Cycling UK Forum

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More a story not to treat a bike as a toy?

"when he collided with another boy" means it was a collision that helmets are not designed for.

"five fractures around his eye socket and another to the top of his skull" means 84% of the fractures were in areas open-face cycle helmets do not protect but there is no indication he is only pushing MTB face-guarded helmets.

"It is vital," he said. "It can save a life. I want to make young people aware that a helmet is safe to wear." - despite him having no reported experience of either and ignoring the dangers of helmet use.

The headline should read "foolish stunt-riding boy crashes and becomes foolish helmet preacher". The journalists Marcus Hughes & James Rodger should be ashamed for the uncritical reporting of this.

It's interesting to study the first few of these google hits:
https://www.google.com/search?q=fractur ... 80&bih=610

Here's no No3: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-new ... n-18974453

The former Miss Ireland contestant crashed through the car's windscreen and was in a coma for two months after suffering a fractured skull and pelvis.
...
Ms Regazzoli added: “Two days after the accident they had to remove half my skull to let my brain swell."

...

"I think everyone should wear a helmet."*

*I may have made this bit up ...

MSN - isn't that the branch of Microsoft that (in a refreshing display of honesty) chose a bug for their logo?

Pastychomper wrote:MSN - isn't that the branch of Microsoft that (in a refreshing display of honesty) chose a bug for their logo?

was taken from my Windows mobile Newsreader

When kids get serious head injuries in car crashes do the reel them out to say they should wear helmets, I wonder whynnot

The utility cyclist wrote:When kids get serious head injuries in car crashes do the reel them out to say they should wear helmets, I wonder whynnot

Because they are likely dead of mangle or unable to speak. But this is alright as it was "an accident" that couldn't have been foreseen or avoided by, say, driving slower and with due care & attention (or policing the roads so that others do). No, no - entirely a matter of fate.

Of course, car occupants could wear helmets. This might save one or two from death, with only severe neck damage and lower body mangle resulting from "the accident". On the other hand, the occupants will feel that their helmet will save their lives, even if they do now take far more risks and up the their quota of loon-driving.

Cugel, thinking of starting a "bring on the steering wheel spike" society.

mjr wrote:"when he collided with another boy" means it was a collision that helmets are not designed for.

This always seems to be your first go to comment on a subject like this.

My kitchen knives make reasonable makeshift screwdrivers when I want to change the battery on one of my devices. I’m sure it was never designed for that either.

This is one of the pet hates of the pro-helmet lobby

The sad fact is that more lives would be saved by car helmets than cycle helmets, yet despite all the evidence, the letter is zealously pursued, and the former is "very, very silly"

The image/story has gone.

Have there been studies showing that more lives could be saved by wearing helmets in cars? Serious Q, as I would have thought much the same issues as are in play regarding cycle helmets would also apply - or would this also include use of Hans devices to avoid the additional mass of the helmet snapping necks and so on.

Bonefishblues wrote:The image/story has gone.

Have there been studies showing that more lives could be saved by wearing helmets in cars? Serious Q, as I would have thought much the same issues as are in play regarding cycle helmets would also apply - or would this also include use of Hans devices to avoid the additional mass of the helmet snapping necks and so on.

As I understand it the argument is that if helmets are the answer to cycling head injuries presumably they would work for car occupants too, and since so many more of these have head injuries than cyclists there is much more scope for saving lives and injuries.
Helmet sceptics would point out that helmets are prescribed for cyclists without any of the sort of studies you mention, and under the same sort of assumption, that helmets must work , then sauce for the goose is...

CB said that more lives would be saved in cars by helmets so I was interested in the studies.

www.motoringhelmets.com

Syd wrote:

mjr wrote:"when he collided with another boy" means it was a collision that helmets are not designed for.

This always seems to be your first go to comment on a subject like this.

Well, yes, because it seems to get ignored so often, with so many people crediting the infernal things with saving them in situations beyond the design parameters that they can't all be right, surely.

My kitchen knives make reasonable makeshift screwdrivers when I want to change the battery on one of my devices. I’m sure it was never designed for that either.

But no-one is pushing knives as ideal screwdrivers, whereas cycle helmets are being promoted as panaceas in preference to stuff far more likely to work.

mjr wrote:http://www.motoringhelmets.com

Syd wrote:

mjr wrote:"when he collided with another boy" means it was a collision that helmets are not designed for.

This always seems to be your first go to comment on a subject like this.

[quote=“mjr”]Well, yes, because it seems to get ignored so often, with so many people crediting the infernal things with saving them in situations beyond the design parameters that they can't all be right, surely.

[/quote]
No, I agree it cant be right but just because something isn’t designed for a specific task does not mean it is lousy at everything else though. E.g. Off-label use of medical devices (a device being used for a purpose other than which it was designed for) brings about lots of innovative and successful developments in healthcare.

My kitchen knives make reasonable makeshift screwdrivers when I want to change the battery on one of my devices. I’m sure it was never designed for that either.

[quote=“mjr”]But no-one is pushing knives as ideal screwdrivers, whereas cycle helmets are being promoted as panaceas in preference to stuff far more likely to work.[/quote]
Some may do, i’m not one of them. Sticking a helmet on my head still wouldn’t make me decide to squeeze through a ridiculously tight gap between two buses as there’s an advanced stop line ahead of them like people I see daily on my commute.

Bonefishblues wrote:The image/story has gone.

Have there been studies showing that more lives could be saved by wearing helmets in cars? Serious Q, as I would have thought much the same issues as are in play regarding cycle helmets would also apply - or would this also include use of Hans devices to avoid the additional mass of the helmet snapping necks and so on.

A simple extension of the pro-helmet claims

More drivers and passengers are seen in A&E than cyclists, so, therefore, more lives will be saved