Please wear a helmet when biking

[MC1]

It is great to see kids and folks of all ages out on their bikes.
But, all too often we see them without a helmet on.


My BH and I learned the lesson the hard way.

About 15 years ago after just meeting, my gal and I decided to go for a casual bike ride after a nice dinner in cottage country. We always wore a bike helmet but this time we thought we didn't need them. Well one thing led to another and our competitive nature's kicked in as we raced down a country road.

Her tire hit mine and she swerved out of control going over the handlebars and landing on a 4ft diameter metal ditch culvert, head first.

I will spare you the details but luckily we got a lift from a passer by'er to the local hospital where she got 24 stitches to fix the gash in her head. We were very lucky and she recovered with no ill effect.

Anyone for a variety of reasons can fall of a bike and have a serious injury.

Please wear a helmet.

[Evergreengirl]

Amen to that! My husband is an avid cyclist and he took a spill once while he wasn't even going fast, just cooling down after a hard ride. Although he was wearing his helmet he still suffered a mild concussion. Cracked his helmet. Better that than his head though! I see a lot of parents riding with their kids. Their kids will have helmets on but they won't. Not only stupid, but what a bad example to set for your kids!

[Frederick L. Simson]

Originally Posted by MC1

...she swerved out of control going over the handlebars and landing on a 4ft diameter metal ditch culvert, head first.

I will spare you the details but luckily we got a lift from a passer by'er to the local hospital where she got 24 stitches to fix the gash in her head. We were very lucky and she recovered with no ill effect.

Anyone for a variety of reasons can fall of a bike and have a serious injury.

Please wear a helmet.

Three years ago I got a call on my cell phone that no parent would ever want to get... especially while driving on the freeway using a Bluetooth headset.

Voice: Hello, do you know Justin Newman?

Me: Um, yeah... He lives with me. I consider him to be a foster son.

Voice: I am a nurse in the I.C.U. at Mercy Hospital. Justin was brought in last night after an accident. We are searching for his NEXT OF KIN. We found your number on his cell phone.

Me: Um... Um... (note to self: BREATHE!) could you please hold a minute? I have to pull over and stop the car.

Cyclist Hit By Opening Car Door Dies - 10News.com KGTV ABC10 San Diego

I had known Justin for 5 years. He had recently been in trouble, and I took him in when he was homeless. He had just started to turn his life around... I had to find his mother in Saint Louis, and tell the guy whose house he was in the middle of remodeling that I needed to retrieve his belongings left there.

[Mike Magee]

Back in the '50s, my sister was moving very slowly on her bike when the front tire hit an object on the sidewalk, and she tipped over and hit her head on a pipe protruding from the lawn. She was in bed recuperating for nearly a month.

[Andrew Gibbens]

This is one of those issues where everyone has their own right answer.

If you are going to fall off your bike, wearing a helmet will help - or at least do no harm. But as to whether it is safer to ride with a helmet, the jury is still out. Australia made helmets compulsory on bicycles and all they achieved is that half the number of cyclists now have the same total number of head injuries as before. Road research in my country (where the roads are small so bikes and cars come close together) indicates that drivers take significantly less care of cyclists wearing helmets (even if they don't believe it).

Us cyclists also change our behaviour - everyone thinks this doesn't apply to them, but it does. Have seat belts and airbags eliminated road deaths as they should have? No, vehicle drivers now take less care as vehicles have become safer, so the overall risk remains about the same.

I try not wearing a helmet just occasionally, to remind myself of how much more vulnerable (and probably careful) it makes me.

But the other big thing, most particularly for kids, is to always wear gloves. Unless you are unlucky and hit your head on something as you fall off, a helmet will often not make a difference, but there is almost nobody who can resist putting their hands down to break their fall and damage to the skin of your hands is very serious and you may never get full movement back.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Andrew Gibbens

This is one of those issues where everyone has their own right answer.

If you are going to fall off your bike, wearing a helmet will help - or at least do no harm. But as to whether it is safer to ride with a helmet, the jury is still out. Australia made helmets compulsory on bicycles and all they achieved is that half the number of cyclists now have the same total number of head injuries as before. Road research in my country (where the roads are small so bikes and cars come close together) indicates that drivers take significantly less care of cyclists wearing helmets (even if they don't believe it).

Us cyclists also change our behaviour - everyone thinks this doesn't apply to them, but it does. Have seat belts and airbags eliminated road deaths as they should have? No, vehicle drivers now take less care as vehicles have become safer, so the overall risk remains about the same.

I try not wearing a helmet just occasionally, to remind myself of how much more vulnerable (and probably careful) it makes me.

But the other big thing, most particularly for kids, is to always wear gloves. Unless you are unlucky and hit your head on something as you fall off, a helmet will often not make a difference, but there is almost nobody who can resist putting their hands down to break their fall and damage to the skin of your hands is very serious and you may never get full movement back.

Andrew, I'm not sure where you got your information from, but according the US stats a helmet seems to save lives. From one study " Helmets provide a 66 to 88% reduction in the risk of head, brain and severe brain injury for all ages of bicyclists. Helmets provide equal levels of protection for crashes involving motor vehicles (69%) and crashes from all other causes (68%). Injuries to the upper and mid facial areas are reduced 65%. " Here's the link

It seems like when ever there's a new safety device there's this claim. The bottom line is a helmet saves lives and reduces other types of injuries.

[floyd]

Is one of these guys... "stupid"?

[Glenn Baglo]

Longing for the good old days, when you didn't have to wear a seat belt and could drink and drive.
It was OK to leave your kids and pets in a locked car in the heat of summer, while you plugged a slot machine in a casino.
Those were the days, my friend.

[Lil M.]

I'm going to put in a plug for wearing a helmet while skiing as well.

Year before last I was downhill skiing in Utah when I caught an edge and fell backwards smacking the back of my head into the hill. I hit the ground hard and it stunned me for a second or two. I remember laying there thinking am I OK?? I wiggled legs and arms, moved my head side to side, and just lay there for a minute or two. I know if I hadn't been wearing that helmet, they would have been taking me unconscious or worse down the hill on a stretcher.

[ruscal]

Nowadays helmets are so light and well ventilated that there is really no downside to wearing them. They won't prevent all injuries, but really help in blunt force situations. I would much prefer to enter a car through the windshield while wearing a helmet. Bike helmets are made to be replaced after a hit. They are a one time use. Motorsports helmets offer much more protection, but would be way too hot to use for anything but downhill events. If your head is worth more than $89.00 you should use one.
Russ

[ruscal]

Originally Posted by floyd

Is one of these guys... "stupid"?

Relativity so.

[RogerDat]

Many years ago there was an advertisement in the motorcycle shop that said if you have a $10 head then buy a $10 helmet, otherwise buy Bell. (Bell Helmets were pretty pricy but nice). Mine fell off the seat of the bike and cracked like an egg?

I figure we are all just an eye blink from disaster most of the time. Steven King was hit by a distracted motorist while walking well off of the road. My friend missed the guy wire for a telephone pole by a foot when his motorcycle went down. He got up and walked it off. That wire would have sliced him like cheese.

I tend to favor shading the odds in my favor, wore leathers and a helmet when riding. Installed brakes on a 13 ft. trailer despite being half my tow capacity. That said I would not expect miracles because you and your bike vs 3000 lb. car or your body at 20 mph meets stationary metal or concrete your going to get hurt. How bad is the only question. Auto windshield with or without a helmet surviving is either luck or an especially diligent guardian angel.

[Huck]

In looking at the stats, if you don't want to die in a bicycle accident:

• Don't be male
• Don't ride in an urban area
• Don't ride after 4 pm
• Don't drink and ride

I can't tell if a helmet makes any difference because the stats I found compare deaths by wearing helmet/not wearing helmet, but leave out total number of riders. IF most riders don't wear helmets, wouldn't one assume most deaths would be of riders not wearing a helmet? If helmets are as beneficial as the articles lead one to believe, I wonder why they leave out total ridership?

For example, let's say there are 100 bike riders and 90 don't wear a helmet. Now lets assume 10% are killed while riding. That's 9 not wearing a helmet and 1 wearing a helmet. So pro helmet articles would say for bicycle riding deaths in year x, 9 were not wearing a helmet and one was wearing a helmet. This would be misleading at best.

Could it be that in general, riders who die in accidents tend to ride in urban areas and tend to ride faster than is safe to ride in these areas? Could it be that they ride in areas having lots of auto traffic? Could it be that they ride after 4 pm? Or could it be that some of them are riding bikes while intoxicated?

I have decided to buy a mirror because I think that is probably the best bike safety device there is. A helmet protects your head when you are in an accident and a mirror might prevent the accident. So if you really want to be safe, get both.

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by floyd

Is one of these guys... "stupid"?

Not a fair comparison, Floyd. In Einstein's time there was no such thing as a bicycle helmet. As a kid growing up in the. 50s, I never even saw a bicycle helmet. Who's to say what AE would have done if he were alive and riding a bicycle today?

That being said, I am 100% for freedom of choice, whether you are riding a bicycle, a motorcycle, rock climbing, or even walking down the road. Summing up, if it makes you happy and gives you a sense of security to wear a helmet, then do so, but stop preaching to those who choose not to. Let's allow individuals to be responsible if there are consequences for their choices, e.g., I will NEVER concede that McDonalds is responsible for someone getting burned by hot coffee because they were stupid (yes, stupid) enough to put the cup between their legs in a moving car. I do wear a bicycle helmet but that is because I choose to do so. And I will apologize in advance if my opinion offends someone, but we all have a right to choose what our opinions will be.


Sent via Mental Telepathy directly to Fiberglass RV

[Andrew Gibbens]

I wouldn't think of riding far without putting on a helmet - and I would rank anyone riding without gloves as dumb.

But the results of the great Australian Cycle Helmet Experiment are interesting - cycle hemlmets were made compulsory and the result (in broad terms) was that the number of cyclists was halved, but those remaining cyclists had the same number of head injuries as before the law was introduced.

One logical explanation is that while wearing a helmet is good for you if/when you crash, wearing a helmet increases the likelihood that you will be in a crash by about the same amount.

[Huck]

Originally Posted by Andrew Gibbens

I wouldn't think of riding far without putting on a helmet - and I would rank anyone riding without gloves as dumb.

But the results of the great Australian Cycle Helmet Experiment are interesting - cycle hemlmets were made compulsory and the result (in broad terms) was that the number of cyclists was halved, but those remaining cyclists had the same number of head injuries as before the law was introduced.

One logical explanation is that while wearing a helmet is good for you if/when you crash, wearing a helmet increases the likelihood that you will be in a crash by about the same amount.

Or maybe if you are wearing a helmet, when in an accident you think your head is protected so you lead with your head instead of trying to protect it as you would if not wearing a helmet. That's assuming you have enough time to position your head, which I would think in most cases you would.

[Andrew Gibbens]

Data from here, where most cyclists are sharing roads with cars, is that drivers passing helmeted cyclists leave half the gap they would leave if the cyclist isn't helmeted.

So it may be simply that wearing a helmet encourages other vehicle drivers to take less care of you.

"That couldn't apply to me, as I take good care when passing cyclists" is a common response but it doesn't mean it's true!

[MC1]

Originally Posted by floyd

Is one of these guys... "stupid"?

It goes to show that no mater how smart you are there is always something new to learn about safety.

A few years ago I was in a bike race. At the end of the race there was a 100 yard sprint to the finish line. There was a young gal in front of me and I was trying to chase her down. Not enough gas in the tank to catch her at the line but was right on her back wheel "drafting" when we went over the line.

At that point we were reaching over 30klm's an hour and for whatever reason she locked up the disc brakes on her bike and went down. I hammered my brakes, locked up the front wheel, and went flying over the handlebars sailing over the girl and hitting the pavement about 10' past her. Stood up right away to see if everything was still in place. When I got home had a huge bruise on my side and my $150. helmet was cracked. The incident sent me to physio for a few weeks but not even a head ache from the crash.

PS... Over the past 15 years of bike riding (over 70,000klm's ) ,a 100 bike races, and some very aggressive bike rides I had many spills and crashes. The helmet was a must and with all the scratches on it I'm sure it did it's job well.

[C&G in FL]

It would seem to me that all the advocates of helmet wear are not going to convince non-wearers, and the non-wearers are not going to sway those who wish to wear with statistics that drivers get closer to bicyclists wearing helmets or that knowing one has a helmet on might lead to overconfidence. All the arguments are not going to change anyone's opinion or riding habits, so this is really a moot discussion.


Sent via Mental Telepathy directly to Fiberglass RV

[Donna D.]

Carl is correct. Opinions are like belly buttons, everybody has one.