Helmets look stupid

Originally Posted by gavin11756

Dead in a bike race because of no helmet ! How! The records show differently!

Originally Posted by discobean7

Perhaps Fabio Casartelli at the 1995 TdF rings a bell?
http://www.bhsi.org/timesart.htm
How about Andrei Kivilev at the 2003 Paris-Nice?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/oth...ing/2842707.stm

Originally Posted by alfeng

Let me repeat this for you [gavin11756] & anyone who agrees with your line of thinking because apparently you missed it:

Saul Raisin (Credit Agricole) suffered serious head injuries earlier this year DURING A RACE (Circuit de la Sarthe) which would have resulted in his death had he not been wearing a helmet.

I guess you would have preferred it if he had died ...

Originally Posted by gavin11756

Dead in a bike race because of no helmet ! How! The records show differently!

Originally Posted by TrekDedicated

As other have said, go ask Saul Rasin

Originally Posted by karries

I think helmets should always be worn,even in/during races.Let me give you an example as to why. I was involved in a race about two weeks ago.Closed roads thus no other traffic except for officials etc. I had an accident and came off my bike at 80 plus km/h (50 miles) hit the road with my head first. If I was not wearing my helmet I would not be around to tell the story.Now let us be serious what would the statistics be of deaths in pro or other races if it was not compulsory to wear helmets? Just my small contibution on the subject.

Originally Posted by gavin11756

The stats of deaths prior to compulsory wearing of helmets (ch is most of last century ) could be counted on one hand!

Originally Posted by gavin11756

The stats of deaths prior to compulsory wearing of helmets (ch is most of last century ) could be counted on one hand!

Originally Posted by gavin11756

Some time ago I received a bollicking from certain people that said I was wrong about wanted the helmets to be optional. I maintained then and now they look bloody stupid, ruin the tradition of the race and have little practical good.

i checked to see the death count on "Le Tour ". of about 5 deaths three were cyclists. No cyclist died on the friggin road. They were drug abusers except one poor bastard in 1936 or something that went off a ravine! one journalist and a motocyclist have died. My figures are open to correction.

So, I make no apology for wanting to make helmets optional. No one gets killed via head injuries during a race. I say get rid of helmets in races. Some bloke broke his teeth the other day. So his helmet did nothing. Some bloke brakes his arm, or does a ligament. What good a helmet ?

OK, I understand having Jan Ulrich riding over your head after you go down is unpleasant, but hardly life threatening.

They rode without helmets for the vast majority of the life of the race. there have been no deaths due to not wearing a helmet, unless they were in a drug induced state and bounced their head against the hotel wall without a helmet!

Helmets on a public street...sure. But in a safe envioronment like a race no!

Can I buy an arguement here. BTW In case you don't know, the race looks great in"google earth"

Originally Posted by keydates

You are also looking at riders who are professional and thus a little less likely to fall, despite the higher speeds and closer proximity. I'm sure if you looked at a broader group of racing cyclists -or just people who bike- you would see that helmets have saved many lives, or at least people who have died in bicycling-related incidents were often enough not wearing helmets.

Originally Posted by jcjordan

Less likely to fall???

Did you watch the first week of the TDF last year, there were about 3-4 crashes on every stage of the first week. Ok it was really wet and the peleton was as nervous as a cat hiding in a dog show compared to to this year may have had something to do with it, but even this year has seen some nasty falls. Take O'Grady (CSC) he has had a fall that cracked a lower vertebre, wonder what his head would have taken?