Detention Lines: I will wear a helmet.

[Keith Oates]

Handsome Joe, sorry to hear about the accident and I hope you get the wrist sorted out quickly. The helmet issue is very much a personal thing with many people but if has made you into a devotee for wearing one then go with it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dudi]

I wear a helmet. and my recent collision with a ped was one incident that wearing a helmet almost certainly helped to prevent more extensive injury.
On inspecting the helmet it was clear that I had impacted my head twice in the collision. once into the face of the ped and once into the road. The helmet was badly damaged. but my head is fine. not even a scratch.

Also, I believe that it didn't just prevent injury to my head, but reduced the injury to the ped. because the helmet deorms in the way it does, it will have reduced the force with which her nose was broken. and thankfully didnt break her skull or cheek/jaw etc.

I know there are many people who do not wear a helmet for whatever reason. but I've hit my head very hard, enough to break my helmet, and suffered no head injury.
I defy you to tell me that I wouldn't have sustained more injuries if I didn't wear one.

Joe is not saying that he will wear a helmet incase he suffers the same accident again, he is saying he will wear a helmet incase he is not so lucky next time. he has realised how fragile he is, how fast an accident can unfold and how little control he had over it.

 

[ufkacbln]

I wear a helmet. and my recent collision with a ped was one incident that wearing a helmet almost certainly helped to prevent more extensive injury.
On inspecting the helmet it was clear that I had impacted my head twice in the collision. once into the face of the ped and once into the road. The helmet was badly damaged. but my head is fine. not even a scratch.

Also, I believe that it didn't just prevent injury to my head, but reduced the injury to the ped. because the helmet deorms in the way it does, it will have reduced the force with which her nose was broken. and thankfully didnt break her skull or cheek/jaw etc.

I know there are many people who do not wear a helmet for whatever reason. but I've hit my head very hard, enough to break my helmet, and suffered no head injury.
I defy you to tell me that I wouldn't have sustained more injuries if I didn't wear one.

Joe is not saying that he will wear a helmet incase he suffers the same accident again, he is saying he will wear a helmet incase he is not so lucky next time. he has realised how fragile he is, how fast an accident can unfold and how little control he had over it.

This sounds a bit like Claude Rapaille's theory over SUV drivers (HE was General Motors Chief designer) .

He had two points, one that SUV drivers were aware that they were poorer or more aggressive drivers who would have more accidents - and wanted the perceived additional safety of a SUV to compensate

Secondly was the fact that they knew the vehicles would increase injury to others, but saw this as a perfectly acceptable cost for their safety..


You cannot know that not the injuries to the pedestrian here were increased by your helmet use helmets are designed with features that would certainly cause problems...

 

[dudi]

He had two points, one that SUV drivers were aware that they were poorer or more aggressive drivers who would have more accidents - and wanted the perceived additional safety of a SUV to compensate.

Are you saying that only people with poor cycling skills or those who are overly agressive wear helmets? I certainly dont fit into either of those categories.

You cannot know that not the injuries to the pedestrian here were increased by your helmet use helmets are designed with features that would certainly cause problems...

By that you mean that if my forehead had hit her face she wouldnt have suffered less? although there's no scientific proof, no. but the deformation of the helmet suggests quite a lot of energy was absorbed by the shell. I know for a fact that my head could not have deformed so much.
If i were not wearing a helmet, one of us would have far more serious injuries. probably the pedestrian as I am about twice the size of her.


Edit:
I think the helmet debate is a lot like the debate on religion.

I believe that a helmet improves my safety, therefore I will wear one.

Those that protest against helmet clad cyclists desire concrete proof that they are beneficial.

I believe a lid will help me. I certainly don't think that it will save my life in a high speed colission, just reduce injury in smaller collisions. In much the same way that I don't think that the dash-board air bags in my car will protect me against a lorry toppling over on a roundabout and squashing my car. they will, however stop me from headbutting the steeringwheel/dash in the event of a front on colission, which may reduce my injuries.

 

[ufkacbln]

What is entirely evident there is that according to the evidence the greater head injury was suffered by the pedestrian - surely the evidence is that had she been wearing a helmet................................ pedestrian helmets rule!

 

[dudi]

she would have to wear a full face helmet.
not that she's ugly, quite the opposite... just that the impact was on her face rather than the top of her head.

 

[col]

Im puzzled as to why the argument doesnt agree that having the helmet between us and an impact can do anything but soften that impact,yes there are other things that can happen,but thats why the helmet is there,to soften impact.It doesnt protect against the type of things dudi mentions.If we used the argument against helmets as a rule we wouldnt wear seatbelts,we wouldnt use most protective wear as it doesnt cover every eventuality,which a helmet doesnt either,but if it helps in an unlucky situation its done what it was made to do,so in effect they work.

 

[ufkacbln]

Im puzzled as to why the argument doesnt agree that having the helmet between us and an impact can do anything but soften that impact,yes there are other things that can happen,but thats why the helmet is there,to soften impact.It doesnt protect against the type of things dudi mentions.If we used the argument against helmets as a rule we wouldnt wear seatbelts,we wouldnt use most protective wear as it doesnt cover every eventuality,which a helmet doesnt either,but if it helps in an unlucky situation its done what it was made to do,so in effect they work.

Do you wear a visor, does the helmet have "snag points", was there in fact only an impact that occurrred because of the additional bulk of the helmet - it is quite possible that your head may have missed her nose altogether, but the protruding 1" - 1.5 " of helmet were the prime reason for the impact!



There is also inconclusive evidence that car drivers should wear helmets for the above reasons .... Drive a car - wear a helmet?

 

[handsome joe]

I see some people have very strong principles, which everyone has the right to hold. Personally when i cycled without a helmet the reasons for not wearing one has been varied i.e. hassle of using one, confidence (or overconfidence) in my cycling, image/age conscious, feeling it would be of little benefit etc, etc, etc. I admit to having a few close shaves in the past and the thought of wearing a helmet crossed my mind. But i soon dismissed the idea once the shock of a near miss had worn off. I realise that wearing a helmet will not reduce the chances of me having another accident but it will protect my head, which i nearly landed on top of when i had this accident (that's my personal opinion).

I don't believe wearing a helmet would make me an unsafe or overconfident cyclist. In fact i think it will probably make me more safety-conscious. But my skills as a cyclist didn't get me out of a sticky situation-as they generally would 9 times out of 10-because it happened too fast.

 

[dudi]

Do you wear a visor, does the helmet have "snag points", was there in fact only an impact that occurrred because of the additional bulk of the helmet - it is quite possible that your head may have missed her nose altogether, but the protruding 1" - 1.5 " of helmet were the prime reason for the impact!



There is also inconclusive evidence that car drivers should wear helmets for the above reasons .... Drive a car - wear a helmet?

I tell you what.
we definitely wouldn't crash our bikes if we are not riding the bike.
Perhaps if we all take a sedentry approach to life we can do away with protective clothing all together.

 

[ufkacbln]

I think that's called a "Huff"

Instead of storming off in a sulk - answer the points raised?

 

[magnatom]

Very sorry to hear about the accident HJ! I hope you heal fast!!

I wear a helmet, however, I am more than happy to admit that it is more through habit than from anything else.

Just to balance your post, it is entirely possible that if you had been wearing a helmet that the increased weight (admittedly not much) and the increased cross sectional area (more significant) might have resulted in your head/helmet hitting the ground, resulting in injuries that you wouldn't have otherwise have had. It is possible, but there has been no definitive study to determine the real risks/benefits of helmets. The jury remains and will remain out for some time.....

 

[hackbike 6]

I wear a helmet, however, I am more than happy to admit that it is more through habit than from anything else.

Same here.

 

[J4CKO]

A boy at my sons school died having fell of his bike and hit his head on the kerb, it was implied at the time that a helmet would have probably saved his life.

As for comparing cyclists with helmets to SUV drivers, its not a very good comparison, polystyrene hat versus three tonne off road, driven by the kind of people that buy three tonne off roaders, they arent like cyclists and personally my little hat gives me no additional confidence, I have many other vulnerable body parts that I would prefer not to hurt so I avoid falling off or crashing just as much.

I have hit my head on concerte as a kid falling off my bike, it hurt, I lost a chunk of skin and hair, I was concussed, at the very least I would have kept the skin and hair (it did grow back).

I fully support any other cyclist who chooses not to . I wear one, its your choice, I partly also wear one so my kids see it as normal as I would prefer that they wear one, debateable or not I do not not want to repeat that head on concrete moment again, my vision went briefly, I could smell phantom smells and it was scary, it would still have been unpleasant with a helmet but not as unpleasant.

Sometimes I think some people dont wear them cos they make you look a goon, true, but, the rest of my ensemble hardly suggests otherwise. I think some spend all the money of the bike and never get round to spending 70 quid on one.

 

[ufkacbln]

Again we have weird unwarranted connection - tragically a boy at school falls off his bike and dies... yet more children will die from head injuries on play equipment, stairs, and playing sports...... By this evidence they should wear helmets for all these activities?

Or are head injuries and deaths somehow mor acceptable or less traumatic?