How can wearing a helmet offer no protection from injury?

[Little yellow Brompton]

so what if you have a cscs, does it make you better equipped to make claims? If it does then yes i do have a cscs, and NEBOSH, and teaching qual blah blah, so what. does the person with the most quals know how to wear a hat better than somebody who has fewer quals?

worked on many big jobs as you put it and the thought of several construction workers being told how to put on a hat is hilarious. The only thing people need to be aware of with a cycle helmet is to use the straps properly, how much 'teaching' does that take?

As the vast majority of helmets straps are not worn properly I would suggest LOTS of teaching!

 

[Little yellow Brompton]

You are missing the point. If real life tests were carried out and made available to the general public informed choice would be far more simple. It might also encourage helmet manufacturers to improve helmet designs.

but but but... they would never sell! Too hot/heavy...

 

[Angelfishsolo]

but but but... they would never sell! Too hot/heavy...

You do not know that though do you? Invention comes from necessity. If there was a necessity for cycle helmets to meet more stringent criteria then who knows what would be created?

 

[Angelfishsolo]

They are much less comforting when worn properly

Comforting or comfortable?

 

[Red Light]

Maybe, however, id prefer my chances of surviving this incident with a helmet on rather than off

As a cyclist? As a pedestrian? As an open topped car driver? It would seem to apply equally to all of those. Mark has already indicated the benefits of wearing a helmet when opening your garage door.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Having been solely road riding for the past two months I have come to the conclusion that I wear a helmet because it feels wrong not to wear one. Just as it does if I don't wear gloves or cycle in jeans. I tried riding without the helmet and spend so much time thinking about it not being there my riding became more dangerous as I had a lower ability to concentrate on the road environment. I am not saying that this would be true for everyone, it is simply an observation.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Less comforting because less comfortable

OKies

 

[Little yellow Brompton]

You do not know that though do you? Invention comes from necessity. If there was a necessity for cycle helmets to meet more stringent criteria then who knows what would be created?

I think I do.

Motorcylce/Motorsport/Flying helmets existed before cycle helmets, no one used them as cycle helmets because they were too hot/heavy. Then Bell degraded the design to make them lighter/cooler and they sold

 

[Angelfishsolo]

I think I do.

Motorcylce/Motorsport/Flying helmets existed before cycle helmets, no one used them as cycle helmets because they were too hot/heavy. Then Bell degraded the design to make them lighter/cooler and they sold

Once again you miss the point.

If there was a requirement for a lightweight, cool and safe helmet (conforming to real life safety tests) then it would be interesting to see what could be created. You are thinking of the past, I am thinking of the future.Are you going to put your neck on the line and say that it is impossible to make a helmet that meets my listed criteria?

 

[Kleban]

to understand the naivety of your statement, please do some reading. certain helmet designs, may actually cause more injury. when you bought your helmet, were you trained on how to use it? workers in industry have to be trained to use ppe inc hard hats.

I work in the construction industry and am employed as a Health and Safety Advisor. The worst part of my job is to investigate accidents,and believe me I have seen some really nasty injuries, and sadly two fatalities, over the years. In the majority of cases, injured employees who have worn / used the prescribed PPE fortheir job roles have usually come off lighter, and in some cases walked away with their life.



To answer your question about whether I was trained to wear my helmet? The answer is no. However, I do not need to be told that I must not wear the helmet back to front. Also to ensure that the helmet is of the correct size and fits properly, and that the strap is secure.



Now back to my initial post; I stated that I believe in the adage that ‘prevention is better than cure’ and that I would always wear my helmet when cycling. I still stand by that.

 

[Red Light]

Indeed. Of course the tests do not have a head inside the helmets either. Ideally a crash-test dummy with a helmet on should have its' head run over. Or maybe this is a challenge for the Jack Ass team?

Nor a body attached to the head. A crash test dummy is no use either. For a start when it falls off a bike it does not put its arms out, it does not try to hold its head up, it does not tuck and roll. So any test with a crash test dummy would be totally unrealistic. As for running over its head, one of the big issues is that the human head can deform quite a bit to absorb hits and loads whereas the test form and dummy heads are rigid. One of the possibilities why helmets break so often in accidents is that the head deforms slightly and the helmet tries to follow it but is too rigid and can't so snaps instead.

If you want real life you are better off looking at statistically what happens to the riding population out there when helmets are worn or not worn. But the pro-helmet lobby don't like the answers of those.

It was interesting watching the crash on Friday's Tour of Britain when they played it back in slow motion. It was a classic over the bar accident - the front wheel of one of the bikes folded with the rider still on the bike pitching him forward - yet neither helmets nor heads touched the tarmac. One rider got a broken collar bone from putting his arms out though.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Nor a body attached to the head. A crash test dummy is no use either. For a start when it falls off a bike it does not put its arms out, it does not try to hold its head up, it does not tuck and roll. So any test with a crash test dummy would be totally unrealistic. As for running over its head, one of the big issues is that the human head can deform quite a bit to absorb hits and loads whereas the test form and dummy heads are rigid. One of the possibilities why helmets break so often in accidents is that the head deforms slightly and the helmet tries to follow it but is too rigid and can't so snaps instead.

If you want real life you are better off looking at statistically what happens to the riding population out there when helmets are worn or not worn. But the pro-helmet lobby don't like the answers of those.

It was interesting watching the crash on Friday's Tour of Britain when they played it back in slow motion. It was a classic over the bar accident - the front wheel of one of the bikes folded with the rider still on the bike pitching him forward - yet neither helmets nor heads touched the tarmac. One rider got a broken collar bone from putting his arms out though.

So based on your thoughts Crash Test dummies serve no purpose in a car either as they can only move when an external force is applied. They have in reality taught manufacturers a hell of a lot about car safety requirements. CTD's may not be optimal but they are better than nothing. Stats are to a degree meaningless unless the actual crash was witnessed and recorded. Observation of crashes in real life is the best way of determining where improvements are needed.

 

[Red Light]

Having been solely road riding for the past two months I have come to the conclusion that I wear a helmet because it feels wrong not to wear one. Just as it does if I don't wear gloves or cycle in jeans. I tried riding without the helmet and spend so much time thinking about it not being there my riding became more dangerous as I had a lower ability to concentrate on the road environment. I am not saying that this would be true for everyone, it is simply an observation.

I had the same experience when I gave up wearing my helmet but that feeling wears off quite quickly and now its the other way round - it feels odd to wear one.

 

[Little yellow Brompton]

Once again you miss the point.

If there was a requirement for a lightweight, cool and safe helmet (conforming to real life safety tests) then it would be interesting to see what could be created. You are thinking of the past, I am thinking of the future.

If wishes were horse beggars would ride.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

I had the same experience when I gave up wearing my helmet but that feeling wears off quite quickly and now its the other way round - it feels odd to wear one.

I am a creature of habit and just don't fancy the risky time between it feeling strange and getting used to it. With my luck that will be the time I will be involved in a serious "my fault" accident.