How many of you always wear a helmet?

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
User avatar
hubgearfreak
Posts: 8212
Joined: 7 Jan 2007, 4:14pm

Post by hubgearfreak »

stoobs wrote:8)


Image
User avatar
bovlomov
Posts: 4202
Joined: 5 Apr 2007, 7:45am
Contact:

Post by bovlomov »

Exit pursued by a bear
basingstoke123
Posts: 202
Joined: 13 Feb 2008, 10:05pm

Post by basingstoke123 »

Example to follow up on comments made by Si and bovlomov:

A 12 year old boy sadly lost his spleen in a freak bike accident last year after loosing control when going to fast.

Leason learnt: always wear a helmet (not 'cycle more carefully'!). And his parents now want to make wearing a helmet compulsory. I'm not sure how a helmet would protect your spleen.

See..

But to answer the original question: I wear one when commuting, and sometimes on cycle rides in Winter, but not cycle rides in Summer (too hot).
mick146
Posts: 72
Joined: 1 Nov 2007, 10:09am
Location: Lincolnshire.

Do many of you always wear a helmet?

Post by mick146 »

I've never had a helmet..never will.If they became law I would quit cycling.

I've been on bikes since I was a kid..all without a helmet.So far never needed one.If I did things like mountain biking,or racing then OK,I would agree it's sensible.

I'm now nearly 68.I survived a 75 MPH motor bike head on smash with a car before the motor bike helmet law was passed. ..I had no helmet..Facial injuries,loads of stitches,broken jaw and leg injury that almost led to amputation.Still plays up at times.

A modern full face helmet may have saved the jaw & facial injury.But the helmets that were in use then..No,
definately not.Nor can I believe that a cycling helmet is much use except very occasionally.To be efficient a helmet must be of the full face type...Try cycling in one of those.

I'll go on living dangerously,thanks for your concern,nanny state.
User avatar
meic
Posts: 19355
Joined: 1 Feb 2007, 9:37pm
Location: Caerfyrddin (Carmarthen)

Post by meic »

"Fortunately he didn't land on his head as he was not wearing a helmet."

If he was wearing a helmet he would have wished to land on his head?
iaincullen
Posts: 153
Joined: 18 Aug 2007, 11:43am

Post by iaincullen »

[quote="bovlomov"][quote="Si"]..

I read a report about a child's death while riding a bike (without a helmet!). The mother said that she now realised that all children should wear them, and that she wished she had been forced by law to provide one. Then she spoiled it all by admitting that the brakes didn't work, and that she had thought a bicycle was a toy. [I'll try to find the story, but it was some time ago]

/quote]

I think you refer to the death of Troy Parker. Caused by faulty brakes. Suggested solution make helmets compulsory.

http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk/wiki/Troy_Parker
jawaka
Posts: 558
Joined: 6 Dec 2007, 2:46pm

Post by jawaka »

as a matter of interest when did helmets start appearing? and is it anything to do with manufacturers pushing them .
actually i wear one all the time (that is when i'm on the bike), but something is starting to tell me to rebel against the notion; why do i feel the need to wear one to go a mile to the shops?
gilesjuk
Posts: 3270
Joined: 17 Mar 2008, 10:10pm

Post by gilesjuk »

You could say the same about motorbikes, what good is a helmet when a motorbike gets run over at 60mph?

But anyway, they can fix bones and much of your other components, they can't however do much to correct a screwed up brain.

You could get away without a helmet if the roads were much quieter and people didn't eat, chat on phone and smoke while driving.

A helmet won't do much in a high speed impact, but it helps when you get thrown onto a bonnet.
drossall
Posts: 6115
Joined: 5 Jan 2007, 10:01pm
Location: North Hertfordshire

Post by drossall »

gilesjuk wrote:But anyway, they can fix bones and much of your other components, they can't however do much to correct a screwed up brain.


Sort of misses the point when we're having a discussion of whether helmets help?
gilesjuk
Posts: 3270
Joined: 17 Mar 2008, 10:10pm

Post by gilesjuk »

The point is if you don't wear a helmet you risk brain damage, something which can't be corrected very easily, often not at all. Perfectly on topic as far as I'm concerned.

Do they help? in low speed impacts yes. But if a car runs over you or you get thrown into the air at massive velocity then it all depends how you land. You won't be able to do much about it, it will all be down to luck.
User avatar
Wildduck
Posts: 1161
Joined: 24 Oct 2007, 7:28pm
Location: Southampton

Post by Wildduck »

Actually doesn't help much (see my earlier points on acceleration/deaccerlation effects on the brain in this topic). Its not the skull fractures so much that do the damage, its the brain rattling around its bone box (too many years working in intensive care, including purely neurological, have taught me that one!).
Trice Q 2007 in inky blue (Quackers)
Bacchetta Corsa 26 ATT (The Mad Weeble)
Cube SL Team Cross (Rubberduckzilla)
Homebaked tourer (The Duck's Dream)
MTB mongrel (Harold the Flying Sheep)
drossall
Posts: 6115
Joined: 5 Jan 2007, 10:01pm
Location: North Hertfordshire

Post by drossall »

giles - I think you are posting your opinions as fact?
gilesjuk
Posts: 3270
Joined: 17 Mar 2008, 10:10pm

Post by gilesjuk »

drossall wrote:giles - I think you are posting your opinions as fact?


Anything anyone posts is an opinion, including me. That is unless you post some fairly conclusive proof, by that I mean scientific proof not anecdotal evidence.
User avatar
meic
Posts: 19355
Joined: 1 Feb 2007, 9:37pm
Location: Caerfyrddin (Carmarthen)

Post by meic »

[quote="gilesjuk"]The point is if you don't wear a helmet you risk brain damage,


This kind of ignores the fact that if you do wear a helmet you still risk brain damage.
Even worse it implies that if you do wear a helmet then you dont risk brain damage.
Colin Stanley
Posts: 323
Joined: 12 May 2007, 7:05pm
Location: Somewhere in Kent

Post by Colin Stanley »

Hi,
Just received my copy of Apr/May Cycle mag.
Front cover says it all.

In answer to the question,
When I ride to local shops, doing a slow speed, I don't wear a crash hat.
When I go off road on very rough tracks, where my risk assessment is high, I wear a helmet.
Post Reply