July 20, 201114 yr Look, I know this is a contentious issue. There are those that feel duty bound not to wear a helmet. It's not the law after all. Not here to tell the determined few what to do. but this is a compelling reason for wearing a helmet.
July 20, 201114 yr Pleeeaase, not another helmet debate...... This has been done over and over again on the forum.
July 20, 201114 yr but this is a compelling reason for wearing a helmet. It was once a compelling reason for James Cracknell to have worn a helmet.
July 20, 201114 yr Most of the words in the OP have been used before but the poster has taken the trouble to arrange them in a slightly different order. Well done!
July 20, 201114 yr This one really bugs me/eats at my concience but then I guess that is what the pro helmet lobby is hoping it will do sigh.... For the first year of commuting across Cambridge every day I wore a helmet. My wife insisted lol Then I got her into bikes and and she now rides to school every day. Guess what she does not wear a helmet! When I asked her she told me she didn't need to as she rode all the way on cycle paths. I decided to follow suit. I have to say when I took my helmet off it was like a whole world opened up to me. I now cycle with a cap so if my head does get smashed open at least it will be contained within that Some keen road cyclists at work continue to encourage me to wear one giving instances where they came off bikes and claim their head was saved from injury. I am still unconvinced either way. I think if I was commuting on a busy road I may be tempted to wear one, then again I rode bikes for years as a kid on them and never wore one. They didn't exist! I find a helmet a pain to carry at either end of the journey and I feel "boxed in" when wearing one. Regards Jerry Edited July 20, 201114 yr by jerrysimon
July 20, 201114 yr I think Jerry puts it well. Every cyclist is exposed to different levels of risk. Each cyclist should be able to weigh the risk against the downside of wearing a helmet. I generally have low risk rides and perceive a large downside to wearing the helmet so I generally don't.
July 20, 201114 yr Has nobody seen the latest news reports about the study that shows that drivers give you more room when not wearing a helmet? Yes it's fact now.
July 20, 201114 yr I have driven in the USA and their drivers don't think cyclists or pedestrians exist, certainly you will never see either at night (except in the cities) If i was cycling across America i would certainly wear an helmet, here i think we are a little more cyclist friendly and i don't bother, France seems to be the most cyclist friendly place i have been, they always give you room.
July 20, 201114 yr I have no doubt that if you wish to minimise head injury then wear a helmet. There is much sophistry put forward to justify not wearing them but the essential truth is that, regardless of the data showing drivers giving less room to helmet wearer, helmets discouraging cycling, etc, wearing a helmet will limit injury to you as an individual. I know this having come off and hit my head on the ground with no injury because an impact absorbing material was between me and tarmac.
July 20, 201114 yr Well, I think you should wear one all the time, not just on bikes! In the 1960's, Ira Jones, a First World War fighter ace who had survived many battles, tripped over his front door step, hit his head on the ground and later died in hospital. Just goes to show, you can't be too careful. Never fear, the Great British busybody, nanny knows best, nit picking, fusspot control freak, health fascists will look after you.
July 20, 201114 yr In the 1960's, Ira Jones, a First World War fighter ace who had survived many battles, tripped over his front door step, hit his head on the ground and later died in hospital. Just goes to show, you can't be too careful. 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.
July 20, 201114 yr There is much sophistry put forward to justify not wearing them This is only ever in response to someone like yourself promoting helmet wearing. We have had many threads started by someone doing just that, but never once has there been a thread started in order to discourage or criticise the wearing of them. Those who don't wear them often emphasize they have no objection to those who do, but it seems many who do wear them are intolerant of those who don't.
July 20, 201114 yr This is only ever in response to someone like yourself promoting helmet wearing. We have had many threads started by someone doing just that, but never once has there been a thread started in order to discourage or criticise the wearing of them. Those who don't wear them often emphasize they have no objection to those who do, but it seems many who do wear them are intolerant of those who don't. I actually don't care if you wear one or not and don't object to your right to do what you want as long as it doesn't affect me. My point is that they limit injury. Saying otherwise is simply fooling yourself. I tolerate that quite well thank you.
July 20, 201114 yr This thread doesn't make any sense. Where can you put your helmet cam if your not wearing a helmet? ...
July 20, 201114 yr I don`t know about motorists giving you a wide berth when not wearing a helmet , but with a helmet and reflective waistcoat ,they give you such a wide berth that they would rather crash into something on the opposite carriageway . Perhaps it`s the polite drivers here in South Wales .
July 20, 201114 yr 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 - I don't want to repeat the experience with a concrete kerb at 15 mph thank you very much. My neighbour probably owes her life to wearing one after she hit the cobbles head first in Alston at speed so my helmet is staying firmly on when I am riding.
July 20, 201114 yr 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?
July 20, 201114 yr 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
July 20, 201114 yr 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.
July 20, 201114 yr 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).
July 20, 201114 yr ....and so the battle lines are drawn...yet again...why can't everyone just use the search function and save forum bandwidth
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