The CycleChat Helmet Debate Thread

[Dave Davenport]

Honestly this thread should be closed.

Why?

 

[snorri]

Shall we go for a spill down Winnats Pass or the Tumble in Govilon Monmouthshire? You without a helmet and me with. Let's see who fairs better shall we?

I'm unsure of the point you are trying to make here.

 

[Cycling_Samurai]

May I refer you here where the site owner explains why this thread is necessary.

With sincere honesty, without legislation to force companies to do the right thing bike will not make safety improvements. They will make aesthetic improvements and functional additions but are not inclined to R&D the design. They make money just fine as is. So should cyclists rebel and not wear helmets? Sure go right a head if it suits you. Until that in which you get a head injury and finally realize some protection is better than none. You could be lucky fool who never wears a helmet as you do your "tour de France" through life and never hits your head. Good luck.

 

[Cycling_Samurai]

Welcome to the fray, young Samurai warrior!

I believe you are mistaken about bike helmet standards - how did you reach this conclusion?

I'm not aware of any standards. I read some mentioned in the forum. But my point is that those standards are nothing like the standards used for motorcycle helmets. That's all I'm saying. If you know more please enlighten the masses.

 

[Cycling_Samurai]

Cycle helmets are nothing like motorbike helmets.

You don't say...

 

[Dave Davenport]

With sincere honesty, without legislation to force companies to do the right thing bike will not make safety improvements.

With sincere honesty, what are you on about?

 

[Milkfloat]

You don't say...

Then why bring them up? Seriously, you keep arguing that helmets are great and that it is better to wear one than not. However, if you actually read the thread and the evidence presented you will see it is not that black and white.

 

[newfhouse]

So should cyclists rebel and not wear helmets?

Choosing not to wear a plastic hat is nothing like a rebellion - it’s a continuation of normal behaviour.

If you know more please enlighten the masses.

Have you read the thread? Nuggets of wisdom lie within. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to read and understand.

Can’t be bothered? At least read this link. Not perfect, but broadly sensible IMO.
https://www.cyclinguk.org/campaigning/views-and-briefings/cycle-helmets

 

[Dave Davenport]

Also, spouting an entrenched position and not being willing to consider others opinions, even implying that they are fools is hardly in the spirit of the thread title.

 

[Deleted User]

With sincere honesty, without legislation to force companies to do the right thing bike will not make safety improvements. They will make aesthetic improvements and functional additions but are not inclined to R&D the design. They make money just fine as is. So should cyclists rebel and not wear helmets? Sure go right a head if it suits you. Until that in which you get a head injury and finally realize some protection is better than none. You could be lucky fool who never wears a helmet as you do your "tour de France" through life and never hits your head. Good luck.

You seem a bit contradictory there, you openly admit to not wearing gloves on a Motorcycle but insist you should wear a helmet on a pushbike?

I ride both and would never ride without either for what it's worth but if people want to ride without it's up to them.

 

[Milzy]

A mate got run over on a roundabout & smashed his head on the tarmac. If he had a lid on he would have been better off. Also financial plus the insurance defended the claim saying he had no helmet. Yeah but free choice I get that.

 

[classic33]

I'm not aware of any standards. I read some mentioned in the forum. But my point is that those standards are nothing like the standards used for motorcycle helmets. That's all I'm saying. If you know more please enlighten the masses.

The biggest issue with head impacts, is the sudden deceleration. It leaves your brain "bouncing" around in the fluid within your skull. Helmet or not, which will take around six months to cease fully. Assuming no further impacts in this time.

Try looking for CPSC for some enlightenment.

I'll decide when I'll wear a helmet, not you.

 

[newfhouse]

It leaves your brain "bouncing" around in the fluid within your skull. Helmet or not, which will take around six months to cease fully.

I’m not sure I understand the physics/mechanics of this. Is the effect described anywhere?

 

[matticus]

A mate got run over on a roundabout & smashed his head on the tarmac. If he had a lid on he would have been better off. Also financial plus the insurance defended the claim saying he had no helmet. Yeah but free choice I get that.

Really?
I've got stitches in my forehead from a failry recent RTA. Clearly a helmet would have prevented that gash (but not the 3 smashed teeth).

Insurer paid out multi-thousands. My (CUK) lawyers didn't mention helmet use during the negotiations. Insurers will say all sorts of bollox at the start of a case, but that doesn't mean a judge will take any notice.

Now maybe you know the details of his case as well as I know the details of mine, but I somehow doubt that ...

 

[mjr]

A mate got run over on a roundabout & smashed his head on the tarmac. If he had a lid on he would have been better off. Also financial plus the insurance defended the claim saying he had no helmet. Yeah but free choice I get that.

I'm sorry to read that. I hope he mended. But no-one can say with certainty he would have been better off because the dynamics of the collision would have been totally different and, anyway, cycle helmets are not designed or tested for collisions. It is far more important to reduce the rate at which cyclists get run over.

Financially, he maybe would have been better off. That's one of the few valid arguments for helmet use IMO and why I feel the unsubstantiated anti-cycling shoot about clothing should be removed from the Highway Code. We're not likely to get that in the next edition, but we are expected to get a stronger push for motorists to take care around animals, riders and walkers.