Why are UK cyclists fixated on helmets

[Nigel-YZ1]

I'm gonna patent my idea now for dancing helmets. Surely all that jumping about while half drunk and trying to impress others is dangerous

 

[lip03]

Shumi hit his noggin at 12 mph in the slopes, the helmet he was wearing saved his life.... different scenario but thats the reason I wear mine and the reason I think they are a good idea, but its up to the individual I supoose, as for media and clever advertising I have never seen a marketing campaign for a cycle helmet...

 

[ufkacbln]

Not when I'm triaging it's not. We also don't use the title Casualty anymore. The BBC have a lot to answer for!

On a serious note....

Our Trust published a leaflet on resuscitation some years ago explaining that the expectations from Casualty and such were unrealistic and that whilst we would do our best the miracles that happened on TV were rare in real life

Less seriously..
I have never been more impressed than the occasion where a broken neck was missed and then discovered at the last minute from the X-Ray of a foot

If only the NHS had such
skilled criticisms

 

[Leodis]

Lycra and helmets turn women on, FACT!

 

[ufkacbln]

This is one of the reasons why I love the Thudguard

It is a tongue in cheek reference that
mirrors the helmet debate exactly

Everything is there from the pseudo-Science through the same testimonials through the Thudguard saved my child's life to the wear a Thudguard or your child will become a vegetable

Questioning the rationale by offering an identical situation is one way of showing the problems within the debate

 

[ufkacbln]

Lycra and helmets turn women on, FACT!

Allegedly.....

 

[snorri]

Cyclists end up looking not just like the Mekon, but a pudgy Mekon with an enormous arse and duck's feet.

Indeed, I wonder at times if they are from another planet.

 

[Sara_H]

On a serious note....

Our Trust published a leaflet on resuscitation some years ago explaining that the expectations from Casualty and such were unrealistic and that whilst we would do our best the miracles that happened on TV were rare in real life

Less seriously..
I have never been more impressed than the occasion where a broken neck was missed and then discovered at the last minute from the X-Ray of a foot

If only the NHS had such
skilled criticisms

Actually, I remember from a dim and distant acute spinal injuries course I did that there is a particular kind of fracture in the bone of the heel that often accompanies a spinal fracture. It happens when someone falls from height and lands on their feet. So not so silly as it would seem.

Anyway, we digress!

 

[GrumpyGregry]

And not just any old lycra ... full racing kit with bibs and braces and all that jazz. One of the anti-helmet arguments is that it makes cycling out as something special for special people with special gear. The same applies to racing kit, and those great big trianglar road cleats. I think the anti-helmet, anti hi-vis grumblers should add this to their arsenal. Cyclists end up looking not just like the Mekon, but a pudgy Mekon with an enormous arse and duck's feet.

Nobber. I now need a new keyboard.

 

[roadrash]

Does polishing your helmet cause it too crack

better ask @Fnaar

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Shumi hit his noggin at 12 mph in the slopes, the helmet he was wearing saved his life.... different scenario but thats the reason I wear mine and the reason I think they are a good idea,

????

the investigator is on record as having reviewed the footage from the helmet cam and as having said "completely normal behaviour by a good skier on this terrain". Good skiers tend to be fast skiers.

If he had a sub 80 joule impact on a rock then a Snell certified helmet might have helped but a CE one? Well who knows. European helmets don't have to be Snell certified and the CE test standard is a waste of space.

 

[middleagecyclist]

Actually, I remember from a dim and distant acute spinal injuries course I did that there is a particular kind of fracture in the bone of the heel that often accompanies a spinal fracture. It happens when someone falls from height and lands on their feet. So not so silly as it would seem.

Fracture of the Calcaneum (heel bone). Would suggest possible spinal injury but usually not of the Cervical spine (neck) unless other injuries were sustained.

 

[anothersam]

I'd like to pop in again and ask a serious question. Helmet believers/wearers always end their posts with 'But I don't care at all whether other people wear helmets or not', or similar.

Why don't they just shut up about it then? In the creep towards possible compulsion they have nothing to lose - but we have. [my bold]

This is the only thing that makes me even slightly "anti-helmet", much as I dislike that description, as it usually seems to be a twisting of the pro-choice stance which further polarises debate. I think most of us who go bare headed just want to be left alone, and are happy to return the favour unless provoked.

When in the states a couple of years ago, my cousin mentioned that she doesn't ride her bike any more because "we're supposed to wear a helmet these days" so I guess it's not just a UK thing.

This interested me enough to look up the laws state by state [source]. There is no compulsion by any of the states for an adult to wear a helmet. However, in a fair number of states minors have to. Legalities aside, I agree the US is, by and large, pro-helmet.

Don't even think about pedalling down your driveway without a helmet... Don't even think about being friends with someone who would cycle without a helmet.

Spotted in a book I picked up in a shop across the pond

Helmets, there is no argument, I mean, everyone should have one

Nothing to add, I just got a kick out of this pic.

 

[MontyVeda]

I should have been a little clearer @anothersam .... my cousin's stance was that since people in general seem to think cyclists are supposed to wear helmets these days, the idea of going out for a bike ride is a little less attractive to her. Whether this is because she doesn't want to wear a lid, or because she simply hasn't got round to buying a lid yet, I don't know.

 

[anothersam]

Thanks for the clarification, though I figured something like that. Looking up the laws (assuming that site is accurate) was just to satisfy my own curiosity.

---
Forgot to add to my post above: some municipalities within states may have helmet laws affecting adults. I'd be interested to learn if anybody has run into this.
---

When I was growing up in smalltown Ohio and riding all over the damn place in the 70s/80s, a helmet would've looked distinctly odd. Now, alas, the fact that anyone is on a bike at all is the thing that's odd. Shame, as it's a great place to cycle.