Why are UK cyclists fixated on helmets

[Brandane]

I've worn a helmet for 14 years since a work mate at the time told me of her brother not surviving a low speed collision with a car on the A59. According to her the "specialist" told her he's have survived but been brain damaged if he'd have worn a helmet.

Just my personal opinion here of course, but I would rather NOT survive, than end up brain damaged. Depending on the extent of the damage of course, but I wouldn't like to think I was going to end up a burden on someone else, with no ability to live my life as I would like to.

 

[ComedyPilot]

OP - Not all UK cyclists are helmet obsessed.

Like @User13710 @Brandane and a fair few others, I ride a few thousand miles a year with nothing between me and the elements other than a nice cloth cap/bandana (if anything)

The lack of a pudding bowl does not detract from my enjoyment of the ride, moreover it actually enhances it.

I am an adult that makes his own decisions, and takes responsibility for his own safety. I ride in a safe, assertive, predictable manner, and watch where I am going by looking well up the road. I don't go hell for leather down hills to see how fast i can go, because I'm not 13 anymore. I anticipate road hazards/conditions that could have me off - gravel on corners, overbanding, potholes, white lines when wet.

Having toured outside the UK, I can assure the OP and others that the UK is a wierd place to cycle compared to the NL or Germany. There seems to be an 'All the gear, no idea' mindset about the British. We (them not me) seem to be very image-conscious, and worried about what people make think of us if we don't comply to societal/media promoted 'norms'. Thus someone started saying cyclists have to wear helmets and the rot set in.

I liken it very much to the implementation of health and safety, but whereas PPE would normally be the last consideration, with cycling for some people in the media/interweb/non-cyclists PPE, helmets/gloves/hi-viz (bleurgh ) seems to be the magical cure all.

It's not.

It is a shameful abdication of responsibility onto the most vulnerable of road users.

If we hit you and you get hurt, it's your fault for not wearing a helmet???? I must have missed that lesson....

I am not responsible for leaving swaithes of gravel on the corner, I am not responsible for the road surface that would make the cratered moon surface look like a snooker table. I don't buy into the latest must-have 150psi lightweight racing tyre that blows out when it so much as touches a flint. I aren't the person driving a car whilst trying to check the twitter status of my followers. I aren't the one LOL'ing on FB to my buddies instead of concentrating on my driving. I aren't the one saddled with a 3 year £400.00 per month bank loan for the latest 'must-have' crotch rocket that the advertisers promised would be driven on deserted streets only to find myself stuck nose to tail in traffic - getting increasingly frustrated at free-loading cyclists.

As well as the above there are a myriad of causes to bike crashes/road safety incidents, and a 'grown-up' and experienced approach to riding will eliminate most if not all of them.

The more miles I ride without helmet in safety, the more it adds to my experience and ability, and the more it shows that I have no need for a helmet.

It's like the whole country has gone risk-averse in its attitude to life, and that is a totally alien concept to me. Life is an adventure. Get out there and grab it by the balls.

Starting to waffle......

 

[ComedyPilot]

Spot the difference?

We (them again, not me) have got it so wrong.

 

[Accy cyclist]

Just my personal opinion here of course, but I would rather NOT survive, than end up brain damaged. Depending on the extent of the damage of course, but I wouldn't like to think I was going to end up a burden on someone else, with no ability to live my life as I would like too.

I don't know? When they say brain damaged i think people automatically think of to put it crudely,someone slavering in a wheelchair unaware of their surroundings,but doesn't losing say your memory or your sense of smell for example come under the "brain damaged"category?

 

[Sara_H]

Lots of events won't allow you to participate unless you wear a helmet. It should always remain a personal choice IMHO. My choice is to wear one most of the time I'm riding, but if others don't want to, it should be up to them.

This is true. I was looking at joining a local womens only group ride, but rule no 1 was "No helmet, no ride". Fack off then was my thought.

 

[MarkF]

This is true. I was looking at joining a local womens only group ride, but rule no 1 was "No helmet, no ride". Fack off then was my thought.

Yeah, I won't go through the whole ridiculous story again, but, my daughter was banned from her school cycling day activities for refusing to wear a helmet. She is the only girl in the entire school to cycle to it, before, or after, cycling day.

 

[Sara_H]

Interestingly, the nurse at St George's A&E said a helmet can be the difference between arriving in an ambulance or helicopter which I thought was interesting, as he would know being the main SW London trauma centre!

I've worked as an ICU nurse in the main paediatric trauma centre in my region for 15 years. I can assure you that medics generally have no more clue about helmet efficacy than the man in the street. I've known colleagues make comments to patients families based entirely on the misinformation that the public at large base their opinions on.
I'd take with a very large pinch of salt any comments any nurse/doctor/paramedic/radiographer/neurosurgeon makes about helmet efficacy, unless they can also wax lyrical about where they get their stats from.

I've often asked colleagues to think for a minute about where the vast majority of serious head injuries we treat are sustained, and then ask them if they'll be wearing a helmet in the car on the way home. This is usually followed by the stunned silence of someone who's just been subjected to a revelation!

 

[steveindenmark]

Comedy Pilot. I stand corrected. Not All but an awful lot of them.

Why would a solicitor need to know if you were wearing a helmet if there is no legal requirement to do so? It looks like the legal system has been sucked in as well. The same goes for insurance companies. How can they refuse a claim if you are complying with all the requirements of the law? But we all know they will try anything.

I can see a couple of the hard core helmet people joined in with this, and thats good. But reading between the Lines it looks like this helmet fetish could be coming to an end.

It was good to see that this topic can be talked about at length without someone throwing the teddy off the bike.

It is interesting to see on the internet that you can find just as much information to refute the use of helmets as you can to support the good they do. You cant see that when it comes to motorbike helmets. Why is that?

Steve

 

[Sara_H]

Anyway, whenever I've fallen off my bike, I've landed on my bum. And I've never seen a helmet big enough to protect my arse!

 

[jefmcg]

I'm currently somewhere where helmets are compulsory, and at the end of 106km ride was pretty close to heat exhaustion. I stopped, removed my helmet and illegally cycled the last km home safely but illegally.

 

[vickster]

I've worked as an ICU nurse in the main paediatric trauma centre in my region for 15 years. I can assure you that medics generally have no more clue about helmet efficacy than the man in the street. I've known colleagues make comments to patients families based entirely on the misinformation that the public at large base their opinions on.
I'd take with a very large pinch of salt any comments any nurse/doctor/paramedic/radiographer/neurosurgeon makes about helmet efficacy, unless they can also wax lyrical about where they get their stats from.

I've often asked colleagues to think for a minute about where the vast majority of serious head injuries we treat are sustained, and then ask them if they'll be wearing a helmet in the car on the way home. This is usually followed by the stunned silence of someone who's just been subjected to a revelation!

All I can say is that when my head hit the A24, I was very glad there was something else between my skull and the road other than my hair..as I said I don't particularly care what other cyclists do or think

 

[Sara_H]

All I can say is that when my head hit the A24, I was very glad there was something else between my skull and the road other than my hair..as I said I don't particularly care what other cyclists do or think

Which is as it should be, I was just making the observation that comments from medics about helmet efficacy are generally no more well informed than those of the the public at large, not commenting in any way on your views or choices.

 

[Spoked Wheels]

As well as using this forum, I also use cycling forums in Denmark, Germany, Holland, France and Spain.

I am not being flippant or funny, I am genuinely curious about this topic.

How did the UK cyclists become so obsessed with the subject of cycle helmets, when most of the commuting cyclists in the rest of Europe dont wear them and dont talk about them on their forums.

I accept that cyclists who race wear them all over Europe. But to see cycle commuters wearing helmets in the rest of Europe is rare. Look at any Youtube clip of cyclists in Holland or Denmark. To see what I mean.

On this forum the subject of cycle helmets is often raised, even if the original post has nothing to do with helmets. They are defended and derided vehmently, but they seem to sneak into every topic.

Personally, I think they are a personal choice and I have several. I sometimes wear them I sometimes dont, as is my choice.

So why is the UK the only country, probably in the World, that is so adamant about helmets. Is it media or advertising pressure? What is it?

Steve

I don't know the answer but the two countries you mentioned, Holland and Denmark, have an infinitely better cycling infrastructure than here in the UK. There is a real respect from vehicle drivers towards cyclists which makes a huge difference. I don't think cyclists have to worry too much about being run over by the next motor vehicle.

Yesterday I went out for a ride that I had to cut short cause a near collision with a car. I was going round a blind bend when a car came from the opposite direction and taking more than half of my lane. Fortunately I was riding close to the kerb otherwise I wouldn't be telling the story.
Had I been in a car then that would have been a serious accident for sure.

It's my choice to wear a helmet and I respect those ones that choose not to do so.

 

[MontyVeda]

I used to work for a national online florist... people would ring up and ask to buy a bunch of flowers, and part of the job of those taking the calls was to try to upsell them either a bigger bunch of flowers, as well as a box of chocolates, bottle of wine or champers, a nice vase or maybe even a teddy bear.

Walk into any electronics shop to buy a DVD or BluRay player and chances are they'll try to sell you an over priced gold plated diamond tipped HDMI cable for some ridiculous sum of money.

When people walk in to a cycle shop to buy a bike, the salespeeps are briefed to upsell them a pump, puncture repair kit, a set of lights, a hi-vis vest and yes... a helmet.

Upselling with emotive statistics has got to be a factor.

 

[summerdays]

I used to work for a national online florist... people would ring up and ask to buy a bunch of flowers, and part of the job of those taking the calls was to try to upsell them either a bigger bunch of flowers, as well as a box of chocolates, bottle of wine or champers, a nice vase or maybe even a teddy bear.

Walk into any electronics shop to buy a DVD or BluRay player and chances are they'll try to sell you an over priced gold plated diamond tipped HDMI cable for some ridiculous sum of money.

When people walk in to a cycle shop to buy a bike, the salespeeps are briefed to upsell them a pump, puncture repair kit, a set of lights, a hi-vis vest and yes... a helmet.

Upselling with emotive statistics has got to be a factor.

But then why aren't they upsold with a car or a coat and umbrella?