoid falling on your head.
(i always wear a lid offroad)
same for falling off ON road, BUT
if you get hit by a car, the first point of contact could quite possibly be your Head on the bonnet of the car.
which is much harder to avoid.
its not you falling off you need to worry about. its the other road users.
if you get hit by a car, the first point of contact could quite possibly be your Head on the bonnet of the car
I don't know if there's any better/proper research, but a friend of a friend* looked through all the coroners' reports on bike deaths in an area (think it was Sheffield). In every case, where the cause of death was listed as head injuries the other injuries sustained would more than likely have killed the cyclist.
*the friend is a retired surgeon/consultant who used to be British Cycling's doctor. His friend was also a retired medical man.
So what was the friend of a freinds take then? Pro or anti helmets? If anti may I suggest he pop back to his former employer and straighten them up on demanding that helmets are worn at all BC sanctioned events.
Could I also ask how he managed to extrapolate that outcome from the information given? I think you will find that if the coroner thinks that multiple injuries resulted in the death they put that in their report, if they don't then they are more specific, like Cause of Death = Head Injuries for example.
Yawn @ tandemjeremy. don't get him started on the subject of risk/helmets - he obviously knows it all. either that or he hit his head and can't shut up
G - they would have died of the head injury - hence COD = Head injury. But if they had not had the head injury they would have died a few hours later of massive abdominal trauma or something.
COD on death certificates is often very vague
There are a lot of very anti helmet compulsion doctors and some against helmets themselves
Bomberman - find something wrong in what I have written and note there are actually quite a few on this thread who agree with me.
Numpty
TJ, we all know that the chances of hitting our heads are low. its just that people who choose to wear helmets are covering themselves for that chance. please don't bore us with statistics.
I have no issue with people wearing helmets. I have major issue with people who call me stupid for choosing not to wear one on occasion and people who resort to spurious arguments.
You did note in reply to the OP I wrote
Just because your colleagues will laugh that is no reason not to wear one.
Note I did note quote any statistics but pointed in the direction of a resource for them if people wanted and I corrected inaccurate statements by a couple of people.
Well I commute and have to admit that I used to be of the 'hat less commuter' opinion..
And I have to say that I really don't like wearing them and didn't for many years...I actually started one earlier this year...mainly due to the stick I was gettng for not wearing one from my medical colleagues.
But
The other week I finished my 7 mile jaunt to work avec le helmet ( canal path type stuff) and came a cropper in my works garage...didn't have time to think let alone put my hand out.
My helmet....'saved me' from a very very serious head injury! My neck some 8 weeks later is still stiff as heck, the fall broke my helmet clean in two.
So much for low speed/ low risk assessment strategies!
I don't agree with making helmets mandatory as I believe firmly in a persons right to choose their own level of risk (where that doesn't excessivey put others at risk).
Every time I have banged my head badly enough to care it has usually been on tarmac (either wet or icey, you don't have time to react and get an arm down). I know several other cyclist friends who have trashed helmets in falls. For this reason I am more supportive of wearing helmets than I was 10 years ago.
As for an impact at 30mph being beyond the design limit. So what? Surely it will give you some improved chance of survival?
As someone said on here recentley....
"Only wear a helmet if you think youre going to crash"
I have smashed a helmet on the trails and smashed my head back in the day on the roads which resulted in 2 hours loss of memory.
So I wear one all the time but couldn`t care less if anyone else does or doesnt.
Some people seem very prone to banged heads; I've never banged my head while riding my bike.
A guy locally died of head injuries after falling down the stairs...