The big cycle & walk challenge...being irresponsible??

[livpoksoc]

Unsure if this has been seen by others, but if you go on the following website, they are trying to encourage people to cycle - great!?

http://www.getmeactive.org.uk/content/resources

But they also have a lot of pictures of people cycling, not wearing helmets and even cite that helmets aren't mandatory! I know they aren't a legal requirement, but surely wearing a helmet should be encouraged, not sidelined?

I do a lot of fundraising for the Wessex Neuroscience Centre and one of their leading surgeons despairs when he sees people riding without & has been known to give his business card to those who don't. I am due to give a presentation to year 7 pupils in the Autumn about cycle safety & can't believe this sort of organisation are willing to blatantly disregard helmets like this!

 

[Theseus]

Who has the popcorn?

 

[LosingFocus]

 

[Shanks]

Pulls up comfy chair, reaches for a beer and settles in watch the fun.

To the op who may wonder why these responses are coming in, please do a search for helmet debates I think there is now a whole section devoted to the topic. Don't suppose it will stop the devotees of topic from coming in.

Pass the popcorn please

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[Julesh]

This is what I love about Cycle Chat - It's alt.rec.cycling all over again

 

[mcshroom]

Just one comment for the OP - please read http://www.cyclehelmets.org/

Oh and more generally, as an engineer I would love to have a discussion with your Neurologist friend on the matter

 

[Theseus]

Does he also hand his business cards out to car drivers (who are more likely to suffer a life altering head injury than a cyclist), pedestrians and the drunks in the High Street on a Friday night?

Or is he confusing anecdote with data?

Well I would imagine that as he is an -ist and has read a lot of books on -ology.

 

[numbnuts]

 

[Sara_H]

Unsure if this has been seen by others, but if you go on the following website, they are trying to encourage people to cycle - great!?

http://www.getmeactive.org.uk/content/resources

But they also have a lot of pictures of people cycling, not wearing helmets and even cite that helmets aren't mandatory! I know they aren't a legal requirement, but surely wearing a helmet should be encouraged, not sidelined?

I do a lot of fundraising for the Wessex Neuroscience Centre and one of their leading surgeons despairs when he sees people riding without & has been known to give his business card to those who don't. I am due to give a presentation to year 7 pupils in the Autumn about cycle safety & can't believe this sort of organisation are willing to blatantly disregard helmets like this!

If this is true then please get your facts streight in advance - I'd be really angry if you came to my sons school spouting ill informed nonsence.

 

[CopperBrompton]

Make sure you advise them to wear a helmet when walking down stairs, an activity with a far greater risk of incurring a serious head injury.

 

[green1]

I do a lot of fundraising for the Wessex Neuroscience Centre and one of their leading surgeons despairs when he sees people riding without & has been known to give his business card to those who don't.

If he did that to me he'd get a neurological injury from my fist hitting his face, I'd them ask him why he wasn't wearing any boxing headgear.

 

[StuartG]

I know they aren't a legal requirement, but surely wearing a helmet should be encouraged, not sidelined?

That's a clue that its not an open and shut case. Hence your responsibility is to research and teach both sides of the controversy. Be careful of not pre-judging or of taking statements of both pro and anti-helmeteers at face value. The efficacy of helmets is a more difficult question than the zealots would care to admit.

The bottom lines is getting kids to cycle. Safety has much more to do with training, skill and experience than this issue so don't let it distract you or the kids too much. That's where the evidence/statistics are strong.

 

[CopperBrompton]

Safety has much more to do with training, skill and experience than this issue so don't let it distract you or the kids too much. That's where the evidence/statistics are strong.

Mods, can you please address this blatant introduction of commonsense into a helmet debate?

 

[Dan B]

But they also have a lot of pictures of people cycling, not wearing helmets and even cite that helmets aren't mandatory!

For cycling, walking, or both?

 

[livpoksoc]

Apologies for not directing to the right forum, and whilst there are studies that show helmets may not provide the benefit that has been claimed, it's still something that I am passionate about.

If you're happy to ride without a helmet, that's your prerogative, but for me & many others I wear one because I understand if I fall and hit my head I will likely be better off with the helmet on than off.