A question for non-helmet wearers

[alicat]

I was knocked off my bike by a SMIDSY motorist when I wasn't wearing a helmet. I had 8 stitches in my head and initially the A&E doctor thought I had fractured my skull. I don't know what difference wearing a helmet would have made.

Some good friends made me promise to wear a helmet in future. I mostly do, on the basis that I feel that I used one of my cycling lives on that occasion.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I was knocked off my bike by a SMIDSY motorist when I wasn't wearing a helmet. I had 8 stitches in my head and initially the A&E doctor thought I had fractured my skull. I don't know what difference wearing a helmet would have made.

Some good friends made me promise to wear a helmet in future. I mostly do, on the basis that I feel that I used one of my cycling lives on that occasion.

Or SMIDSY used up your life.....

 

[Denis99]

For mtb riding it’s 100% of the time.

For road riding I prefer not to use a helmet.

There is risk in every activity we take part in. It’s divisive topic, but I find that helmet wearers are a bit evangelical about wearing one, a can’t seem to accept it is a personal choice.

I am a little fed up with other cyclists asking me why I am not wearing one.

 

[palinurus]

I doubt a cycling helmet would offer you the same degree of protection from falling timber on your bike

I've often wondered why cycling helmets offer any protection on top, for mountaineering, building- fine, stuff might fall. Cycling? probably more about the way they are tested than any consideration into the job the things are supposed to do.

 

[Drago]

For mtb riding it’s 100% of the time.

For road riding I prefer not to use a helmet.

There is risk in every activity we take part in. It’s divisive topic, but I find that helmet wearers are a bit evangelical about wearing one, a can’t seem to accept it is a personal choice.

I am a little fed up with other cyclists asking me why I am not wearing one.

I did some coaching into he week, an old boy who'd fallen off and injured his ribs and knee and his confidence had gone South as a result. He told me that many folk had asked him if he was wearing a helmet, even though his head was completely unharmed. "Ah, sorry to hear your house burned down. Did you lock the back door?"

 

[raleighnut]

I had a 'left hook' once that saw me summersault over the bonnet/screen of a car and land on the back of my head, luckily I had a backpack on and no helmet. As it was my Larynx was crushed but had anything been sticking out the back of my head I'd probably be typing this with a stick between my teeth.

 

[mjr]

I think it might be a good idea, before accepting all the negatives of helmet use, to look at how pathetic cycle helmet tests are compared to workwear PPE, plus what happened when real world examples of the Met Camaleonte Executive and Trek Anthem were tested independently.

I really wouldn't change my view on cycle helmets because of my view on work PPE.

 

[mjr]

[QUOTE 5410245, member: 9609"]If in doubt wear one.

I havn't worn mine since about March, but with wet Icy and slippery roads being the norm shortly, I will be wearing it again.[/QUOTE]
If the roads are icy, I feel it's better to change my tyres to winter ones, not don a hard hat which protects only the very top of my head in a way unlikely to be relevant in a slide.

 

[snorri]

Namely if you had looked death in a face and gotten away with it would still not put one on when you pop into town etc?

I can't say I've looked death in the face, but I did suffer an injury and painful recovery following a crushed big toe incident. For years afterwards I was very protective about that toe particularly when I was in bare feet so I can understand your wish to protect your head following your mishap.
I've never had a cycle helmet on my head and am unlikely to start now, but would not wish to persuade you to wear or not to wear.

 

[slowmotion]

I've worn hard hats on site ever since being shown a post-mortem X ray of somebody's skull after a brick fell on it from a few floors above. If your smashed hard hat was mine, I'd think long and hard before leaving my cycle helmet in the hall. I might not wear it but I would think about doing so.

I'm glad you're OK.

 

[Tenacious Sloth]

Get well soon.
The likelihood of a large timber framed structure landing on my head whilst cycling is vanishingly small so that's a no from me.

Amazingly, i was hit on the head by a large, falling tree last winter while cycling home from work.

 

[Slick]

View attachment 433878

You were lucky. When you consider exactly how many times you and others have carried out the same operation without ppe.

 

[DCBassman]

As it's not a legal requirements, everyone has a choice. I'm married to an A&E nurse, so there's pressure to wear one. I have however had an off which resulted in a fair clonk to the bonce.
It required the helmet to be replaced, and it was.
I don't think they offer a great amount of protection, tbh, but on balance, I wear one.

 

[woodbutcher]

As far as l am concerned it is a matter of personal choice and in my part of France l see both helmeted and bare headed riders. Frequently the helmeted riders are young, club members riding as a group, maybe its club rules.
I admit that l do not wear one but l do wear cycling glasses which have prevented me from getting flying insects in my eyes on loads of occasions.
The one time l had an accident was in the UK when a van turned left without signalling. l hit the bonnet broad side on, sailed over the top and landed hard on the road the other side. Instinct took over and l stretched out my arms in front of me and they hit the black stuff first. Result one broken wrist and a twisted ankle. Not a mark on my ugly mug !! Not that this proves anything much apart from if vehicles turn sharply in front of you, don't run into them

 

[Profpointy]

I used to wear one, and was even more convinced after my ex-Mrs, was in hospital for a few days with concussion, seemingly mitigated somewhat by her helmet.

Then I started reading up on it, particularly the Australian or Ontario experience where the rate of head injuries (per cyclist-mile) hadn't actually reduced at all, maybe worse if anything, despite helmet-wearing rates going from pretty low % to 95%+. WTF is going on ? Seems they don't, on average, help at all ! Of course, a helmet might help somewhat in some accidents, but conversely, going by real-world numbers, they must make other accidents worse. At the very least, by simple geometry they make your head nearly twice as big, nearly doubling the change of hitting your head in any given accident.

The other bizarre thing, is each time some kind of science is quoted to support a campaign, on examination, it is either simply rubbish, or misrepresented, or downright dishonest. If there was real numbers supporting the case, why publish lies instead ? Seems it's become a quasi-religous cause where any and all means are justified. People then get really angry if you try and put the unconvinced side of things

So, I no longer wear one.