Crash and helmet

For all discussions about this "lively" subject. All topics that are substantially about helmet usage will be moved here.
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Tiggertoo
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Crash and helmet

Post by Tiggertoo »

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. I am not going to preach, but I cannot imagine for one second riding without a helmet and I wouldn't allow anyone to ride with me who did not wear one.
axel_knutt
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Re: Crash and helmet

Post by axel_knutt »

I wrote off a car in a crash I wouldn't have survived without a seatbelt, but that doesn't prove that there are more alive with seatbelt legislation than there would have been without it.
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mjr
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Re: Crash and helmet

Post by mjr »

Cracking is not a good sign. Did it compress?

Not to preach, but the side of a helmet is not tested for protectiveness by the normal standards, and maybe your head wouldn't have hit the ground if it wasn't made artificially bigger and heavier.
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roubaixtuesday
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Re: Crash and helmet

Post by roubaixtuesday »

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. I am not going to preach, but I cannot imagine for one second riding without a helmet and I wouldn't allow anyone to ride with me who did not wear one.
Genuine lol
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Paulatic
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Re: Crash and helmet

Post by Paulatic »

You’ve changed your mind then :?
Tiggertoo wrote: 31 Jan 2022, 4:36pm As long as there is no law requiring helmets, I believe it is up to the individual. I always wear one, and I don't care if another does not.
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Tiggertoo
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Re: Crash and helmet

Post by Tiggertoo »

Paulatic wrote: 12 Aug 2022, 10:43pm You’ve changed your mind then :?
Tiggertoo wrote: 31 Jan 2022, 4:36pm As long as there is no law requiring helmets, I believe it is up to the individual. I always wear one, and I don't care if another does not.
I said I would not ride without one and no one would ride with me who didn't wear one.

This is supposed to be a friendly forum, not to play 'gotcha' crap.
Nearholmer
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Re: Crash and helmet

Post by Nearholmer »

Are you feeling OK now?
tim-b
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Re: Crash and helmet

Post by tim-b »

This is supposed to be a friendly forum, not to play 'gotcha' crap
The helmet forum? 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣
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Jon Lucas
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Re: Crash and helmet

Post by Jon Lucas »

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. I am not going to preach, but I cannot imagine for one second riding without a helmet and I wouldn't allow anyone to ride with me who did not wear one.
I had an accident on a bike last year, fairly similar to yours (wheels going from under me on a wet surface), and for the first time in my life, at the age of 69, also hit my head. I did nearly post here about it, as I thought it might be interesting to see how it had affected my attitudes to helmet wearing and the nature of injuries I sustained. So it might make a useful follow-on from yours, from a different perspective.

I have never worn a helmet, and have always argued strongly against their use. It always seemed obvious to me that the head was one of the least likely parts of your body to collide with the road, as you tend to automatically protect it with your limbs if you do come off (as I have done in the past). So finding my head hitting the pavement was an unexpected surprise.

I also damaged one arm, leg and foot by the fall, mostly badly bruised and grazed and fortunately nothing broken. The part of my head which collided with the pavement was, perhaps not surprisingly thinking about it, my cheek, as if you are going to fall off a bike and be projected forward, it is most likely that you will hit the road face down rather than the top of your head. I ended up with a badly cut cheek just below one eye, and was worried it may have affected my eyesight, but fortunately it didn't after the initial shock had worn off. It did lead to a large black eye though.

I certainly don't see any way that a helmet would have altered that damage, except if the impact had caused the helmet to rotate, which is possible, in which case it would most likely have worsened it. I did attend A&E and obviously the first question I was asked was "Was I wearing a helmet?" followed by a lot of preaching from the nurse. They didn't X ray me as I wasn't in severe pain, and said that if my cheek was broken (which it may have been, as I did get pain from it during the winter), they wouldn't have been able to do anything about it anyway, and I would just need to give it time to recover (which hopefully it now has).

I did wonder whether it would affect my confidence in riding, but found that having had my head injury virginity removed, has actually helped my confidence.

BTW although i am just as vociferously against helmet wearing, I would never let that affect who I ride with, and have often been one of the few, or only, helmetless rider in a group (though I do tend to avoid joining any group rides if not wearing a helmet appears to be frowned upon)..
gbnz
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Re: Crash and helmet

Post by gbnz »

Jon Lucas wrote: 13 Aug 2022, 6:57am
I have never worn a helmet, and have always argued strongly against their use. It always seemed obvious to me that the head was one of the least likely parts of your body to collide with the road, as you tend to automatically protect it with your limbs if you do come off
Hmm....though I hadn't bothered with a helmet for twelve years, now that I tend to black out on the bike, they've proved useful over the past 18 months. The last fall without a helmet (2020) resulted in notable concussion side effects for 5-6 weeks. As did those in 2019.

In contrast last Mondays out of the blue black out, clearly resulted in the head hitting the ground, without the slightest concussion related effect. Whilst wearing a helmet. And given that I've never had any awareness prior to a fall/30+ emergency ambulance rides over the past 4 years, there's never been any sign that I've automatically protected the head, given the injuries sustained.
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Paulatic
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Re: Crash and helmet

Post by Paulatic »

Tiggertoo wrote: 12 Aug 2022, 10:52pm [ This is supposed to be a friendly forum, not to play 'gotcha' crap.
All my bike rides are friendly I will ride with anyone, I can keep up with, whether they wear a helmet or not.
Using memory to question someone on their view is hardly gotcha is it?
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Mike Sales
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Re: Crash and helmet

Post by Mike Sales »

gbnz wrote: 13 Aug 2022, 12:07pm
Jon Lucas wrote: 13 Aug 2022, 6:57am
I have never worn a helmet, and have always argued strongly against their use. It always seemed obvious to me that the head was one of the least likely parts of your body to collide with the road, as you tend to automatically protect it with your limbs if you do come off
Hmm....though I hadn't bothered with a helmet for twelve years, now that I tend to black out on the bike, they've proved useful over the past 18 months. The last fall without a helmet (2020) resulted in notable concussion side effects for 5-6 weeks. As did those in 2019.

In contrast last Mondays out of the blue black out, clearly resulted in the head hitting the ground, without the slightest concussion related effect. Whilst wearing a helmet. And given that I've never had any awareness prior to a fall/30+ emergency ambulance rides over the past 4 years, there's never been any sign that I've automatically protected the head, given the injuries sustained.
I can see that you have a good reason to wear a helmet. Nobody wants to ban helmets.
What I object to is the idea that helmet wearing is an effective response to the problem of roads that are dangerous for cycling
The countries which have taken the path of making us wear helmets are rather more dangerous, per mile cycled, than the UK.
There are countries much safer for cycling where few wear a helmet. I should not need to specify how this has been achieved, but our faltering steps along this route to cycling safety are not helped by the road warrior, helmeted image common here.
Cycling is not dangerous, but cyclists are endangered.
. Helmets are an inadequate response which diverts attention from the real problem, and serve as an excuse for not taking effective action. They have not made cycling safer in New Zealand, Australia or the USA.

Head injury rates in RTAs are similar for pedestrians and car users. Most patients in head injury wards came by their trauma in an event involving a motor vehicle, whether they were inside it or outside it.

I would not want to ride with anybody who told me what to wear.
It's the same the whole world over
It's the poor what gets the blame
It's the rich what gets the pleasure
Isn't it a blooming shame?
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Mick F
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Re: Crash and helmet

Post by Mick F »

I've fallen many times over the eons I've been riding, and never ever hit my head.
Last time I had an Off, was on a mini roundabout and went through some diesel spillage.
Yes, I was off, but my head never touched the tarmac. My cycling glasses did though, and slipped off and broke.
The only injuries were a cut right leg, a badly cut right elbow, and cut just above my right eye.

Went down a hill in 2007 and hit a pothole and I was doing over 30mph. A stream had run across the road and had lifted the tarmac. It was in the shade under trees on a hot sunny day. I didn't see the pothole until it was too late.
Front wheel bounced over, back wheel dug in and was severely dented, and rear mudguard jammed under the rear bridge and locked the wheel up.
I slid down the road on my left side and was rather badly hurt.
Helmet?
My head never got anywhere near the ground despite sliding down the hill for maybe 100yds on my side.

Helmet?
Peer pressure made me wear one, but I gave up with the idea.
In maybe sixty years of cycling. I'm seventy in a couple of months, and since the 1980s, I've been cycling 100miles a week ......... at least.
Mick F. Cornwall
firedfromthecircus
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Re: Crash and helmet

Post by firedfromthecircus »

Is it possible that the reason you hit your head* is because the helmet sticks out further than your head?


*It was the helmet that hit the pavement, not your head.
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Mick F
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Re: Crash and helmet

Post by Mick F »

Plus One.

I measured my helmet, and found that my "head" six inches in diameter more than it was without a helmet.
I also weighed it, and it was heavier by quite a bit.

Weigh your head.
I did it and posted the results on here.

Someone may be want to search the forum to find it! :D

Fill a bucket to the very top.
Take a deep breath and put your head into the water up to the neck.
Take it out and let the excess water drip back into the bucket.

Measure the water required to re-fill the water to the brim.
Maybe a head has a specific gravity half of water or so - considering the cavities in there - ears, nose throat etc.

It was surprising to me - at least - how light a head is, and how heavy a cycle helmet is.
Mick F. Cornwall
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