Productive section or I Reckon Repetition ?

[fishfright]

Two points;

Has anyone had started or stopped wearing a helmet because of the arguments put forward on on this forum section or is it just a place for people to say the same things over and over for no overall change?

As I fail to see much discussion on most of the threads, only defending /attacking of entrenched positions, is CUKFHsf* a waste of resources or a necessary sink to stop these positions polluting other threads?

* As all the cool kids are calling it

[Psamathe]

I wear a helmet but am "unconvinced". I go through periods where I don't wear a helmet. I read the different thoughts and facts posted. People can only make sensible decisions based on knowledge. Raising and discussing different aspects will normally help people come to a decision they are comfortable with.

And given the frequent calls from politicians/car drivers/etc. (mainly non-bike riders) that helmet wearing be made compulsory I think it is an important issue to be kept aware of.

Ian

[RickH]

Reading this section has made me think & I now don't generally wear one unless obliged to* rather than for any perceived safety reason. From a position of "it seems common sense" I now don't see any benefit (& in my more militant moments think actively not wearing one is a benefit to society even if, in a few very rare instances, there could be a benefit for me personally - probably on a par to considering wearing body armour to go into Manchester )

*Examples

• I wear one when riding at Manchester Velodrome as that is the rule there.
• I do some ride leading where, as a leader, I'm obliged to wear a helmet although, thankfully, adult participants are not.
• We do short break caring (formerly known as respite) with our local Social Services for a couple of kids. I sometimes take them out on the tandem. Their current rules (which I have queried - we successfully got them to re-consider their policy on use of electric socket covers so they are open to change) are they have to wear a helmet so it is easier to wear one too rather than get into arguments about why they have to if I'm not.
• I used to wear one on the tandem with my sight impaired stoker as she wears one but stopped in the autumn. Seeing pictures of Paul Tuohy & his wife out on a tandem with Chester CTC tipped the balance for me. She was wearing a helmet & he wasn't &. My stoker has since ventured out with me lidless too & lived to tell the tale!

[mjr]

I think this was part of my decision to stop using a helmet but I've not checked my posting history to confirm that.

[pwa]

As long as people want to post here, there is a need for this sub-forum. I don't engage much with it because I have voiced my views in the past and heard what others have to say. I don't generally give the issue much thought from day to day, and it doesn't interest me much. So I avoid getting sucked back into a situation where I just bore the pants off people by repeating myself. If others find it interesting, fair enough.

[mjr]

One reason to keep this section is that people do come out with new helmet news from time to time, such as the stupid exploding collar helmet or the great work by the European Cyclists Federation.

[Steady rider]

Groups like Headway are calling for helmet laws, in France they are looking to introduce a helmet law for kids, in Norfolk the police may also a lean towards legislation viewtopic.php?f=41&t=110278.
http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/politics/ri ... _1_4758938

This forum links directly to such details and helps cyclists become aware of the issues. Research is ongoing in several ways. Cycle magazine provides very little information about the pros and cons. Certainly much of the feedback is repetitive, partly due to similar claims and counter claims. Some lies or misleading claims are also presented to support a point of view, TRL, Jersey, Headway come to mind. It is helpful for these to be exposed. Unfortunately the science and social evaluation of helmet laws is not that easy.

[Mick F]

Has anyone had started or stopped wearing a helmet because of the arguments put forward on on this forum section?

Me.

Having read numerous threads on here, I find that I'm leaning towards the side of non-helmets. I originally followed the crowd and started wearing a helmet .......... peer pressure, wife pressure, etc ................ and just sort of accepted that wearing was "normal" and expected.

After wearing a helmet for every ride for over ten years, I stopped. My helmet is now gathering dust and has done for over a year.

I went completely bald and my helmet became uncomfortable and it was just the excuse I needed to stop wearing it. I have no intention of wearing it again or even trying to make it more comfortable ............... or even buying a new one.

Yes, baldness was the spark to make me see sense about helmet-wearing.
Even if all my hair grew back, I still wouldn't wear one.

[Vorpal]

Reading on here has changed how I think about helmets.

My history with helmets has been a bit mixed. I bought one when they started to become popular in the US in the 80s (where I was living), but I didn't like it, wasn't convinced and seldom wore one. then, in the late 90s, I organised a company-sponsored team that did charity rides, the majority of which required helmets. I started wearing one most of the time, then.

When I moved to the UK, the wearing rate was rather lower than among my cycling acquaintances/club in the US, so I asked someone about it, and he explained the CTC stance on helmets without much detail. That didn't have any influence on my personal choice, but I think it made me more accepting of the relatively low helmet wearing rate in the UK.

When I joined this forum (8 years ago)I learned that this was a much more controversial issue(!) than I had previously understood, and that there was a great deal of information available on both sides of the argument. I began reading and came to the conclusion that helmets were of much less benefit than I had previously thought, and all but stopped wearing one. Then, I started teaching Bikeability, and I not only had to wear one, but require others to do so, too so I bought a new, more comfortable, and Snell tested helmet.

Since I stopped teaching Bikeability, I have gradually used a helmet less and less, but I still have one & use it sometimes.

I think that if I had not happened across the helmet subforum on here, I would have continued blithely wearing a helmet and believing that it offered worthwhile benefit, and I doubt that I am the only one.

I think that the helmet subforum offers two benefits.

1) most people don't care about and don't want to read about the Great Helmet Debate, so the subforum puts the controversy in a place where those who wish to controverse can go
2) it collects relevant information in one place so that when people do come along and ask about helmets, they can easily find suitable material and read to their hearts' (or helmets' ) content

[thirdcrank]

It's a place where common sense meets reason.

[drossall]

My impression is that many threads are started by someone coming along and saying (yet again) something to the effect of "Why don't more people wear helmets"? There has to be a place for the answers, and the repetition was getting annoying in the wider forum. (It's a bit tedious here but, short of getting one of those support-forum systems that force you to check for duplicate threads before starting a new one, it's hard to see what to do.)

I don't think many threads are started by the doubters. A few are neutral, i.e. relating to news or developments. I haven't actually done a count though.

[Cyril Haearn]

Many of us know the arguments very well but there are (one hopes) always new people taking up cycling who want to make up their own minds.

Maybe they could be offered a summary to read in five minutes.

[thirdcrank]

Sounds like a volunteer.

[fishfright]

Thanks for the inputs.

I wear a helmet on a bike due to many years mountain biking wearing a helmet and falling of enough to know they work well enough to make wearing one an automatic choice when riding a bike. Since getting into riding recumbent trikes i found that using a neck rest and wearing helmets didn't work for me so I tend not wear one when riding those until i find a solution. On any of my bikes i won't ride without one.

[mjr]

Since getting into riding recumbent trikes i found that using a neck rest and wearing helmets didn't work for me so I tend not wear one when riding those until i find a solution.

Aren't you extremely unlikely to hit the top of your head falling from a recumbent trike? Surely the tiny chance of added protection is outweighed by the chance of added damage to the neck from the added size if you fall sideways?

On any of my bikes i won't ride without one.

Risk compensation in action!