Bradley Wiggins Sparks Helmet Debate

[morphix]

Just caught this story earlier..outraged! Typically knee-jerk nanny-state reaction. I just hope the government doesn't go ahead and make it law to wear those silly helmets. We've managed fine without them thus far and there's absolutely no credible evidence they save lives or prevent head injuries.

 

[morphix]

it would be better if they made people ride a bike as part of the driving test,that might open up the eyes of some of the increasing number of imbeciles who now drive.

Absolutely. Fantastic idea. This would surely save more lives than enforcing helmets. It's not cyclists that are the problem, it's motorists, particularly lorry drivers.

 

[Ajax]

The other day i came off after jamming on the breaks, [a combination of soft front forks hydraulics and disc breaks, which no one warns you of, caused the front end to dip dramatically and sent me over the front]. As a result I landed on my chin, and had to have a half a dozen stitches.

The point is, i don't think these helmets come with padded chin guards, so it wouldn't have prevented that injury, in fact sharp chin straps might even have made the injury worst. Also i wonder how many neck injuries are caused as a result of falling with these awkwardly shaped helmets on? Do these helmets absorb the force of impact or just redirect the force, eg into the neck.

The design of these helmets seem to follow the 'aerodynamic styling' of the pro cyclist gear, yet one one wonders how effective are they at what they are suppose to achieve?

 

[grasshopper]

it would be better if they made people ride a bike as part of the driving test,that might open up the eyes of some of the increasing number of imbeciles who now drive.

They make people drive cars as part of the driving test ... doesn't seem to make some of them aware of other car drivers

 

[flecc]

Bradley is a great race cyclist but is clearly ignorant of the facts, helmets would make little differnce in London. Of the 13 cyclist deaths there year before last, none died of head injuries, most being crushed, and most wore helmets. Of the slightly over 100 cyclists who are killed nationally in the UK, many were wearing helmets.

The secondary safety of a helmet does protect against superficial injuries and can sometimes lessen the effect of serious head injury. Primary safety is far better though, not having the accident in the first instance. It is a fact that almost all accidents are optional, they don't "just happen" and the people like myself who never have them are the living proof of that.

All academic though, as I've often observed there is no prospect of cycle helmets ever being made compulsory anywhere in Europe for two simple reasons. The Netherlands with the highest incidence of cycling in the world and a very low accident/death/injury rate is the one where almost no-one wears them. Australia which has compulsory helmets has the lowest rate of cycling in the world.

In a Britain and Europe where governments want us to cycle, they will never consider compulsion, knowing what that would do to cycling rates.

 

[neptune]

As a young man, i wore a motorcycle helmet before they were compulsory. I never wear a bike helmet, because I think they are unfit for purpose. Problem one, they have holes to let the rain in. Two, they do not cover the ears to keep them warm in winter. Three there is no provision for a face shield/visor for rain or very cold weather.
Yes, I know you can buy a rain cover. But that is about as much good as fitting a plastic cover to a collander, so you can use it as a saucepan.
Also, as I have said before, modern cycle helmets should carry a label saying "During an accident, be sure to hit the road only with the TOP of your head."

 

[david1949]

I,m a bit late in coming in on this as i been away for a few day,s but i agree with all that Bradley Wiggins say,s there are cyclist out there who think there above the law. As for the law they need to come down hard on the few bad cyclist that gives us good cyclist a bad name. But as in live it is minority that spoils it for the majority. And yes the Government should be making new laws to help cyclist like wearing helmets . mirrors bells est and new law,s for motorist that would make them sit up and pay attention to cyclist i said it before on this forum we need continental cycling law here in the UK.
.

 

[10mph]

I have just heard the Headway organisation on the Radio 4 News at One. Headway do a marvelous job helping people who have suffered non-fatal head injuries recover and resume a normal life as far as it is possible. They take over after the doctors have discharged the patient from the hospital, and help them overcome the ongoing symptoms, and as far as possible learn to lead a normal life again. The doctors can mend the body, but they can't mend permanent brain damage.

Headway's message on the radio was simple - please wear helmets they save lives and also reduce the terrible non-fatal but long lasting or permanent brain function impairment with which they deal. They quoted the Cochrane Library review by Thompson et al which showed very substantial injury reduction.

I have witnessed a bike rider in intensive care after falling on an off-road descent and hitting his helmet protected head very hard on the dirt. He did not fracture his skull, but broke ribs, collarbone etc. Everyone said that although bits had been broken off his helmet, it had saved him from far worse injury. He did suffer some brain bruising, and benefited greatly from Headway's after care. It took him nearly a year to fully recover from the brain damage.

In the same intensive care unit I saw a man who had slipped backwards on a couple of steps hitting the back of his un-helmeted the head on the ground. His brain function was very very poor. Witnessing the effects of that simple slip up also opened my eyes to the value of precautions against head injuries. I am not advocating wearing of helmets on stairs, but it has made me look much more carefully at measures to avoid slips and consequential head injury.

Bradley Wiggins is my hero. He wears a helmet, and advises other cyclists to do so. I do what my hero advises.

As a consequence of the above, and the fact that my wife bought me a helmet and won't let me go out without it, I wear a helmet almost always even though much of my riding is at 10 mph. I can remember falling off once when I stopped right at the edge of the road and placed my left foot on the steep slope of the adjacent ditch. I did a humiliating tumble into a fairly deep ditch, but had a soft landing with no hard concrete to break my skull on. I had no helmet then. My pride rather than my body suffered. But recalling that unexpected fall, I am now always happy to wear a helmet, just in case.

I am not yet so unsteady that I have started wearing a helmet on the stairs or in the street, but on a bike, even if not wearing Lycra, it is actually sartorially acceptable to wear a helmet so I do.

 

[themutiny]

My hero wears his pants outside his trousers, but when I do the same, people take the Pee

 

[Cyclezee]

The secondary safety of a helmet does protect against superficial injuries and can sometimes lessen the effect of serious head injury. Primary safety is far better though, not having the accident in the first instance. It is a fact that almost all accidents are optional, they don't "just happen" and the people like myself who never have them are the living proof of that.

In the absence of primary safety, surely secondary safety is better than none at all?

I was about to tick the box to opt out of accidents, but accidentally broke my pencil

 

[flecc]

In the absence of primary safety, surely secondary safety is better than none at all?

You know my argument on this John, secondary safety all too often lulls people into a false sense of security, commensurate with having accidents. Not just my argument, I'm supported by the government's own Road Safety Research Laboratory research and findings and much other evidence regarding risk taking.

Secondary safety doesn't just add safety, in practice it deducts it in parallel as well. The outcome of that is accidents, the very things it's best to avoid. It's the very awareness of my extreme vulnerability that has throughout my life been infinitely better protection than anything I could have worn.

 

[mountainsport]

Hi all

I do respect each an everyone's opinion on this lightly taken debate,as for myself i do wear a helmet i do not have any form of concrete facts,statistics or evidence worldwide that bicycle/cycle helmets really do saves lives. As gullible as i am,come on guy's no offence now but it must serve some form of protection regardless of triviality.
If this rule should be implemented,by all means do so, but pot holes will need to be properly filled,all drivers should be more educated,etc etc like someone else had mentioned earlier today on this thread.
Guy's dont get me wrong,but based on my limited knowledge on this topic i have learnt alot more today from what you had all written.
Borris Johnson may need to attach cycle helmets on his bikes as of today,if you suffer from OCD,Borris will need to get around that next topic.

Mountainsport

 

[flecc]

Well, the information is in now on the subject Bradley spoke on.

The cyclist in question who was killed was once again crushed by a left turning large vehicle, this time a coach. No helmet could possibly have helped, just as they didn't help in all the recent years of this majority type of cyclist death in London.

Responding in part to Mountainsport above, and to remind of what I posted earlier, some of us are good at primary safety and don't have accidents. For those who are not very good at protecting themselves, i.e. accident prone, I'm all for them wearing helmets and they should be widely and cheaply available. What all this means is that it's a matter of personal choice, not a legislative matter.

Whether everyone is capable of making that decision sensibly is none of anyone else's business, their lives and how to treat them are their own business. The fatuous argument about NHS costs I also contemptuously dismiss. If anyone doesn't want to pay for another's treatment then scrap the health service. No-one has a moral right to cherry pick their personal favourite things that are to be covered by the NHS, it's either all or nothing.
.

 

[Eaglerider]

I have no problem with folk wearing whatever they feel appropriate for their activity, but I do have a major problem when they want to tell me what I should be doing.

I do possess a helmet, but have not worn it for some years.

To cite helmet wearing as a panacea for safety is rather missing the point, whilst it may potentially reduce injury in some circumstances, the only way to reduce cycle accidents is to invest in proper cycling infrastructure. Large trucks, drunken motorists, myopic OAP's are all potential killers, and they just will not integrate with bicycles, whatever you are wearing.

I ride bicycles, motorcycles, I drive a car, I fly aeroplanes, I use power tools, I drink beer. Stopping all these activities would reduce my risk profile, but I might just as well be dead already. Life is risky, get over it however you wish, but please don't tell me what I should or should not be doing!

 

[neptune]

I have to say that I like the situation as it is now. There is no legal obligation, nor is there any law to prevent anyone wearing whatever they like on their head. So if you so choose, you can wear a baseball cap in summer, a Russian fur hat with ear flaps in winter, an easter bonnet, or even a burquah or indeed a cycle helmet.
Back in 1965 I had a job that involved a 35 mile commute. Most days, I used my trusty BSA B33 500cc motorcycle. Then came a bitterly cold winter. So I rode my motorcycle 5 miles to the railway station, did about 27 miles by train, and kept an old pushbike at the station at the far end to do the last 3 miles to work. I had to carry my motorbike helmet with me as there was no secure place to leave it. On one particularly cold snowy day, my ears were cold, so I put the helmet on.
I met a gang of kids on bikes who were laughing at me. My only comment was "are your ears cold?" but I think the irony was lost on them.
Incidentally, I have often thought that the ideal headgear in extreme conditions would be a Balaclava. I wonder what the police would make of that? Better get a burquah then...

 

[RoadieRoger]

I had hoped that by reading through to the last posting I might have learned where I could get one of those lovely red helmets as worn by Team GB . The Bee`s bum bit at the back might look a bit over the top when on my Batribike Folder though !

 

[neptune]

That sharp bit at the back worries me. Imagine being thrown from your bike, and that point is impaled in a telegraph pole, 30 feet from the ground, and your legs are swinging in the breeze. Also, if you are slipstreaming a guy wearing one of those, and he stops quicker than you can, you could be in trouble, especially if you tend to ride with your mouth open...

 

[Morgann]

My two pennorth.

1. Helmets make you brave and less risk averse.
2. Sports superstars usually hope to have their own line of products including oh, let's say, clothing. Which, in the case of a cycling superstar might well involve, helmets.
3. Cycling superstars usually have sponsors who may well be in the business of selling cycling clothing including, helmets.

Always look for the agenda.

 

[Orraman]

Dr Ian Walker conducted a series of scientific tests covering driver-bicyclist interactions.

One of his findings was:

[
I found there were 23% more vehicles coming within 1m of the bicycle when a helmet was being worn. I think this is perhaps the clearest way to illustrate the effect of helmet wearing seen in the data.
]


http://drianwalker.com/overtaking/overtakingprobrief.pdf

Ian Walker's Work | drianwalker.com

 

[benjy_a]

Am I the only person with some concrete (well tarmac) evidence to support the wearing of helmets?

I got driven into head-on by a taxi driver at a junction when I was going straight ahead on a green traffic light and he was waiting to turn right across my path. He just went for the turn, not appreciating my speed at all and drove head-on into me. I was doing about 25mph (non-electric hybrid) and hit the front nearside of his bumper, flipped over the bonnet and landed smack on the top of my head on the other side of the car.

The first and main point of impact (other than the car) was my head onto the road.

My injuries were a broken wrist (where my hand had snapped forward on the handlebar at point of impact) and some terrible deep grazes to my legs. My head was uninjured, not even a headache. The helmet shattered in multiple places (the polystyrene material) but was still in one piece due to the resin coating. I did have a sore neck but nothing terrible.

I imagine my head injury would have at the very least knocked me out cold if I hadn't been wearing a helmet and probably severe concussion, bleeding etc.

I may be in a minority with this success story but I now always wear a helmet.

Ben