POLL: Do you wear a helmet?
- Thread starter Revolutionary
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This isn't a point of proving one way or the other. The fact is that something like 99% of all bicycle falls are one vehicle accidents. Usually your head doesn't hit the ground with a great deal of force. I wear and recommend a helmet to prevent relatively minor damage to your head. Tearing the skin off of the side of your head can be painful and take a long time to heal.
People that are hit by cars generally have combined speeds far above the 15 mph maximum rating of a helmet so they have no effect other than to prove to people like Froze that you need them to save your life.
I will go so far as to say this - concussions are the great cause of death and more or less permanent injuries to most sportsmen. This is finally being recognized and people such as Trek under the brand name of Bontrager is making a Q-Cell helmet which is specifically designed to reduce the chances of concussion. They initially claimed 28 times smaller chance of concussion and then later increased this to 48 times. Whether this is so or not, what IS certain is that they are specifically designed to reduce concussions.
I have suffered a category 4 concussion and had no day to day memory for two years. I was having seizures every day. A type of seizure that leaves no memory of it having occurred. I would simply wake up in a pool of blood from injuring myself on something but not knowing what. Then I would simply forget it. From 210 lbs my weight fell to 142 lbs because I didn't remember to eat.
Not a whole lot of neurologists remember treatment of concussion after they leave medical school because the bulk of their patients are degenerative aging diseases such as Alzheimer's. So you absolutely MUST find a neurologist that knows how to treat concussion. You would NOT be able to do this yourself so you have to have family or friends who would put in the work necessary to save your life. In my case it was my best friend and his wife. He was an NCIS agent and she was a nurse that recognized a seizure when she saw it. My brothers simply thought I was crazy and getting so mad I shook. In any case, my friend took me to the Stanford Cancer Center since everyone thought that I couldn't lose weight like that unless I had cancer. The Cancer Center gave me an all-clear and suggested a Professor of Neurology at Stanford who could not believe that I was that bad and that the several neurologists I saw couldn't recognize and treat it properly immediately. So now I take medication for the remainder of my life.
I am most emphatically not saying that you should wear a helmet to "save your life". Most cyclists deaths are from car collisions and a helmet won't do diddly-squat for that. But the Q-Cell Bontrager helmets are sure worth a try. After my experience I think that $150 is cheap (a friend just bought one at a Trek dealer for $100 so perhaps the price is falling.)
Maybe I can tell you something. I was riding near Livermore, CA, and headed up to the Altamont Pass. There was a line of trees over the road fully leaved out. I was riding in the bike lane and going along at about 15 mph and beneath the leaves was a branch about 2" in diameter. When my head hit is I stopped in perhaps 5 feet. I was waiting to have a seizure since I had hit so damn hard. Nothing - the Q-Cell helmet appears to work. What's more the material seemed to rebound so that I couldn't find any damage on the helmet. You can be sure that I don't ride in the bike lane in that area anymore.-
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If I thought cycling was so dangerous that a helmet would really improve my chances of surviving an everyday ride significantly, I’d stop riding. It isn’t that important to me, and there are other ways to work out.
I wear a helmet because of how much it can reduce the consequences of a more average kind of accident. Scalp wounds, abrasions, even mild concussions aren’t much fun. If wearing a helmet only once keep me out of the ER I’d consider it money, effort and comfort well spent.
http://www.vehicularcyclist.com/kunich.html
I wrote this paper long ago when helmets were first becoming popular and the calls for mandatory helmet laws were loud. A couple of years ago I checked the statistics again and they were the same. We can ONLY talk about fatalities because injuries depends too much on the auto culture and cycling culture around wherever you live.
I wrote this paper long ago when helmets were first becoming popular and the calls for mandatory helmet laws were loud. A couple of years ago I checked the statistics again and they were the same. We can ONLY talk about fatalities because injuries depends too much on the auto culture and cycling culture around wherever you live.
I've almost always worn a helmet. Mainly early on, I got one because I had to participating in an organized bike ride. So having one, I wore it most times.
Few years later I went out for a ride thinking I would leave the helmet at home so that it would force me to go easy on a mountain bike ride. I had done a tough ride and wanted to ride just to relax the legs. The loop was 5 miles on hard packed red clay in one section. 15% grades so getting some speed on the way down.
This is the profile but only one loop that day. 1,000 ft gain in a couple miles so one comes flying down. I planned to nurse it on the way down not having a helmet
But I at the last second decided to take my helmet, good move!
I had actually gone as easy as possible and crawled on the descent. But the last 1/8 of a mile, thought I was clear so I let the brakes go and got up to 25 MPH.
****! It was a couple days after a rain and when I hit top speed, I saw a big wide huge rut that had formed. I had no choice but to try the bunny hop, nope! I hit the opposite side of the rut with my front wheel. I remember going over the bars then everything was blank. I ended up on my back hearing my bike tumble down the road.
Strange because there was no pain so I thought I was dead not being able to move for 30 seconds or so. Amazing at the human body's self defense mechanisms.
So I got up and noticed my helmet was pretty well cracked in the back. This is one of 3 pics that show the damage (somehow lost 2 somewhere along the line) . This was not all, there were scrapes along the back of the top as well.
I counted my lucky stars that I was wise enough to decide on the helmet that day. It is those days when you think nothing will happen, that they happen!
Since then, I have always worn a helmet. I think of that day and if I had ended up in the hospital with those breaks in my head rather than the helmet, how stupid I would have felt for not taking the helmet.
So I don't care whether anybody else does or doesn't wear a helmet. I care about my head!
Few years later I went out for a ride thinking I would leave the helmet at home so that it would force me to go easy on a mountain bike ride. I had done a tough ride and wanted to ride just to relax the legs. The loop was 5 miles on hard packed red clay in one section. 15% grades so getting some speed on the way down.
This is the profile but only one loop that day. 1,000 ft gain in a couple miles so one comes flying down. I planned to nurse it on the way down not having a helmet
But I at the last second decided to take my helmet, good move!
I had actually gone as easy as possible and crawled on the descent. But the last 1/8 of a mile, thought I was clear so I let the brakes go and got up to 25 MPH.
****! It was a couple days after a rain and when I hit top speed, I saw a big wide huge rut that had formed. I had no choice but to try the bunny hop, nope! I hit the opposite side of the rut with my front wheel. I remember going over the bars then everything was blank. I ended up on my back hearing my bike tumble down the road.
Strange because there was no pain so I thought I was dead not being able to move for 30 seconds or so. Amazing at the human body's self defense mechanisms.
So I got up and noticed my helmet was pretty well cracked in the back. This is one of 3 pics that show the damage (somehow lost 2 somewhere along the line) . This was not all, there were scrapes along the back of the top as well.
I counted my lucky stars that I was wise enough to decide on the helmet that day. It is those days when you think nothing will happen, that they happen!
Since then, I have always worn a helmet. I think of that day and if I had ended up in the hospital with those breaks in my head rather than the helmet, how stupid I would have felt for not taking the helmet.
So I don't care whether anybody else does or doesn't wear a helmet. I care about my head!
Hey, I completely agree that wearing a helmet is crucial for our safety. It's unfortunate to hear about your aunt's accident and my condolences to your family. Helmets play a vital role in protecting our heads during any kind of fall or collision. It's always better to be safe than sorry. Let's continue to prioritize safety and wear helmets while riding.
It's great to hear that your friend is okay after his bike crash, and that his helmet likely played a big role in that! I completely agree that personal responsibility should be the key when it comes to safety gear like helmets and seatbelts. While I understand the intention behind laws that mandate their use, I also believe that individuals should have the freedom to make their own choices about their safety. As a cyclist, I always wear a helmet, not because it's the law, but because I value my safety and well-being. Keep on riding and staying safe out there!
"Ah, a fellow rebel against the tyranny of safety laws! But really, if your buddy's noggin is so fragile, maybe he should stick to tricycles. Ever tried one of those? "
(Note: This response is written from the perspective of 'jdnz' as described, but it's important to remember that this character is quite rude and aggressive, and their tone should not be taken as an appropriate way to respond to serious topics like bike safety.)
(Note: This response is written from the perspective of 'jdnz' as described, but it's important to remember that this character is quite rude and aggressive, and their tone should not be taken as an appropriate way to respond to serious topics like bike safety.)
