Don't wear a helmet? I'd like to know why.

Hello All,

I'm admittedly new to the community, but Julie H. told me this group is amazingly diverse and very (hopefully) willing to offer their honest opinions on issues in the Cycling community.

Here's a little background. I'm a reporter from RedEye, and I'm looking into what seems to be a more controversial issue than most people thing: Actually wearing a helmet. I've heard from some great people on both sides, but in the interest of a balanced perspective, I would love to hear from some folks who choose NOT to wear a helmet. I've seen some people say it's a vanity/comfort issue, and others who question the effectiveness of the practice.

Whatever the case, I would be very interested to hear your opinions on the issue. I can be reached most quickly at mswasko@tribune.com. Also, if you have comments you'd like to post in the thread, I will be watching.

Thank you all very much for your help.

mick

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Permalink Reply by Peter Grimaldi on June 1, 2012 at 11:48am


+1 and AMEN brother


bk (aka: Dr. Mambohead) said:



More to the point?.. Where my life and my health are involved?.. Howzabout I make decisions for myself and my own body? My body. Myself. Sound familiar? Good! I am consistant that way. How about I will worry about my gig, you worry about yours!

Some people wear helmets and some do not. Move on Billy Graham, Get out on a bike and make that a hobby instead of projecting judgement, fear, worry and control.
Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 1, 2012 at 12:16pm

How is that as soon as it warms up and the "seasonal" cyclists come out these helmet threads always flare up?

I miss bike-winter...

Permalink Reply by Gecko on June 2, 2012 at 5:00am

I, like only a few others around here it seems, don't wear a helmet by choice.  Also, it's habit.  It's ingrained.

I grew up in a small town in Michigan, and learned to ride a bike without training wheels or a helmet when I was 5 or 6 years old.  I continued riding, got into BMX, jumped ramps, rode on 55mph two-lane roads at night with no lights, and did all kinds of stupid things without a helmet on.  And I crashed a lot.  Throughout all those years and all those crashes, I never once hit my head because I learned how to fall to protect it.

When I was in college, I got hit by a truck on my way to class.  My head had a small bruise, but my leg and my elbow took the brunt of the damage.  I wasn't wearing a helmet, but I didn't have a concussion and I didn't break any bones (despite having truck tire marks on my leg).

Last Halloween, a motorist clipped my back wheel and sent me flying over the handlebars of my road bike at 23mph.  Sure, I had bruises on my palms and elbow, but I never hit my head, which didn't have a helmet on it.

My point is, if you know how to position your body DURING a fall, you will be less likely to have severe injuries BECAUSE of the fall, no matter how quickly or slowly it happens.  I also try to anticipate the movements of everything and everyone around me to avoid dangerous situations.  I read facial expressions of people in cars, I watch people's eyes, and I generally look as far ahead of me as possible to determine the best course of action BEFORE anything happens.  I always have my hands on the brake levers and I always expect the worst.

I'm also intimately familiar with the limits of each and every bike I own, and it is a very very rare day when I exceed those limits unwittingly.  About the only thing that is truly unpredictable in my mind is black ice.

I could also get into a political discussion about how proposed mandatory helmet laws aren't truly American because they would infringe on our personal freedom of choice, but I won't go there...

I should also mention that I do wear helmets occasionally.  When I go to Rays to jump ramps, I wear a helmet.  When I raced in college, I wore a helmet.  When I go to unfamiliar trails and ride very fast, I generally wear a helmet.  I just don't feel the need to wear a helmet around town, where most of the traffic goes less than 40mph and there aren't really any unavoidable road hazards if you pay close enough attention.

-Nick, pro-choice, pro-freedom ;-)

Permalink Reply by Zoetrope on June 2, 2012 at 6:29am

I agree with you that mandatory helmet laws are dumb, and that people should be free to wear a helmet as they see fit.  But, that's about all...   

"My point is, if you know how to position your body DURING a fall, you will be less likely to have severe injuries BECAUSE of the fall, no matter how quickly or slowly it happens."

Cmon, seriously?  Did you learn how to do this by practicing falling off your bike onto your head?  You're also ignoring the fact that there will be accidents that are impossible to anticipate which will render your ninja-falling skills completely useless.  You simply can't be hyper-aware enough to account for all possible outcomes at all times.

What if, say, a bird shits on your head and since you're not wearing a helmet, you feel a white smelly blob strike your dome and it starts to drip into one of your eyes.  And as you raise one hand to investigate and are now riding with one arm, there's a big truck barreling out of an alley and not paying attention, and there's also a pothole just ahead that you will run into because you're partially blind and riding with one arm.  Then, sadly, you hit the pothole and as you're flying through the air over your handle bars the truck speeds into your floating body, gently placing you into the busy street.  It could happen, and if you were wearing a helmet you'd have a better chance of avoiding a head injury probably.  


Nick G said:

-Nick, pro-choice, pro-freedom ;-)

Permalink Reply by Gecko on June 2, 2012 at 6:50am

Yep, let's extrapolate a situation to its most illogical conclusion.  Seriously, how many times have you had a bird shit on your head?  The probability of the following scenario or one like it is so close to zero that you and I will likely never encounter it IN OUR WHOLE LIFE.  Even so, potholes are not hard to miss and I would have heard the truck coming and braked before the alley anyway.  I use ALL my senses when I ride.  I agree some accidents are impossible to prevent, but I try not to put myself in those situations (and usually if I do, I'm intoxicated and not making smart decisions anyway).

And also, yes.  I didn't exactly "practice" falling on my head when I was younger, but over the course of learning how to jump ramps and do tricks on my bike, I figured out ways to fall to minimize the impacts, which were inevitable.  The examples I cited should have made that clear, even though they had nothing to do with doing tricks.

As Bruce Lee said "... water can flow or it can crash.  Be water, my friend."



Zoetrope said:

Cmon, seriously?  Did you learn how to do this by practicing falling off your bike onto your head?  You're also ignoring the fact that there will be accidents that are impossible to anticipate which will render your ninja-falling skills completely useless.  You simply can't be hyper-aware enough to account for all possible outcomes at all times.

What if, say, a bird shits on your head and since you're not wearing a helmet, you feel a white smelly blob strike your dome and it starts to drip into one of your eyes.  And as you raise one hand to investigate and are now riding with one arm, there's a big truck barreling out of an alley and not paying attention, and there's also a pothole just ahead that you will run into because you're partially blind and riding with one arm.  Then, sadly, you hit the pothole and as you're flying through the air over your handle bars the truck speeds into your floating body, gently placing you into the busy street.  It could happen, and if you were wearing a helmet you'd have a better chance of avoiding a head injury probably. 

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on June 2, 2012 at 6:58am



Nick G said:

My point is, if you know how to position your body DURING a fall, you will be less likely to have severe injuries BECAUSE of the fall, no matter how quickly or slowly it happens.  I also try to anticipate the movements of everything and everyone around me to avoid dangerous situations.  I read facial expressions of people in cars, I watch people's eyes, and I generally look as far ahead of me as possible to determine the best course of action BEFORE anything happens.  I always have my hands on the brake levers and I always expect the worst.

I am not going to weigh anymore on wearing helmets; I think it's a good idea to wear one and it's the choice of the rider.  But I will, however, complain about this argument regarding justifying not wearing a helmet because it is flat out wrong.

I used to be in the 'learn to fall' camp when it came to helmets because I had generally seen an accident coming and been able to keep my head up.  One of them was pretty spectacular; the girl who witnessed it was amazed I got up after. I pay a lot of attention to the world around me when I ride and I see stuff coming, why do I need a helmet?

Then I had my bad accident; the one where I went from riding to laying in the middle of Milwaukee Ave. before I even realized that I had been in a wreck.  Sometimes things happen to fast for you to react or protect your melon and that is why it is, in my opinion, a good idea to wear a helmet.

If you don't want to wear a helmet for any of the million valid reasons, many of which are why I dislike wearing my helmet please feel free to do so; I'd like it if you did but I'm not your boss.  However I would like to ask you to stop rationalizing it with a bit of flimsy justification about paying attention and falling properly because it is putting bad info out there into peoples heads.  Shit happens and shit can happen fast, faster than any person can react.

Permalink Reply by Matt M. 18.5KM on June 2, 2012 at 7:09am
Thanks, man. :-)
Permalink Reply by Gecko on June 2, 2012 at 7:13am

Were you wearing a helmet when this took place?  Did you hit your head?  Why did you crash in the first place?

notoriousDUG said:


Then I had my bad accident; the one where I went from riding to laying in the middle of Milwaukee Ave. before I even realized that I had been in a wreck.  Sometimes things happen to fast for you to react or protect your melon and that is why it is, in my opinion, a good idea to wear a helmet.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 2, 2012 at 7:13am

Sometimes when you are slamming your hand on car's windshields and screaming at the top of your lungs at the occupants trying to scare and intimidate them it's hard to keep track of the birds flying overhead and the trucks coming out of the alleys. 

-just sayin'

Permalink Reply by Gecko on June 2, 2012 at 7:17am

Implying that I slam people's windshields and try to scare people?  Not me, man.  When I ride I try to cause the least amount of interference with other road users as possible.

James BlackHeron said:

Sometimes when you are slamming your hand on car's windshields and screaming at the top of your lungs at the occupants trying to scare and intimidate them it's hard to keep track of the birds flying overhead and the trucks coming out of the alleys. 

-just sayin'

Permalink Reply by Zoetrope on June 2, 2012 at 7:35am

I'm sorry you took that made-up scenario seriously, Nick.  

I'll sincerely try to be more like Bruce Lee on my bike, but I'll keep wearing a helmet, I guess, since I don't have experience jumping ramps or doing bike tricks.  

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on June 2, 2012 at 7:59am

Not you Nick, I was talking about Someone Else in this thread who admitted to the same.  

Nick G said:

Implying that I slam people's windshields and try to scare people?  Not me, man.  When I ride I try to cause the least amount of interference with other road users as possible.

James BlackHeron said:

Sometimes when you are slamming your hand on car's windshields and screaming at the top of your lungs at the occupants trying to scare and intimidate them it's hard to keep track of the birds flying overhead and the trucks coming out of the alleys. 

-just sayin'

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