MMSR5 said:
Or have you ever tried it? Yesterday just out of interest I went for a 5-6 mile ride wearing a full face motorbike helmet just to see how it would feel, and see if it could be done without getting too hot. I found I could ride with the visor open and it wasn't too hot, and it made me feel awesomely comfortable and safe going through heavy traffic, although I did get some really weird looks off people (but I don't really care about that). I just tried going back to my Bell Faction and it just felt wrong, so I'm almost considering making the change to just wearing the motorbike helmet all the time because I'm a bit of a safety freak and I think I'll be way safer wearing that helmet than anything else if it all goes wrong.
Am I mad, or is it actually a pretty reasonable idea? I've never seen anyone else on a bike wearing a motorbike helmet, but it seems like it might be a pretty reasonable idea to me.
Any thoughts?
UK research discovered that about 92% of all cyclists with fatal head injuries would have died without them, since most fatal accidents are caused by collisions with motor vehicles. The number of UK lives which
might have been saved if the victim had been wearing a helmet in that year amounted to 6.
Of course, they may have finished up as vegetables instead of dead
If you are involved in an accident while wearing a full face m/c helmet it
might provide you with additional protection, or the greater weight
may increase the risk of neck related rotational injuries.
You will need to fix two mirrors to your bike to make up for the more restricted vision and hearing. A Camelbak will probably prove useful when you wish to drink more because of the greater fluid loss thro' sweating, since, I would imagine, using a normal bottle will prove difficult.
And since the likelihood of other fatal injuries is not reduced, as a self-confessed "bit of a safety freak", you may wish to add further protection to reduce the risk to other parts of your body. Downhill armour will cut down the amount of roadrash you get from any slide injuries. In fact, you could try wearing m/c protective clothing as well. You could also fit a "crumple zone" type rig around your bike to cut down the energy involved in any impact with another vehicle.
Alternatively, you can take comfort from the fact that cycling as few as 4 miles/day will improve your chances of living a longer life thro' increased fitness and cardiovascular health as compared with premature death from a road accident by about 20:1.
If you also take LAB or Vehicular Cycling classes in safe road cycling you will greatly reduce the chances of being involved in a serious accident in the first place. Concentrate on what kind of occurences lead to your feelings of danger and anxiety, analyse them and learn to spot them and avoid them. You'll then appreciate the pleasures of riding more and worry about possible consequences of dangerous drivers less.
I'm not trying to be sarcastic, by the way, simply pointing out the natural progression from the m/cycle helmet idea.
Enjoy riding
