Are head injuries something you worry about when cycling?

[Cunobelin]

Hi,

What's the point.

Anyone who worries at all about head injuries is VERY unlikely to post here............because they are afraid to face the onslaught of needling by non helmet wearers.
Its a club.

You might as well talk about deep cleaning chains.

I do wear a helmet but the thought of head injuries is not in my mind, if at all.
Its more that I will suffer crippling injuries to the rest of my body, and that will be being hit by a motor vehicle.

My reasons for wearing a helmet-
I like it.
Peak keeps sun and flies out of my eyes, (I do wear protective glasses).
Keeps rain off my head until you stop moving.
I have a good neck so no problem after 250 mile day rides
Warmer in winter.
Cooler in summer.

I fell over in the bath a few weeks back...............hit my head on bath.......1st time ever hope its the last.........much more likely maybe than hitting my head falling off bike which is also a first 10 months ago, scrapped cracked helmet and put on new one. Riding for 50 years knocked off by a foreign driver 43 years ago, stiff leg all week.

Don't buy a car which has a reputation for instantaneous combustion there have been some over the years.
Don't sleep in a bunk bed..........if you are prone to sleepwalking
Don't over soap your feet in the shower / bath

Always amuses me....

It is quite acceptable for pro- helmeteers to post things like "Wear a helmet or you will spend the rest of your life sucking soap through a straw whilst your family wipe your bottom" yet anyone challenging these lies, and emotional blackmail is not acceptable

[Jon Lucas]

I do sometimes worry about head injuries when I'm travelling, but it is always when I am a passenger in a car. I don't drive myself and tend not to travel in cars unless I have to, and part of the reason is that I am not in control there. There have been times, especially when I've been in the front seat, and find I'm being driven at too high a speed by someone whose driving skills seem very poor, and then I do look out of the windscreen, watching large vehicles coming towards us, and get concerned.

Because so many people get their experience of roads from cars, I suspect this feeling has permeated our general consciousness to the extent that it became very easy to then make messages of vulnerability from it, which we have got used to over the years. But as someone who cycles regularly, I see things from the perspective of being able to control situations or being able to react quickly to sudden events which may lead to injuries. This is a very different outlook, and I suspect explains why I have less worries from being a cyclist than for those whose experience of roads comes mainly from other ways of travelling.

Which is why I felt this thread was worth starting, to see if that is how other cyclists see themselves.

[landsurfer]

40 years of competitive TT and general touring ... 1 head injury ... knocked off by fellow cyclist ! Mick Gaze ... where are you now ..

[Vorpal]

I don't usually wear a helmet, and I mostly don't worry about head injury. But when I'm going fast down hill, along side one of those metal crash barriers, I can't help but think about what that would likely do to my head, were I to hit it. Would a helmet help? Maybe a little.

But head injuries aren't something I normally worry about.

[LollyKat]

I don't usually wear a helmet, and I mostly don't worry about head injury. But when I'm going fast down hill, along side one of those metal crash barriers, I can't help but think about what that would likely do to my head, were I to hit it. Would a helmet help? Maybe a little.

But if you were wearing a helmet you might feel free to go even faster!

[Vorpal]

I don't usually wear a helmet, and I mostly don't worry about head injury. But when I'm going fast down hill, along side one of those metal crash barriers, I can't help but think about what that would likely do to my head, were I to hit it. Would a helmet help? Maybe a little.

But if you were wearing a helmet you might feel free to go even faster!

[The utility cyclist]

"Are head injuries something you worry about when cycling?"

nope, not once, I don't worry/think about traumatic injury.
I think about terrain/road surface/debris, weather, drivers of motors+ their machine, pedestrians, other cyclists, animals, low lying trees, signage, feel of bike, gear change/braking/tyre pressure, cornering speed, road position, changing route, light phases, where road improvements could be made, etc etc. Who has time to think about injury
Would you pose same question on walking or driving forum out of curiosity?

I always wear gloves, even nipping the 600m to the post office/off license for milk I'll wear without fail. To me gloves and sunglasses are far more important as safety devices, they'll save more lives than helmets ever will
non helmet wearer, not ever, started road riding in 1983 casually/leisure, daily rush hour commuter by '86 when I was 17, that was through a busy industrial area with lots of lorries and into city centre.

[random37]

Absolutely not. If I did, I probably wouldn't want to ride a bike anymore.

[softlips]

I always wear an helmet, modern ones let your head breathe well and I don’t overheat in them.

Do I worry about head injuries?

Not really, and I’ve worked in A&E and still work in hospitals. I have seen deaths from head injuries sustained in cycling, these have usually been non helmet wearing low speed accidents. In fact the most recent death I saw was a patient who had fallen off before actually moving off.

I’d be more concerned at a helmet minimising an impact enough for me to survive but not protect me from major head injury. I’d rather not survive such an incident.

I’ve seen massive damage to helmets after higher speed crashes and have been very impressed by the performance of the helmets involved. These patients have tended to have other major injuries just as likely to kill them. Most of the deaths I’ve known have been due to multiple injuries sustained by contact with other vehicles.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
But I just have.

We wait for helmet wearers to post.............a long time.

I have needled some one with the truth bore out up post

Good luck with another one sided post of the non helmet wearing club

I am no pro helmeteer....................just enjoy.............is that a crime.............some hear think so........

Well I am glad you are amused

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

I don't usually wear a helmet, and I mostly don't worry about head injury. But when I'm going fast down hill, along side one of those metal crash barriers, I can't help but think about what that would likely do to my head, were I to hit it. Would a helmet help? Maybe a little.

But if you were wearing a helmet you might feel free to go even faster!

It might you but me never.

If that's the case then without a helmet you ease off.....why?

[Mick F]

......... If that's the case then without a helmet you ease off.....why?

I've used this analogy - or these analogies - before.

Would you take a GREAT deal of care using a chainsaw when naked?
How about having spikes in the car rather than air bags, that deploy in case of accident? Would you drive slower?

The more vulnerable you feel, the more care you take.

[RickH]

On an overall population level in the Greater Manchester area I wonder which is the greater risk, getting a head injury from cycling or being a victim of gun or knife crime. Even when I know that there is a risk it is too unlikely an event to be worth wearing a bullet/stab proof vest when out & about (especially if it was a "consumer" one that was only tested against a blunt butter knife).

The only time I recall thinking about my head on a ride was one time after I'd checked out a route for leading a ride a few days later. At one point there was a short steep downhill on an off road path. There had been some heavy rain so there was considerable washout of the path. While concentrating on the state of the path I failed to notice a low branch which caught my head, but only hard enough to knock the cycle cap I was wearing slightly squint. On the actual ride I was of course aware of the branch. As a ride leader I was obliged to wear a helmet but forgot to allow sufficient space so bumped the branch once again! Nothing serious, it certainly didn't save my life!

When I used to wear a helmet, the only other times I've hit my head with a helmet on was when I've gone back into the house for something I've forgotten & caught it going up or down the stairs where the edge of the downstairs ceiling starts, forgetting to allow for my extra height.

[Vorpal]

It might you but me never.

If that's the case then without a helmet you ease off.....why?

In the studies about helmets and risk compensation, people who don't usually wear helmets, don't change their behaviour when they do wear helmets.

It's only the people who habitually wear helmets who change their behaviour. They tend to go slower when they don't wear helmets.

[Cunobelin]

I always wear an helmet, modern ones let your head breathe well and I don’t overheat in them.

Do I worry about head injuries?

Not really, and I’ve worked in A&E and still work in hospitals. I have seen deaths from head injuries sustained in cycling, these have usually been non helmet wearing low speed accidents. In fact the most recent death I saw was a patient who had fallen off before actually moving off.

I’d be more concerned at a helmet minimising an impact enough for me to survive but not protect me from major head injury. I’d rather not survive such an incident.

I’ve seen massive damage to helmets after higher speed crashes and have been very impressed by the performance of the helmets involved. These patients have tended to have other major injuries just as likely to kill them. Most of the deaths I’ve known have been due to multiple injuries sustained by contact with other vehicles.

Why is it that everyone who works in A&E always works in that magic and special department that never seems to see all the other head injuries, just the cyclists?