Interesting post.
It is perfectly possible for the best, most competent cyclist to fall off
from time to time, especially off road. Usually this involves (a) losing it
on a corner, either front of back wheel, generally resulting in sliding
quite a long way and losing a bit of skin. Helment probably not much help.
(b) the front wheel stopping, due to getting caught in a rut, pothole etc,
when you take the shortest route to ground, over the handlebars. You will
probably be stopped by your head.
Helmets are not perfect, but I know that in (b) I would much rather have a
good bit of expanded foam cushion between my skull and the ground
For many years I have cycled on various offroad expeditions with a group of
mates (we are now all in our 50s). We all wear helmets. We have all fallen
off many times, we have all hit our heads on rocks, roads, trees etc. We
have all broken helmets. None of us, so far, have suffered more than cuts,
bruises and the odd broken bone.
It is your choice if you wear a helmet for you, personally. Frankly, if you
don't, you are an idiot. But you really ought to persuade the kids to wear
theirs, especially if their mum wants them to. As for it putting them off,
all I can say is that my kids are now 16 to 21, all have cycled all their
lives, all are very enthusiastic and none would even think about going on a
bike without a helmet.
If you don't trust the information, try this.
Put on a bike helmet. Adjust it properly. Then put your head down and run,
slowly, into a wall. This will give you the idea of a low speed accident.
Then repeat without the helmet. This will give you information you can
trust.
"D.M. Procida" <
[email protected]> wrote in
message
news:1gjppzu.jssbrn16x0vsxN%
[email protected]...
> I have: one girlfriend, two children, two cycle helmets and one father.
>
> The father is old, the cycle helmets are new, and the children are seven
> years old. The girlfriend says she is too old to have any more children.
>
> It wasn't until that I started reading this group that it even occurred
> to me that wearing a helmet while cycling might not be anything but a
> wholly sensible thing to do. Now I am just not sure what to think, but
> at the moment I feel doubtful enough that I've stopped bothering to wear
> mine.
>
> I don't really trust any of the information that has been put before me.
> The arguments all seem to be invested with too much interest, and the
> statistics too partial, for me to feel entirely comfortable with hanging
> very much upon them.
>
> The girlfriend is very far from persuaded that not wearing a helmet is a
> good idea, particularly for children. Whenever I have shown her some
> graph or argument that someone here has pointed out, she starts asking
> difficult questions about demographics, and saying (quite rightly) that
> it's necessary to know more about how well children are represented in
> the statistics and analyses that are offered.
>
> She herself suffered a fractured skull about 13 years ago after a
> horrific bike accident while going too fast down a hill and losing
> concentration. She wasn't wearing a helmet, but who's to say what
> difference it would have made? Anyway, she is disposed to critical
> analysis and decent evidence would help her make up her mind, though I
> think she will always remain anxious anyway. But she has been pretty
> scornful of the evidence I've been able to offer so far, and she asks
> difficult questions for a living.
>
> The grandfather can be unfortunately somewhat less amenable to reason,
> and I suspect will simply fail to understand how not wearing a safety
> device could be less safe than wearing it. He's not going to be
> satisfied with "it looks as though there might be little or no advantage
> in wearing a cycle helmet", but if the children's mother seems confident
> that it's OK - or even good - not to wear one, his anxieties will be
> assuaged considerably.
>
> I'm not even sure what I'd like the truth to be. I'd be glad if cycling
> could be made even safer, but I'd also be glad for there to be no reason
> to have to wear a helmet. I don't know which is the better thing to hold
> out for...
>
> The best I've got so far is a growing but still fairly unclear sense
> that helmets are probably not a lot of use, but while I'm lazy enough to
> go by a vague sense when it comes to what I do, that's not going to do
> much to persuade anyone else, for whom I'm either going to have to
> marshall a convincing and carefully-presented argument (girlfriend), or
> exude more knowledgable confidence than a vague sense will get me
> (grandfather). It also doesn't seem an adequate basis for deciding how
> to keep my children safe.
>
> For the children's part they have decided that they prefer riding
> without helmets, which means that if there's no reason to do so it will
> be a relief not to have to argue with them about it, though slightly
> annoying to have spent unnecessary money on them.
>
> I don't really mind if the children suffer some minor injuries. Well, of
> course I do, but only in a sense that's faded by bedtime. They get minor
> injuries all the time anyway - doing anything - and it seems to be one
> of the best ways of learning how to avoid serious ones. Unlike my
> girlfriend I think it's good if they do reckless and dangerous things
> while riding in the park (standing on the crossbar is the latest thing,
> but we've also had trying to find out what happens if you deliberately
> rub your front tyre against the back tyre of the person riding in front
> of you). But the thought of having made a decision that incurs them
> serious harm fills me with horror.
>
> Daniele
> --
> Apple Juice Ltd
> Chapter Arts Centre
> Market Road www.apple-juice.co.uk
> Cardiff CF5 1QE 029 2019 0140
