bicycle safety and helmets

I found this link earlier today.  It seems to be from around 2003.  It's about bicycle safety, and more specifically, about whether wearing a helmet while riding a bicycle makes sense.  

 

http://neptune.spacebears.com/opine/helmets.html

 

I don't wear a helmet on my 15mile one-way commute to work.  I ride very slow.  It takes me an hour and ten minutes to get to work.  I understand that you don't have to go very fast to get a debilitating head injury, but the odds of that happening are very low so I take my chances.

 

What do you think?

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Permalink Reply by Michael J Blane on August 17, 2011 at 5:45am

I've a riding buddy who, was either hit while while walking his bike through a parking lot or just mounting and riding slowly out of the lot to the trail. 

In addition to a broken hip, he now has a plate in his head after spending 6-10 days in an induced coma waiting for the swelling of his brain to subside. 

He had never made it out of the parking lot.

He didn't wear a helmet, now he does.

Permalink Reply by Damir on August 17, 2011 at 5:59am



dingyourbelldotorg said:

Do you ride in the street or stick to paths and sidewalks?

Most of it it's in the street.  

 

Re. Michael - sorry about your friend.  I have a friend that got up at night to drink water and fell in her kitchen.  She is paralyzed from neck down.  What did you think about the article?

 

 

Permalink Reply by Harry Lee on August 17, 2011 at 6:15am
I think that the article is pretty biased and fantastically useless. I shouldn't wear a helmet because I'm more likely to be killed by a horse than while riding my bike? Okay... Not sure what that author has against 'the helmet lobby' but whatever- helmets are relatively inexpensive and last I checked, no one ever died from putting one on.
Permalink Reply by jennifer james on August 17, 2011 at 6:35am
Isn't there something else us to talk about than helmets? My favorite study- on our blog's helmet page- is a study of neurosurgeons who all agreed that they wished their patients wore helmets but didn't all wear them themselves. Seems that we could all use our time to get something really important done- or take a fun ride instead of the unending helmet kvetch
Permalink Reply by Kristina Davis on August 17, 2011 at 7:07am
I'm a pretty safe biker. I stop at stop signs, make turn signals, and obey the majority of laws. I ride a brightly colored bike, with multiple reflectors and front and rear lights. I've been hit 3 times by cars. Often the danger has nothing to do with what you're doing, so it doesn't matter whether your are biking 15 or 2 or if you are going slowly. I'm not dead yet and I haven't had any ~major~ injuries. But I think that wearing a helmet is a good idea, because you never know which head injury will cause lasting damage. And it's not just death or debillitating things you have to worry about, but things like epilepsy, personality change, cognitive impairment, second impact syndrome, etc.
Permalink Reply by Dave Jacque on August 17, 2011 at 8:12am

+1, Harry Lee. Helmets are cheap, easy to use and require no maintenance. Maybe helmets don't prevent a lot of deaths but I would hate to hit the pavement and suffer even a minor head injury. I need every last IQ point I have.

 

I started wearing a helmet to set an example for my son. (Kids are top-heavy klutzes and should wear helmets 24/7 until they leave for college, in my opinion.) Now it's just a habit ... and I like to think my bright white brain bucket increases my visibility somewhat.

 

That having been said, I don't think the statistics support making them mandatory.

 

(Wouldn't even *consider* getting on my motorcycle w/o a full-face Nolan, though.)

Permalink Reply by David Barish on August 17, 2011 at 8:14am

A friend of mine was riding home from a class.  He realized he had left his helmet there. He went back to get his helmet just as they were closing up. He resumed his ride home.  A large tree limb fell on his head.  He cracked his helmet and bruised his shoulder. No other damage.

 

I began wearing helmets when I started paying off student loans.  There is a minimal chance that I will have a head injury. If I don't have a helmet there is a signficant chance that the injury which could have been minor would become catastrophic.  I don't go to Las Vegas. I'm not that kind of guy.  Don't gamble. Do wear a helmet.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on August 17, 2011 at 8:58am

Had your friend continued without his helmet it would have been unlikely that he got hit by that tree limb and he would have made it home without a bruised shoulder...

 

Obviously, it was a bad decision from your friend to return and retrieve his helmet...


David Barish said:

A friend of mine was riding home from a class.  He realized he had left his helmet there. He went back to get his helmet just as they were closing up. He resumed his ride home.  A large tree limb fell on his head.  He cracked his helmet and bruised his shoulder. No other damage.

 

I began wearing helmets when I started paying off student loans.  There is a minimal chance that I will have a head injury. If I don't have a helmet there is a signficant chance that the injury which could have been minor would become catastrophic.  I don't go to Las Vegas. I'm not that kind of guy.  Don't gamble. Do wear a helmet.

Permalink Reply by Michael J Blane on August 17, 2011 at 9:49am

The article was well thought, and researched. Lots of data and valid points.

I wear my helmet every ride.

I feel it comes down to the question that Lt Callahan posed whilst pointing his 44 magnum at the "bad guy" -you have to ask yourself, 'Do I feel lucky'?

I'm not that lucky, I always wear my helmet.

Permalink Reply by Ron Y on August 17, 2011 at 10:05am

I never wear a helmet, I just don't like to.  One thing I learned during two tours in Iraq is that when it's your time, ...it's your time no matter how much safety gear you have on.  It's a valid point that you could have brain damage and not die which would suck horribly, but still how often does that happen? 

One thing that really bothers me is when people preach to me like I'm a child "wear a helmet, you could get hurt".  One time a lady yelled at me in a grocery store parking lot when I told her I don't need a helmet. 

Another thing that really pisses me off is Active Trans MAKING riders wear helmets at their rides - ridiculous! Makes me mad that I gave them $25.00

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on August 17, 2011 at 10:10am

Who cares what the article says, the only person who can make the decision about what you think about a helmet is you...

 

I've read a lot about helmets and I have heard every story from every direction about the good, the bad and the indifferent when it comes to helmets and have come to the conclusion that they are, on both sides, biased bullshit.  Statistics, studies and numbers can be manipulated to make any point the writer wants; it is not hard to write an article that supports either side of the helmet debate and is still backed up by real data.

 

Make up your own mind based on your own experience and take responsibility for that decision because I am sick to death of threads like this were people spend time justifying what is, in all reality, a personal choice.  Everyone one both sides needs to just shut the hell up and let people be who they want to be. 

 

Does another person not wearing a helmet when you do hurt you or make you any less safe?  No; leave them the hell alone!

 

Does another person wearing a helmet when you do not hurt you or make you any less unsafe?  No; leave them the hell alone!

 

Seriously, why the hell do people have to bother everyone about this issue.

Permalink Reply by Damir on August 17, 2011 at 10:39am

I agree that statistics, studies and numbers can be manipulated to suit whatever point the author supports.  What would be a reason for skewing data to support helmet-less riding?  To sell less helmets?  I don't know.  

 

I posted this article out of pure curiosity.  I am passed every morning - being that I move really slow - by countless riders that wear helmets.  This makes me paranoid.  After reading this article, I wanted to know what is the motivation for helmet use.  I have not read a lot of helmet articles, so I can't really make any good points in support of helmet use.  That they are inexpensive and harmless, however, is not good enough reason for me to use one.  

 

There is also a research article that found that traffic gets much closer to a helmeted cyclist when overtaking versus non-helmeted cyclist:  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001457506001540#....  It's a good article that is not specifically about helmets.  I would recommend reading it if you have time.

 

Since this is a forum dedicated to commuting on a bicycle, I thought conversation about helmets and helmet use are worthy of discussion.  I am sorry if it offends/bothers you. 

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