sapperadam wrote:I don't wish to preach too much about helmets here but something occurred to me reading this just now.
I work in an industry which is considered extremely dangerous and in fact I work on a site which includes nuclear installations so safety is, as you can imagine, absolutely paramount.
In terms of wearing a helmet on a bike, nobody will know for certain whether a helmet would have helped this poor chap, but, this is where I will take my industry wording for this. Is it "reasonably practicable" for a cyclist to wear a helmet? And the answer is clearly yes as so many of us do. That's the wording the coroner would look at and why the coroner makes suggestions about wearing helmets. It is also why I don't understand why we always make comparisons to motorists and pedestrians wearing helmets. it is NOT "reasonably practical" for them to do so. Cars have other mechanisms to protect occupants in a crash as do pedestrians to an extent (rules of the road etc, but this does need both sides to follow them and that's a different point). Same with stabbing victims wearing stab vests!?! You compare apples and oranges and come up with bananas. If we as a community want to be taken seriously we need to stop doing this and compare apples with apples!
One point to note though, if he had been wearing a helmet and he survived the crash with little more than some cuts and brusies, would we have been discussing this and extolling the merits of helmets? I think not, there would have been nothing to report on.
At last a voice of reason esp the last para. You only hear of the bad accidents and not of the 'good' ones where helmets were worn. People just pick themselves up and carry on.
I cannot see why anti cycle helmet people state that helmets on motorbikes are necessary because motorcycle accidents are more dangerous. Assuming that you don't get hit by your own bike why are they any different at say, 30mph to a cycle accident? You're still likely to come off slightly to the side and scrape your head on the ground.
My physio was stopped at lights on his motorbike when he was T boned by a Volvo coming out of a side street at 20mph. Knocked sideways and scraped across the road, hitting his head on the kerb. He walked away (but with life threatening internal injuries) and credits his helmet with saving his life. That's his professional opinion.
My wife was, until recently, a world class competitive snowboarder. She's witnessed accidents where fellow helmeted snowboarders hit their head and only suffered concussion preventing, in multiple witnesses opinion, much worse damage.
I was in rehab with a doctor who had a head injury from skiing. He had no helmet and hit a tree. After 5 years private top class neuro rehab he could stand and, held by 2 physios, take 3-5 steps. Humbling to watch believe me.
Anecdotal I know but proof for most people.
It's your choice whether to wear one but please don't dismiss their value in many accidents.
