Wear a helmet folks

[HarryB]

As I have first hand experience of the fragility of the human head - and I only collided with a wooden shelf after tripping over the dog resulting in nine stitches, a lot of blood and a splitting headache - ....

sort of begs the question why weren't you wearing your helmet?

 

[eTim]

I don't want to repeat the experience with a concrete kerb at 15 mph thank you very much.

Unfortunately a bicycle helmet was only designed to work up to 12mph so you will be no better off.

Here's a better alternative that has served me well since the age of 12 (before helmets existed I think) - learn Judo, learn to roll when being thrown on the floor, you will save your head and a few broken bones. I've landed a few times in all sorts of ways and still have my head and bones intact (well a cracked elbow from a motorbike crash but that's not a cycle).

There, problem solved, debate ended and learn to defend yourself into the bargain

 

[rh1968]

Not quite sure why everyone gets quite so aerated about it, it's a personal choice. But here's my tuppence worth anyway: if I took a piece of kerbstone the weight of your head, suspended it from a rope and said I'm going to let it swing at your head from a distance such that it would be travelling at 10MPH when it struck you, then gave you the option of wearing a helmet to protect yourself, would you take it? The best riders will come off occasionally through no fault of their own (my last off was swerving to avoid a fox which ran out in front of me on a deserted cycle path!), anything which gives one an edge, however slight, in terms of protecting the most important part of one's body (yes I know chaps but it won't work without your brain now will it?) seems to me a no brainer, as opposed to not wearing one which might result in a no brainer. Just my opinion.

 

[Willin']

sort of begs the question why weren't you wearing your helmet?

I wish I had been - though wandering around the house in a cycle helmet all the time may be construed as taking things a bit far. Still I've got a lovely long scar on my temple as a reminder to look where I am going in future (should have taken up Judo so I deserve all I get).

 

[NRG]

....and so the battle lines are drawn...yet again...why can't everyone just use the search function and save forum bandwidth

 

[banbury frank]

Hi

Its the old debate again for my 2 penny worth

Its a free country and all should be given the choice

As the bard said to ware or not to ware that is the Question

I sleep at night we supply free with every bike a Good Quality hard shell helmet

Frank

 

[celedep]

Otherwise known as a Hitler thread.

Whilst here and given the OP subject I must add that the helmet is possibly what saved James Cracknell in that accident.

 

[mike killay]

I know someone who smoked all his life and lived to 90. Therefore I must conclude that smoking prolongs life. A sound empirical argument, I trust you will agree.

Well, my father smoked until he was 95, he then gave up. Died at 97.

 

[z0mb13e]

Otherwise known as a Hitler thread.

Whilst here and given the OP subject I must add that the helmet is possibly what saved James Cracknell in that accident.

You almost Godwined this thread!

Anyway, carry on, I have some fresh popcorn.

 

[fatboytrig]

....and so the battle lines are drawn...yet again...why can't everyone just use the search function and save forum bandwidth

Yet people still want to talk about it...

Anyway, I have enjoyed reading the can of worms that I opened.
My next thread will be about me achieving 40mph up a 1in6

 

[andyh2]

I think the research also shows you get more road space wearing a skirt and having long hair.

I do wear a helmet off road. I've had a couple of tumbles off road, once without a helmet resulting in being 'out' for a couple of minutes and one where I was wearing a helmet and the resulting impact cracked the helmet rather than my head. Both would have been lowish speed. Tend not to wear one on the road.

It's completely inconsistent from a practical point of view but if I'm riding for sport / fun I'll wear a helmet and if I'm riding for transport I don't.

I'm also inconsistent in thinking it's a good idea that motorcycle helmets are required and yet am fine with riding at 30mph on a bicycle without one.

I do think that all the energy spent encouraging people to wear a helmet would be better directed to infrastructure improvements for cyclists and slowing motor vehicles down.

 

[bode]

Ah, the days spent zipping helmetless round London on my small motorbike prior to 1973 with my long hair blowing in the wind...

 

[flecc]

Ah, the days spent zipping helmetless round London on my small motorbike prior to 1973 with my long hair blowing in the wind...

Ditto, 23 years of motorcycling without helmets for me, plus over 64 years of cycling without one.

Still here and not an accident mark on me.

However, I think helmets are a good thing for people who have accidents.

 

[Genesis750]

Nail-head so to speak

Ditto, 23 years of motorcycling without helmets for me, plus over 64 years of cycling without one.

Still here and not an accident mark on me.

However, I think helmets are a good thing for people who have accidents.

I think Flecc has hit it - we should carry a helmet and pop it on just before the accident (somthing I hope my teenage son does).

 

[flecc]

I think Flecc has hit it - we should carry a helmet and pop it on just before the accident (somthing I hope my teenage son does).

I'd much rather he didn't have the accident in the first place and hope he has the disposition that helps to ensure that.

"Accident" must be one of the most misused words in the English language. An accident is an event that is unexpected and impossible to predict, but that does not describe a high proportion of road accidents. Many if not most road accidents are not accidents at all but are events caused by lack of due care and attention, with a smaller proportion caused by wilfully dangerous behaviour including unnecessary risk taking.

The lack of due care and attention is often only a symptom of other aspects, like tiredness, defective eyesight or other health problems. Subsequent dangerous behaviour can be a symptom of anger stimulated by other events. Infrastructure defects or conditions are often blamed for accidents occurring but I don't accept the validity of that. One should behave in a manner appropriate to the available infrastructure and conditions, so those accidents are due to inappropriate behaviour.

True accidents on the roads are extremely rare, rare enough for many like me to never be involved in them over very many years as pedestrians, riders and drivers. In this connection it's notable that those who do have accidents often have two or even several over time, clearly indicating the true source of the cause.

 

[Trevor Holloway]

The real unfortunate effect of a REAL accident on the road is that there is no right to compensation.

I passed out at the wheel at 30mph unluckily our progress was halted by a car coming towards us at 30mph, subsequent investigations concluded that it was an unforseeable medical condition, therefore no driving without due care / dangerous driving or speeding offence.
The upshot was no blame = no claim.

My wife now has a permanant injury, despite airbags / seatbelts etc which everyone assumes compensation was awarded - if I had been tuning the radio or not paying attention we would be quids in (and so would the car coming towards us).

 

[lectureral]

I am sorry about your accident, Trevor. As a former personal injury lawyer I can say that it is very rare for a passenger to be uncompensated for an injury caused by a road accident. It brings home the arbitrary nature of compensation to realise that if you had said, eg, that you felt woozy but decided to carry on that could have been construed as negligence thus triggering compensation. Usually, if one is going to be severely injured then the best place to do it is in a car (as it were). By contrast, my nephew was injured by a falling window which left him with a severe brain injury - although some compensation has been forthcoming it is, effectively, capped by an insurance policy limit - something which cannot happen with vehicle insurance.

 

[Trevor Holloway]

According to the police and medical investigation it was a no blame incident, therefore no blame = no claim !

No idea what happened to the people in the other car (although I know no one died).

 

[eclectic_bike]

Even Fox News appears to support helmet use: Milwaukee FOX reporter survives bicycle crash

 

[bode]

And we all trust Fox News, don't we?