Don't forget your helmet

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
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On a personal level there is no downside to wearing a helmet. It reduces your chances of head injury quite significantly.
You really are being perverse as we've shown. On my personal level wearing a helmet unnecessarily for over 70 years would have been a massive downside:

First for the discomfort, I dislike all hats.

Second for the sheer inconvenience throughout all those riding years.

Third for the offputting effect special clothing for cycling has on others who might otherwise cycle.

Fourth for the unnecessary cost.

All for zero gain, so what would be the point?
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soundwave

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May 23, 2015
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well you wont be going to any mtb parks then as a splat hat is mandatory! bpw will not let you use the trails without one.

HELMETS are mandatory, if you do not have one you will be required to hire one. No bike will be hired without a helmet (either your own or hired)


 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
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well you wont be going to any mtb parks then as a splat hat is mandatory! bpw will not let you use the trails without one.

HELMETS are mandatory, if you do not have one you will be required to hire one. No bike will be hired without a helmet (either your own or hired)
As I've posted so many times, my bicycle is transport, never in any way for sport.

Sporting influences have been Britain's greatest curse on cycling and why so very few ride bicycles here.
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soundwave

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:p
 

slowcoach

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Dec 11, 2020
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It's why I don't ride with the local cycling group: Rule No 1: wear a helmet. Oh, really? No thanks.
Shame really.
Possibly because as an organisation, if a member suffered a head injury as the result of an accident, the club officers could probably be held responsible and have to pay compensation for not ensuring members were wearing protective gear.
That is just a suggestion for the reason for that ruling.
At this point I would add, my wife had a cycling accident a few years ago. Although we had not anticipated having an accident that day, she was wearing her helmet. She went down quite heavily, hitting her head. The broken arm healed quite well, no real problem, but had she not been wearing that helmet I hate to think of the damage that could have occurred. For us, lesson learnt.
 

Bikes4two

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Feb 21, 2020
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Okay, cards on the table, I do not in most cases, wear a helmet when cycling. I say most cases, as the are occassions - more on that in a mo.

..............It reduces your chances of head injury quite significantly. If you don't accept that & want the freedom to sustain brain damage & facial injuries you are deluded.
Nigel, I have no doubt that if I were to find myself in some scenario where I crashed or were hit by a vehicle AND my head were to be in contact/colision with something, then a helmet would up to a certain point, reduce or possibly negate head injury.

But what are the odds/chances of being in such a scenario? I note in that very long report you linked to by the IEA, that right at the beginning of the report it said -
"Bicycle crashes and falls are rare, but they can cause a range of injuries from minor to permanent disability or fatality. "

Further, whilst the study evidences all sorts of statistics about cyclist injuries and so forth, there is nowhere that I saw (happy to be corrected) that gave any detail about the accident scenario, e.g. age of cyclist, cycling experience level, cyling alone or in a group, type of cycling, (ie. on-road, off-road, minor/major road, in the dark (with/without lights), broad daylight) and so on ad nauseam.

As someone close to my 3 score years and 10, with many tens of thousands of cycling miles behind me, both here in the UK and in Europe, I make a judgement (aka 'risk assessment') on every ride as to the possible dangers I might face and take mitigating action where necessary. Said action my include wearing a helmet such as cycling in a peleton in my local group, or mountain biking or in icy conditions.

So far that method has worked for me and whilst I do come off my bike now and again, it is the hips and hands that have so far mainly suffered.

My point is that, yes, for certain scenarios, the helmet will be of benefit, but for my style of cycling, the risks as I see them are very low, so no helmet wearing for me (most times).

Most of the downsides to wearing a helmet have already been pointed out already, but to add fuel to my favourite reason it is that the principle put out by Cyling UK in the 'Safety in Numbers' is a good one(the more cyclists on the road the more aware other road users are to their presence etc) and in support of this I do not choose to portray casual cycling as a dangerous undertaking by it being necessary to wear a helmet.

You have your views, and I have mine and I suspect we will maintain that difference - happy cycling, and keep safe.
 
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soundwave

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richtea99

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Possibly because as an organisation, if a member suffered a head injury as the result of an accident, the club officers could probably be held responsible and have to pay compensation for not ensuring members were wearing protective gear.
That is just a suggestion for the reason for that ruling.
I understand the logic, but it's overkill. I take groups of motorcyclists out riding - a far higher level of risk. At the start of the ride I read out a disclaimer along the lines of: 'You're riding for yourself, at your own risk, I'm not responsible for your behaviour or the state of your machine'.
That's equally applicable to a cycling group - it's my risk to not wear a helmet, not the clubs, and I would be happy to accept that risk.
 
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StuartsProjects

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I understand the logic, but it's overkill. I take groups of motorcyclists out riding - a far higher level of risk. At the start of the ride I read out a disclaimer along the lines of: 'You're riding for yourself, at your own risk, I'm not responsible for your behaviour or the state of your machine'.
That's equally applicable to a cycling group - it's my risk to not wear a helmet, not the clubs, and I would be happy to accept that risk.
Unfortunatly, it could well be a condition of the insurance that protects the club\organisation 'officials' in the event of a claim;


Then go to the bit about following 'Our Best Practice Guidelines for clubs ';

"Club/Group Ride/Training Session – on the public highway Best practice is ..........
All riders must wear a helmet"

You could argue that Cycling clubs should not need liability insurance for its 'officials' but would people do the job if they were to be personally liable ?
 

richtea99

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I think you may well be right, Stuart. The club I'm thinking about are British Cycling members.
 

flecc

Member
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How are they daft speeds? It's a race.
too close at daft speeds is what i posted, if they want to avoid being involved in an accident in those spectator confined conditions.

Yes I know they want a tow, but nearly every Tour has these spectator caused accidents so they know the risk is very high in spots like that.
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StuartsProjects

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Yes I know they want a tow, but nearly every Tour has these spectator caused accidents so they know the risk is very high in spots like that.
The crowds on the tour, behave like the masses all over the World.

A comparison, you know the situation, your sat the Millenium stadium, watching Wales play rugby, something exciting happens, so someone stands up in excitement to get a 'better' view. With their view blocked, the people behind now stand up because they cannot see. Soon the whole stand has everyone standing.

Daft human behaviour really, if the first someone remained sat down, they and the rest of the stand would still get the view without the need to stand all the time.

Its the same on the tour, if the spectator person in front leans across to view the peleton, then the person behind has to lean out a bit more to get a view, pretty soon a very wide rode is down to single file, or less.

Glad Geraint recovered from the crash, he used to live round here.
 
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Nealh

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Looks like GT's could be out of the tour now , crashed again today dislocated shoulder.

French police are looking for the women who caused yesterday's pile up by waving a placard in the face of Tony Martin who's initial crash has a big roll on effect with the other fallers.
 
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