Knocked off my bike in a cycle lane

[Pumpkin the robot]

At the very least, I didn't suffer any abrasions to my head. .

I have had 2 accidents in the last year that involved me going through car windows at 30mph+. The best thing I can say about wearing a helmet is that they stopped me getting more cuts to my head than if I had not been wearing one. In the last accident I went through the drivers side window and broke my neck. Fortunately it is being treated conservatively and I should make a full recovery, but my helmet did not save my life. I had a heated discussion with a nurse in the A nd E department about it (while she was helping to put me in a neck brace) I had to explain how a helmet worked and why mine had failed. In the end she agreed she could not say for sure it had saved my life, although a few minutes before she seemed to be an expert.

 

[Katherine]

Glad you're going to be ok! Get well soon. If it's reported locally, it will hopefully serve as a warning to other drivers and cyclists.

 

[ufkacbln]

Seriously? You're telling the guy that landed head-first into pavement and got away without so much as a bruise that his helmet failed? Sure, I'm in a neck brace, but that's from what happened after I hit head-first.

Is it?

There is a pool of evidence that suggests highly vented helmets can catch on the road surface as opposed to sliding along it. This causes neck injuries, so it may be that the neck injury would not have happened or been less severe without the helmet?

Sorry to hear about the accident, but proselyting on a single experience is not without its problems

 

[classic33]

Seriously? You're telling the guy that landed head-first into pavement and got away without so much as a bruise that his helmet failed? Sure, I'm in a neck brace, but that's from what happened after I hit head-first.

I can argue the other side. Full face helmet worn at the time I was hit. Very few vents in that one. The helmet has no apparent damage, but it added to the injury. That much was confirmed at the A&E. That had to go into the medical report sent to the other side.
Do I still wear/use one? Yes. My choice. Can we keep helmet feelings to the helmet sub-forum.

 

[benb]

Helmets that have cracked are exhibiting a rapid fracture with few little deformations, hence less energy absorption, hence failure to have delivered that which it was designed to do.

To be fair to the helmet, it means the energy exceeded that which it was designed to absorb.
So it didn't fail as such, just that the situation was outside its performance parameters and was more than it could cope with.

 

[benb]

I am not sure that is always the case. There are good grounds to suspect that some helmets failed having absorbed much less energy than they were designed for.

Any links? The testing for how much energy a helmet can absorb is pretty robust I think.

 

[benb]

If you read This article and Jim Sundahl's letter linked from it, he writes that in his study of damaged child helmets he found no evidence of foam crushing.

That site seems down at the moment, I'll have a read later.
Thanks.

 

[Pumpkin the robot]

I have just looked at my helmet and there is a bit of both. It has depressed the foam in the front/side where it has hit the door post (it is about half the thickness of the corresponding piece on the other side of the helmet), but the top of the helmet where there are also cracks and pieces missing from the helmet, there is not appreciable difference that I can measure. So on closer inspection I think the helmet has done more than I initially thought it had done.

 

[vickster]

I think this is the problem with accidents, no one can predict what might or might not have happened if the situation had been different. I banged my head on the ground in my accident and suffered no injury, but I didn't hit a solid object (i.e. a car) at 30mph. Indeed, my limited understanding is that helmets are evidentially more effective at slower speeds under 20mph than higher speeds of 30+

Seemingly my bike and leg broke my fall before my head hit the ground.
I cannot say what injury might or might not have been sustained had I not been wearing a helmet (or indeed two layers on both my torso and legs, or gloves etc) and I don't fancy replicating the situation without a helmet!

Wear a helmet or don't but if you sustain a head injury if not and make a claim, be prepared to argue against those who say you should have been. The fact I was means that this has never been any sort of question (ditto I had a hi viz vest, plenty of reflective bits on other clothing and lights on the bike) so no blame (right or wrong) has ever been directed at me based on my clothing and visibility

 

[Profpointy]

Whilst this is turning a bit into the dreaded big-H debate, I do think some of the sceptics make a bit of a leap from "helmets don't help on average", to "helmets never help ever", and even "if it cracked, it didn't help at all" rather than "it helped less than it might have done".

I'm of the sceptic persuasion myself, but that doesn't mean a helmet did not help this chap (the OP) at least a bit.

Of course, the pro-h lobby make rather worse leaps - "it's bound to help innit", and "austrialian stats don't matter cause you can prove anything with stats" and (not from folks here) even any lies are justified to promote helmets

 

[ComedyPilot]

Cars coming towards me and slowing are screaming 'cut across the cyclist'...I slow down/stop.

Cars passing me and slowing before a junction are screaming 'Left hook' - so I slow down/stop.

Cars approaching from behind that don't seem to be slowing/overtaking/moving away from me are screaming 'plough into the cyclist and just say SMIDSY '- I move away into my 'zone' that I create with assertive riding.

I have lots of near-misses, but they all have a common denominator, a collision is avoided because of my riding, not their driving.

A helmet is all very well should you get into a collision and hit the deck within the tight limits of the BS standard kite mark. I prefer to avoid collisions, ride defensively and helmet-less.

Each to their own though.

 

[ComedyPilot]

Surely this thread is not about the helmet, but about how the car came into contact with the cyclist?

 

[classic33]

To be fair, the sceptics on here have not said 'helmets never help ever'.

But the pro lobby are always saying that anyone who doesn't wear one is an idiot because a helmet always helps.

Not all

I can argue the other side. Full face helmet worn at the time I was hit. Very few vents in that one. The helmet has no apparent damage, but it added to the injury. That much was confirmed at the A&E. That had to go into the medical report sent to the other side.
Do I still wear/use one? Yes. My choice. Can we keep helmet feelings to the helmet sub-forum.

 

[annirak]

Well, I'm out. I don't need this negativity while trying to heal (apparently there's a correlation there).

So have fun debating helmets, but you're doing it without me.

 

[Drago]

Here here. If you want to wear a helmet then do so. If you don't then don't. I can't see its worth getting het up over.