Tiggertoo wrote: ↑12 Aug 2022, 9:56pm
I crashed last Friday - wheels went out from under me on a tight/wet curve - and banged up my knee, arm and thigh (all mendable), but for the first time crashing - I have done it a few times (mostly by dogs) my head hit the pavement hard and set my head pounding.
The reason I am posting this thread is that my helmet broke along the side receiving the blow. If I had not been wearing the helmet, I would not be here today to write this.
Think how often these crashes occur in places like the Netherlands, where outside of sport riding and tourists pretty much nobody wears helmets but millions ride bikes and occasionally they fall off them. Think how often a head whack occurs in places like a primary school playground and the standard response is a trip to the office for a cry, a sticker and some TLC (in the school my kids were at, often enough that they kept sheets of "I've banged my head!" stickers and had a form letter to send to parents noting a child had had a head injury).
Now realise that this is one of the sorts of fall the human skull has evolved to prevent death from. The chances of it killing you, even if it managed to fracture a bit of expanded polystyrene, is very low. It's easy to crack an EN1078 helmet. It's hard to fracture a skull, even harder to kill you.
Chances that you're engaging in some confirmation bias is IMHO
very high.
I'm not saying you'd have been better or just as well off without a helmet, just that a bump, graze and headache is some way short of death.
Last time I fell off my bike and hit my head was getting on for 20 years ago. My helmet didn't help because I took it on the chin (probably made it a little worse, adding some energy to my head when it hit the ground). My jaw didn't shatter, I survived to tell the tale. Had the helmet protected me it would have been a write off (that's how they work). I did go to A&E to see if it was worth a stitch (it wasn't), and you need to look very closely to see the scar. Did it convince me to wear a helmet that protected my chin? No.
Pete.
Often seen riding a bike around Dundee...