Why wouldn't you wear a helmet

[Dan B]

Aren't brains more important than elbows or knees though?

Nobody asked about brains. The thing which helmets are claimed to protect against are "a nasty bang on the head. gravel rash, possible stitches, mild concussion", and all of those except the concussion are exactly as serious as they would be inflicted on any other part of the body.

Also, frankly, I'm much more likely to skin a knee or an elbow than I am my head

 

[Drago]

If we acknowledge a helmet offers a bit more protection during low speed impact to your head than

I can't acknowledge that, because there is nothing even approaching firm evidence that they reduce the likelihood of death or serious injury.

They may, or may not, offer some protection to lesser scuffs and grazes, but even that hasn't been researched properly. Indeed, there is some evidence they can turn minor scuffs into disabling or deadly rotational injuries.

In over 40 years of cycling the only bad spill I ever had resulted in a broken leg. A helmet will clearly have been of zero utility in reducing that injury.

So they're not proven to work, can sometimes turn minor injuries into serious or fatal ones, in over 4 decades I've never had an incident requiring one, so perhaps you tell me why I should want to wear one?

 

[markharry66]

Choice is a wonderful thing I choose not and dont want to justify why not.

 

[mcshroom]

Because cycling isn't dangerous.

I don't accept the skewed premises in the OP about effectiveness either.

 

[Rooster1]

Best not to judge cyclists who don't wear helmets, it's their choice and they are no less worthy of respect for it. That's what i've learnt anyhow.
The law may dictate this one day, but for now, let it be.

 

[glenn forger]

Ever found an old cheese straw down the side of the settee? If you take it and twist it it will shatter. That's what will happen to your spine if you wear a helmet. Helmet wearers are voluntarily placing themselves at risk of paralysis, making collisions more likely and encouraging close passes. Any cyclist who wears a stupid styrofoam hat is basically a traitor and a masochist and they deserve to be shunned or at the least gently ribbed.

 

[w00hoo_kent]

I wear my cycle cap, in the summer when it's hot.
I wear my woollen hat in the winter when it's not.
And sometimes in the springtime and sometimes in the fall,
I jump right up upon the bike with nothing on at all.

That's the time when you should see me
That's the time when you should see me
That's the time when you should see me
When I jump right up upon the bike with nothing on at all...

(with apologies to a life spent with a Guide leader and to anyone taking this seriously.)

 

[Bazzer]

I wear one, but am thinking of stopping. In my spills as an adult, the helmet would have been likely to prevent head damage once. - I draw this conclusion from the fact that on the one ocassion, the outershell and the underlying material were both severely damaged through my head both hitting and then dragging on the road surface.
The reason I am coming to this way of thinking, is because my elbows, knees hands and hips have taken more punishment during the spills than my head has ever done and I ask myself, "Do I want to look like a 7 year old dressed by his/her parents, for his/her first visit to a skateboard park?". The answer is no. Plus if I went for protection of the bits which have taken the brunt of my spills, my cycling would be much less defensive.

I enjoy my bike and cycling isn't a dangerous pastime. In fact my other pastime can be way more dangerous in terms of permanent effects on the body or ultimately fatal consequences.

 

[w00hoo_kent]

Serious answer. I wear a helmet when I commute because there are lots of cars around that might hit me and I feel more comfortable wearing it. Although I've forgotten it a couple of times and not felt particularly uncomfortable without. I'm a creature of habit though. If I go back to running a camera, which I'm vaguely intending to, it's a handy place to attach it. Aside from anything else it being weird attracts attention and if someone is staring at me, it means they've seen me, which I consider a win.

I wear a baseball cap when I fancy it. Often when leisure riding with lots less cars around. But I've done a FNRTTC in a baseball cap (and one in a helmet) and was fine with both, the ride with a helmet was because I was taking part after commuting in in the morning. My biggest worry with the cap is the peak catching the wind and it blowing off. It's not crashing and dying.

It's not particularly bike dependent. It's only kind of trip dependent. I'm probably slightly more likely to wear a helmet if riding solo (which is all my commutes and was most training rides for the Ride London 86 last year, which demanded a helment anyway, so I put one on.)

Only exception, when I'm riding purely off tarmac on the hard tail I wear a helmet. I'm much more likely to fall off and hit something head first (probably a tree) and my years of dirt biking on MX bikes means I truly feel out of sorts riding on dirt without a helmet.

 

[Rob3rt]

This isn't about helmet effectiveness/ineffectiveness its about attitudes to helmets.

If we acknowledge a helmet offers a bit more protection during low speed impact to your head than
A) Nothing
B) a cloth cap

and if you accept you CAN fall off your bike, however rarely - it can happen

So for the sake of a few quid you could avoid a nasty bang on the head. gravel rash, possible stitches, mild concussion, in the even of an accident,

why wouldn't you wear a helmet ?

you probably wear gloves to protect your hands

so whats it about helmets that you don't like?

Those two statements are at odds with each other.

 

[Profpointy]

This isn't about helmet effectiveness/ineffectiveness its about attitudes to helmets.

If we acknowledge a helmet offers a bit more protection during low speed impact to your head than
A) Nothing
B) a cloth cap

and if you accept you CAN fall off your bike, however rarely - it can happen

So for the sake of a few quid you could avoid a nasty bang on the head. gravel rash, possible stitches, mild concussion, in the even of an accident,

why wouldn't you wear a helmet ?

you probably wear gloves to protect your hands

so whats it about helmets that you don't like?

This is begging the question. You have assumed that they help and then asked "why not". The question you first need to address is "do they help?" and to be valid, this needs to be considered on a population basis not just on people who've hit their heads. Even if they do help, there's a follow up question as to whether they help enough to be worth bothering with - eg in comparison with say pedestrian helmets / thudguards. Then there's a cost-benefit -

But first question is "do they help(much)"

 

[summerdays]

A helmet has its uses ... Helps keep the sun or rain out of my eyes, head warm in winter, and stops my hair blowing in my face. But whether it makes me any safer I've yet to see any evidence that it has been tested in the kind of ways I would want it to help, and seen that there is some evidence to the contrary.

I don't like how non cyclists and some cyclists think a helmet is the most important thing for your safety, it's so far down the list of things that can help you, whereas it's the first thing that will be brought up in an argument, actually motorists paying attention, not on mobiles, obeying traffic regulations fully and giving me space would be the greatest help to my safety. Not a bit of plastic and foam.

 

[benb]

OP: Let's pretend that helmets are somewhat effective in a small range of situations.
Your arguments are just as valid when used in support of pedestrian helmets.

So to avoid coming across as a massive hypocrite, please confirm that you also wear a helmet when walking.

 

[Licramite]

OP: Let's pretend that helmets are somewhat effective in a small range of situations.
Your arguments are just as valid when used in support of pedestrian helmets.

So to avoid coming across as a massive hypocrite, please confirm that you also wear a helmet when walking.

i used to - but that was in northern ireland.

 

[Drago]

Let's pretend that eating cake didn't make you fat.

Why would you not eat it?