Many others have made a similar point in here, that in the accidents they have had, their head has never been injured while they've suffered many other injuries like bruises and grazes elsewhere.
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Radio 4 Join the Bike Helmet Debate
- Thread starter Caph
- Start date
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To me, far more essential is a decent pair of gloves, as it's an instinctive reaction when falling to put your hands out. I've lost the skin off my palms enough times to ever be without them.
The only time I've injured my head (that I can remember
- was knocked out in an accident when I was 15) was last year when I landed on my chin (still my hands went down first), requiring several stitches, and I don't imagine a shell covering the top of my head would have helped much.
Anecdotal evidence I know, this is just my experience.
The only time I've injured my head (that I can remember
- was knocked out in an accident when I was 15) was last year when I landed on my chin (still my hands went down first), requiring several stitches, and I don't imagine a shell covering the top of my head would have helped much.Anecdotal evidence I know, this is just my experience.
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Just as A&E staff present a one sided view so do those who say they have never hurt their heads in bike accidents, those who have hurt their heads are probably not able to post about it.
Two million bikes sold a year in the UK, just over 100 cyclists killed a year, most not through head injuries but by being run over. An undisclosed proportion of that 100 or so killed were wearing helmets which clearly did them no good.
I trust you can see the proportionality argument here. The tiny number out of that 100 or so who were not wearing helmets and were killed through head injury is probably less than 10, judging by the 13 in one year London cyclist deaths where head injuries didn't even figure at all, seven alone run over by left turning trucks.
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I've had my share of motorbike and push bike accidents - I'd probably always choose a full face helmet for the former after losing teeth etc in an unfair fight with the drunken driver of a Range Rover.
But, having come off a bike going very fast round a huge roundabout, (the mudguard fixing broke and jammed against the wheel), and coming-to under a car with a growing black eye, I still don't feel the desire for a helmet.
It doesn't bother me at all if others want to wear a helmet, but it really bothers me if others want to make me have to.
By the same token, those whom's heads have been saved by wearing a helmet and are able to post, seem equally absent.
Were I concerned about the risks of riding a bicycle or had little confidence in my ability to do so safely, I'd probably give up altogether because no protective helmet would take the weight of a heavy vehicle running over it, although, it may preserve life just long enough for you to feel the pain before the helmet give's way entirely.
I wonder just how many live's motorcycle helmets have really saved and what quality of life those riders now have? I'd bet there's many that wished they hadn't worn the helmet and died rather than lived with their injuries.
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Here I am.
That must rank amongst the most fatuous arguments ever, against helmet use.
The only valid argument against any helmet use is individual preference with respect to comfort or appearance, all others being too subjective to be useful. Of course the same is true for arguments for wearing them.
However, a sense of proportion is invariably lacking among the advocates of helmet use as I pointed out in this earlier post. The head-involving accident risks are very small for sensible users and the chances of serious head injury are miniscule on bicycles and very small on motorcycles where the majority of the most serious injuries of the latter are spinal leading to paralysis.
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I think that's a lot closer to the truth than some forum members would be prepared to admit Flecc. I sense that vanity is the major reason for some to not wear a helmet and other reasons are put forward with false vigour to cover this fact.
As a current helmet wearer (although rapidly being convinced otherwise), I have to concur, Caph. I look a right burke wearing the helmet. (I'd also make a good straight man).
(Note the 'e' on burke; that's the sign of an educated burke).
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I'd have said that most people who ride ebikes aren't bothered about other peoples opinions, except maybe to correct other people when they wrong
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Here you may still have been had you not worn a helmet.
Its not and wasn't intended as an argument against wearing helmets, merely my personal opinion. Rather than survive with an intact head and a severly broken body, I'd rather not survive at all. Lying flat on my back motionless for the next 20yrs simply doesn't appeal to me.
There are valid arguments for and against the usefulness of helmets as there are for seatbelts. As its only myself I put at risk by not wearing them, I would prefer the choice.
I find it quite amazing, we make motorists wear seatbelts, motorcyclists wear helmet's yet allow any number of other dangerous pastime's to continue unchecked and send thousands of our young men to risk their live's fighting other people's war's abroad.
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In one accident, I slid upside down from a car bonnet onto my head. The rim of the helmet broke my collarbone. I leave it to your imagination how much force my skull would have been subjected to if it had been helmetless.
<twitch>
And it never did me any harm. <twitch>
On a couple of other offs, I've been mightily glad to have worn one, when I inspected the state of the helmet afterwards. Skin and hair definitely don't rank up there with fibreglass when it comes to abrasion resistance.
Having said that, I'm not too impressed with the quality of bicycle helmets - most of them look very flimsy indeed and I'd be surprised if they did half as good a job as the cheapest m'cycle lid.
Whatever - there is no way I'm an advocate of compulsion; in fact, if it ever came about I'd be making damn sure I was front and centre of the ensuing protests.
Yes, compulsion is always a disaster, a sledgehammer to crack a nut (no pun intended). The risks are miniscule as I've shown above, but the effects of compulsion are huge.
Australia has helmet compulsion and the lowest cycling rate of any country in the world.
In Holland they almost never wear helmets and they have by far the highest cycling rate of any country in the world.
Australia is clearly the loser with less than 1% cycling, even here in Britain, hardly a cycling country, we sell new bikes for 3.3% of the population every year.
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I think a high speed crash wouldn`t make a lot of difference with or without a helmet.
A fairly slowish coming off on wet or icey roads where you tend to slide might well prevent your head from being badly grazed like your hands and elbows get.
I remember once on my motorbike sliding on a wet drain cover on a bend, I removed around half an inch of skin and bone from one of my knees where I slid along the road and OH Yeh! I ground away one side of my crash helmet
OK, helmets are made of a similar material that they pack around expensive tv sets ect for transit! maybe that could be a clue
I`ve had a couple of close passes of late by vans and got to wondering about some sort of horizontal rod sticking out from the rear carrier(something with a nice sharp metal end maybe and a bright coloured flag) What do ya reckon? do they work?
A fairly slowish coming off on wet or icey roads where you tend to slide might well prevent your head from being badly grazed like your hands and elbows get.
I remember once on my motorbike sliding on a wet drain cover on a bend, I removed around half an inch of skin and bone from one of my knees
where I slid along the road and OH Yeh! I ground away one side of my crash helmet OK, helmets are made of a similar material that they pack around expensive tv sets ect for transit! maybe that could be a clue
I`ve had a couple of close passes of late by vans and got to wondering about some sort of horizontal rod sticking out from the rear carrier(something with a nice sharp metal end maybe and a bright coloured flag) What do ya reckon? do they work?
I've decided to get a helmet. I've never worn one before and firmly believe in defensive riding as being the best approach to avoid accidents....also I've avoided them because I just don't think the standards to which they are supposed to meet like the EN standard are stringent enough, although the 90A one is better.
What changed my mind are a couple of very near misses recently in which there was nothing I could do to alter the situation and also a post on a none related forum of somebody being knocked of their bike by an old lady looking the other way despite defensive riding....there's just no way to account for all situations.
Do I think it will be effective... no, probably not but if there is a chance, even a slim one, of a helmet providing some protection in the event of an accident then I'll take it thank you.
As a side note, my local squash club had a guy smack his head full on into the court wall recently. Apparently he had no chance of putting his hands up in time to stop his fall and his forehead took the full impact. Luckily he is OK now but has a very nasty split and required 9 stitches...the court still has the large blood stains on the wall and floor....so you never know when you may need a helmet
What changed my mind are a couple of very near misses recently in which there was nothing I could do to alter the situation and also a post on a none related forum of somebody being knocked of their bike by an old lady looking the other way despite defensive riding....there's just no way to account for all situations.
Do I think it will be effective... no, probably not but if there is a chance, even a slim one, of a helmet providing some protection in the event of an accident then I'll take it thank you.
As a side note, my local squash club had a guy smack his head full on into the court wall recently. Apparently he had no chance of putting his hands up in time to stop his fall and his forehead took the full impact. Luckily he is OK now but has a very nasty split and required 9 stitches...the court still has the large blood stains on the wall and floor....so you never know when you may need a helmet
An interesting debate as always and I really do hope it remains up to individuals to decide.
I do / have done four activities where helmets can come into play (ignoring work on construction sites)
Motorcycling - its the law, so always worn one whether its a 3 min journey to the paper shop or a 50 mile trip out in the hills. If it were not the law I`d go without the helmet on short hops about in the dry and daylight, but most likely put it on for longer trips or dark nights and wet roads.
Skiing - bit like cycling - not compulsary, but some snowboarders and skiers are beginning to wear them more often (sometimes as a style item I know) - a similar debate rages about awareness of surroundings and risk taking for the recreational skier - personally never worn a helmet skiing, but put helmets on the kids when they were young and first on the slopes - stopped that as soon as they got better then me, which took about 5 minutes!!
Kayaking - no laws governing what you wear - I enjoy a mixture here of flatter water river touring and adrenalin fueled white water (rapids, gorges and waterfalls). On flat water I tend to just wear a baseball cap to keep the sun off, but as the gradient picks up, the rocks get nearer the surface and the drops get bigger on goes the helmet. The trade of awareness is more than compensated for by surviving bouncing your head off rocks on the river bed and bank - the scrapes and scratches on both my kayak helmets bear testament to the protection I have receieved - without it I would have been unconcious and probably drowned.
Cycling - I have a helmet, but usually dont wear it. It goes on for dark nights, strong winds and wet roads when I percieve the ride is more risky. In daylight, dry conditions and good visibility my personal risk assessment is that Im safer and more comfortable without it.
My conclusion - not every trip, every activity or every day is the same. The levels of protection I use tends to be based on an informed decision about the levels of risk I`m facing. As an adult with reasonable intelligence I really hope the government continues to give me, and all of us, the freedom to continue to exercise that judgement.
All the best and stay safe
Bob_about
I do / have done four activities where helmets can come into play (ignoring work on construction sites)
Motorcycling - its the law, so always worn one whether its a 3 min journey to the paper shop or a 50 mile trip out in the hills. If it were not the law I`d go without the helmet on short hops about in the dry and daylight, but most likely put it on for longer trips or dark nights and wet roads.
Skiing - bit like cycling - not compulsary, but some snowboarders and skiers are beginning to wear them more often (sometimes as a style item I know) - a similar debate rages about awareness of surroundings and risk taking for the recreational skier - personally never worn a helmet skiing, but put helmets on the kids when they were young and first on the slopes - stopped that as soon as they got better then me, which took about 5 minutes!!
Kayaking - no laws governing what you wear - I enjoy a mixture here of flatter water river touring and adrenalin fueled white water (rapids, gorges and waterfalls). On flat water I tend to just wear a baseball cap to keep the sun off, but as the gradient picks up, the rocks get nearer the surface and the drops get bigger on goes the helmet. The trade of awareness is more than compensated for by surviving bouncing your head off rocks on the river bed and bank - the scrapes and scratches on both my kayak helmets bear testament to the protection I have receieved - without it I would have been unconcious and probably drowned.
Cycling - I have a helmet, but usually dont wear it. It goes on for dark nights, strong winds and wet roads when I percieve the ride is more risky. In daylight, dry conditions and good visibility my personal risk assessment is that Im safer and more comfortable without it.
My conclusion - not every trip, every activity or every day is the same. The levels of protection I use tends to be based on an informed decision about the levels of risk I`m facing. As an adult with reasonable intelligence I really hope the government continues to give me, and all of us, the freedom to continue to exercise that judgement.
All the best and stay safe
Bob_about
OK, helmets are made of a similar material that they pack around expensive tv sets ect for transit! maybe that could be a clue
QUOTE]
Considering the journey a tv set make's from country of manufacture to it's destination, the abuse it may receive on the way, the fact it can neither percieve danger nor take evasive action for itself, is far more sensitive to shock and damage than the average human head and totally incapable of riding a bicycle, I'm not surprised their packed so well.
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