I've worn a helmet since 92 and also prior to that for racing. I've had a fair few crashes and thankfully I don't drool...
... normally.
... normally.
Do You Wear A Helmet While Riding?
- Thread starter tlspiegel
- Start date
I can't believe this is a thread. Why wouldn't you wear a helmet? Mess up your hair? Geez. I don't even realize I have one on when I'm riding. Considering the state of health care and insurance premiums, those of you who fall and get hurt and end up in the hospital....my exhorbitant insurance premiums are paying for you to get your head stitched up or whatever else you need. I suppose if you're just toodling around your block I could somewhat understand why you might not put one on but I happen to know a young man who has permanent brain damage from not wearing a helmet and having a bike accident. It's sad.
I always wear a helmet, even when I'm riding downtown and feel like a dork. I did an internship at a funeral home/morgue and I've been privy to enough details regarding road accidents that I would never risk it. And as far as mountain biking goes, I've had enough spills and close calls that I would feel like I was tempting fate to go without.
A helmet isn't necessarily going to save you, but it requires so little effort that there's really no reason not to wear one when it may be the thing that keeps you out of the hospital.
A helmet isn't necessarily going to save you, but it requires so little effort that there's really no reason not to wear one when it may be the thing that keeps you out of the hospital.
On casual rides I don't wear a helmet since I find it uncomfortable. Lucky that I have not encountered any accidents so far and I am thankful. But when biking on busy roads, I take precaution and wear a helmet. I have heard of accidents happen to bikers and riders of motorcycles who died instantly because of head injury. It's better to get other body parts damaged, save the head, because serious injury can occur like a coma or instant death.
But you could still fall off and bang your head?bykster said:
Don't get me wrong, I never used to wear a helmet for years up until a few years ago, but now, after seeing some of the near misses people have had, I won't go on a bike without one.
That change of heart could have saved your life. It's a minor inconvenience if we think of it and wearing it gives us another level of safety to make the rides we want well protected.
Mr. Beanz said:Yeah Buddy! I've always worn one. ONE TIME I figured I would ride without a helmet. But had a change o heart and that was the one time I crashed hard on a mountain bike ride. I had planned to ride easy but turned out crashing on the descent. Good thing or that would have been my head split in 3 places.
My wife never wanted to wear a helmet till I pointed out that a helmet does more than just protect from crashes. Also protects from the sun and helps keep her from heat exhaustion.
Good thing because she ended up crashing a few years ago.
oportosanto said:
What's funny is that I flipped over at 25-30- mph. Everything went blank from the second I went over the bars till I was on my back listening to my bike tumble down the hill.
I didn't feel any pain but when I was laying on my bike I noticed my helmet was very loose. I thought my head had cracked open like an egg. I honestly thought I was dead because I felt no pain. I was feeling my head thinking I was going to come up with a hand full of brains. Then I realized it was that the suspension had ripped loose upon impact. What a scary feeling but thanks to the helmet, my head was completely untouched. I'll never ride without a helmet! B)
Always. I have had friends lose their lives for not wearing one. I dont understand when my friends push for bike safety and then I see them riding without helmets.
Finances? You can buy a govt. approved helmet for less than $30.bykster said:
I once hit a raised edge of pavement flush sideways riding at less than 5 mph and went over in less than a second, taking the full impact on my head. The helmet split like an egg, and I had a mild concussion. Slow and peaceful rides don't guarantee jack ****. People die every day from 0 mph slip and falls in their showers.
I never wore a helmet. If, and it is a big if, i go offroad on some steep hills maybe i would wear one. But i usually never go so extreme and i find it annoying even when i see people in city wearing helmets. I understand when they make their kids wear it, i never did when i was young so i just learned to be careful and i never took a fall from a bicycle. I believe if you are not secure and sure in your skills or you are in a new town and you tend to go left when its not allwed, you should wear a helmet. I still would not but in a place where you live and work and ride a bicycle forever, you would just , in my opinion, look ridicules. I see those people who go on the bicycle lane with their kids, helmets on, setting an example, etc. I have to admit it is a newish thing here in Serbia. It was very different before. We are a bit raw when it comes to this things. My father would tell me, you have to get strong, so what if you do not have a helmet. Do not fall an you'll be jus fine. Something happened in these 20 years since i grew up. To many soft and western ways were adopted but i do not know if this fits the topic. I do not wear helmet and never will. i am not sure about the law here but i never heard about somebody paying a ticket for not wearing a helmet.
Yes, I can understand that too because when I started to ride my bike it was not a habit, so starting to wear one ends up being something strange. Either cases, it's way safer, no one can question that.
You can be as cautious as you want, but accidents don't depend completely on the cyclist's skills. One can't anticipate what drivers might do. There are too many ways accidents happen that don't depend on how skilled one is (drunk driving, texting & driving and so on).Djordje87 said:
Being safe, and using safety implement, is not a sign of "softness" or "weakness".
At first I also thought helmets were a bit silly, but my SO encouraged me to using it and now I can't go out without reaching for it. You just get used to it. The same way people got used to wearing seat-belts in cars.
A lot of accidents or bumps on the head are to be prevented by using a helmet. It is both wise, advisable and safe to use one. Also, there are so many different colour and shapes and brands, that one would hardly have any easiness when trying to choose one. That was the case with me. I am a sucker for colours, not brands, for that matter, but colours have to be exactly how I like them at the moment. Therefore, it still takes me a lot of time to buy a new helmet, because the last one I had was kind of distroyed, plus my head is a bit bigger now for that one.
I am searching for one at the moment, and yes, I wear helmet while I ride my bike.
I am searching for one at the moment, and yes, I wear helmet while I ride my bike.
I could look ridicules (sic) wearing a plastic coated beer cooler on my head, or look grotesque with one side of my face not matching the expression on the other side.
I'll take ridicules for $1000, Alex.
I'll take ridicules for $1000, Alex.
There is a direct relationship between the value you put in what what you put *on* your head to the value you place in what is *in* your head!
If you have nothing on your head, then I guess that means. . . .
I have woken up in up in hospitals more than once with a doctor telling me I was lucky I was wearing a helmet. I'm in my 50's *because* I wear a helmet! EVERY time I ride!!
Yes, I'm a bit passionate about this tpoic.
If you have nothing on your head, then I guess that means. . . .
I have woken up in up in hospitals more than once with a doctor telling me I was lucky I was wearing a helmet. I'm in my 50's *because* I wear a helmet! EVERY time I ride!!
Yes, I'm a bit passionate about this tpoic.
In the past although I wore a helmet for mountain biking I never wore a helmet on the road even when I worked
as a bike messenger riding 9 hours a day in city traffic I never even considered wearing one and thankfully
I survived. All that changed when we bought my nephew his first proper bike and he didn't want to wear a
helmet because none of us did so I ended up wearing my helmet every time I ride so it sets a good example
to him and he can't argue about wearing his.
A few months after I started wearing a helmet on the road I was knocked off by a taxi and hit my head off a
kerb although my helmet split down one side I walked away with a couple of cuts and grazes.I hate to think
what the outcome would have been if it had happened in the days when I didn't wear a lid!
as a bike messenger riding 9 hours a day in city traffic I never even considered wearing one and thankfully
I survived. All that changed when we bought my nephew his first proper bike and he didn't want to wear a
helmet because none of us did so I ended up wearing my helmet every time I ride so it sets a good example
to him and he can't argue about wearing his.
A few months after I started wearing a helmet on the road I was knocked off by a taxi and hit my head off a
kerb although my helmet split down one side I walked away with a couple of cuts and grazes.I hate to think
what the outcome would have been if it had happened in the days when I didn't wear a lid!
I always wear a helmet, I figure my brain is worth more than the cost of a helmet, if your brain isn't then don't buy one.
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