Should I wear a helmet?

mike7382 said:

I have to say I never fall off of my bike. I cannot remeber the last time I did. I do go 15- 20 miles a day though. So I was wandering if I should wear one? Please tell me if u wear one and if I should a good brand of helmet.

Ummmm......yeah, you should. I wear a Bell.

mike7382 said:

I have to say I never fall off of my bike. I cannot remeber the last time I did. I do go 15- 20 miles a day though. So I was wandering if I should wear one? Please tell me if u wear one and if I should a good brand of helmet.

Just because you're never fallen before doesn't mean you never will. Some chain of events could lead to you coming short one day so strap on a helmet to prevent some serious injury🙄. I ride with a Met protecting my peanut.

mike7382 said:

I have to say I never fall off of my bike. I cannot remeber the last time I did. I do go 15- 20 miles a day though. So I was wandering if I should wear one? Please tell me if u wear one and if I should a good brand of helmet.

Looking at the way bicycles are built one cannot help but come to the conclusion that they are designed primarily as a means to fracture skulls. Why else would the rider be positioned head first on a contivance that is capable of rolling at high speeds yet is easily brought to a crashing halt by the sorts of detritus that litters roads everywhere? Maybe the ultimate purpose of the bicycle (like the handgun, motorcycle, and crack pipe) is to allow the human gene pool to filter out the less thoughtful of the species and thus contribute to the advancement of human evolution.

The choice is simple. If you want to fulfill your bicycle's ultimate purpose, then by all means, do not wear a helmet. If you'd prefer to deny your family the experience of deciding whether to unplug your life support machinery or leave it connected until they can no longer afford the medical bills for your continued care, wear a helmet.

TD

tyler_derden said:

Looking at the way bicycles are built one cannot help but come to the conclusion that they are designed primarily as a means to fracture skulls. Why else would the rider be positioned head first on a contivance that is capable of rolling at high speeds yet is easily brought to a crashing halt by the sorts of detritus that litters roads everywhere? Maybe the ultimate purpose of the bicycle (like the handgun, motorcycle, and crack pipe) is to allow the human gene pool to filter out the less thoughtful of the species and thus contribute to the advancement of human evolution.

The choice is simple. If you want to fulfill your bicycle's ultimate purpose, then by all means, do not wear a helmet. If you'd prefer to deny your family the experience of deciding whether to unplug your life support machinery or leave it connected until they can no longer afford the medical bills for your continued care, wear a helmet.

TD

I find your high-blown critique of bicycle design, as well as your speculation of it's ultimate purpose, to be fear-laden and cynical. Suppose you could always ride a recumbent if you feel that is a safer design, but I'm pretty confident in going it head first. After all, in more than three decades, I've yet to be "brought to a crashing halt by the sorts of detritus that litters roads everywhere".

Believe most of us who love to ride bikes and motorcycles understand and accept the inherent risks all too well without your fear-mongering. I always wear my helmet, but also have no delusions that it will prevent head injury or death in all circumstances either.

Concerning "ultimate purpose", believe statistics show that more people die of head injuries received in car accidents than bike riders. Perhaps you wear your helmet in your car, so as to delay fullfilling your car's "ultimate purpose"? Or, to be really safe, you could just stay home in bed.

mike7382 said:

I have to say I never fall off of my bike. I cannot remeber the last time I did. I do go 15- 20 miles a day though. So I was wandering if I should wear one? Please tell me if u wear one and if I should a good brand of helmet.

Well the way I see it you may fall 5 times and never hit your head or maybe six in all the confusion I lost count. The question you gotta ask yourself ,do I feel lucky? well do ya "PUNK". I alway wanted to say that.
But seriously yes wear a helmet and check consumer reports on helmets. I wear a Giro but there are good less expensive helmets but I am a slave to fashion and my wife make me wear certain brands. It also helps keep the sweat out of your eyes.

mike7382 said:

I have to say I never fall off of my bike. I cannot remeber the last time I did. I do go 15- 20 miles a day though. So I was wandering if I should wear one? Please tell me if u wear one and if I should a good brand of helmet.

Just because you've never fallen doesn't mean you never will, or that you won't get whacked by a car.

I've almost been hit about 3 times by cars in the last month while riding my road bike... I always wear a helmet.

This is not intended to insualt or be insualtive to anyone
But I must be either extreamly lucky or extreamly good one of the 2
I been riding bikes for year and have never had a major wreck
skined knees elbows ya but thats it
I dont know if people just dont know how to ride or are tryin to do things on or with a bike that is want not intended to do or be done

if you are new then I say Yes to helmet
if you ride stunts then yes
if you race yes
if you plan high speeds yes
if you plan a long trip even ya
if you feel you need it Yes
even kids I'll say yes
as an adult
if your just ridein around the block well then it's your call
unless your state says it's mandotory

I have never wore one , not sayin I wont but at this time
I dont feel it's nessary

maybe I'm wrong but thats how I feel
and stats show no improved differance with vers without

TechJD said:

This is not intended to insualt or be insualtive to anyone
But I must be either extreamly lucky or extreamly good one of the 2
I been riding bikes for year and have never had a major wreck
skined knees elbows ya but thats it
I dont know if people just dont know how to ride or are tryin to do things on or with a bike that is want not intended to do or be done

if you are new then I say Yes to helmet
if you ride stunts then yes
if you race yes
if you plan high speeds yes
if you plan a long trip even ya
if you feel you need it Yes
even kids I'll say yes
as an adult
if your just ridein around the block well then it's your call
unless your state says it's mandotory

I have never wore one , not sayin I wont but at this time
I dont feel it's nessary

maybe I'm wrong but thats how I feel
and stats show no improved differance with vers without

No offense but being a Risk Manager as I am I would advise that you may want to check how long they have been compiling this "Data". It may be a little skewed because of the short duration of the information available and cannot reflect a true "curvilinear trend" I will err on the side of caution myself.

jhuskey said:

No offense but being a Risk Manager as I am I would advise that you may want to check how long they have been compiling this "Data". It may be a little skewed because of the short duration of the information available and cannot reflect a true "curvilinear trend" I will err on the side of caution myself.

Several years over several countrys

[font=Arial Black] I have a question what kind of helmet brand should i get and what if it is stolen from me what should i do when i leave it on my bike?[/font]

TechJD said:

Several years over several countrys

What kind of helmets what kind of incidents what was the proximate cause what do you mean by several.
I can bury you with information,possibilities and doubt. I do this for a living Do not make a quick judgement on safety without numbers.

TechJD said:

Several years over several countrys

You've apparently not seen many bike accidents yet. I've personnally witnessed a crash on a group rides, caused when two bikes got tangled together at about 20 mph. Both people that went down had broken helmets, but ok heads, from the falls. The ambulance driver made sure they took the helmets to the ER, as evidence of the extent and location of the hits the riders heads took.

Another local rider was hit by a deer last month doing about 25. Again, the helmet was shattered as he pinwheeled over the bars and landed at the side of the road. He received some bad facial lacerations, but no head injury.
He posted pictures of his broken helmet on the club website, as a reminder to all to never ride without helmets.

Helmets are required on all local club rides here, as well as on our annual Century Ride.

jhuskey said:

What kind of helmets what kind of incidents what was the proximate cause what do you mean by several.
I can bury you with information,possibilities and doubt. I do this for a living Do not make a quick judgement on safety without numbers.

again like I said If you feel you should wear one then by all means wear one

on the stats someone posted some links to them on one of the boards I read
I looked some over it over an most read basicly the same way

it's like the motorcycle hemlet stats
same thing thats why most repealed the helmet laws

as for the other that was ridein in a group ride
someone wasnt watchin I guess
I realize accidents happen
thats why they are called accidents

I'm not say dont wear one
I'm sayin You Choose for yourself
unless local laws say Do then you better wear it

TechJD said:

.....it's like the motorcycle hemlet stats
same thing thats why most repealed the helmet laws
...blah blah blah......

I'd like to see the specific studies and exactly what they were looking at. Referring to some study that you "saw" posted somewhere else isn't very substantive.

The fact that helmets do decrease the likelihood of head injury cannot be contradicted by a study. If the studies looked at mortality, it could be that maybe helmets didn't change the mortality rate under a given set of criteria, but then, no helmet maker ever said that their helmets would save your life every time.

That said, I've been hit by a car, on a bike, landed such that my head hit the pavement and was well enough to get up and throw my broken helmet at the driver. I've been hit by a car on a motorcycle, landed hitting my head, and was carted away without injury. I have destroyed three helmets in 3 100+ mph motorcycle racing accidents. By destroyed, I mean that two were cracked all the way through in multiple places, while the third was also cracked all the way through and was ground completely through the shell into the foam into places. In all three crashes, my head survived, intact, and I didn't even have a headache. And in one of those crashes, my neck was broken.

As an ex-paramedic and ER worker, I can describe in detail what effects not having a helmet on had on some patients and corpses that I saw/treated. You can go to any physical rehab center/hospital and see many examples of disabling injuries from the lack of a helmet. The beauty of getting a head injury is that if you kill off some brain cells, they don't grow back.

Do most people not die on bicycles? Sure they don't. The vast majority of people ride bikes without incident or head trauma. But guess what? Those with head injuries or those dead because of head injuries weren't so lucky, and there is no study, no skill, no amount of experience that will guarantee that you do not fall into that unfortunate, second group. In the end, should a person be unlucky enough to find his or her body on a trajectory different than their bike's and oriented such that their melon is going to get whacked, the only things standing between an intact head and disability or death are dumb ass luck and helmets. Personally, I'd rather put my trust in a helmet, than in dumb ass luck and uninformed, unintelligent interpretation of statistical surveys.

You might also want to bone up on what exactly statistics are all about and how they are different than deterministic methods.

FYI, velocity isn't necessarily the thing that finishes you off. The fall from seat height, onto your head is sufficient to render you dead, vegetative, or just stupid and regretful.

if you dont feel comfortable witha helmet and it detracts from your cycling experience then dont wear one
life is short, and besides that you probably wont die without one
if it doesnt bug you and you could ride either way then you might as well

alienator said:

I have destroyed three helmets in 3 100+ mph motorcycle racing accidents.

geee didnt I say if you Race wear a helmet

I'll see if I can find the post for ya

ok found it
http://www.cyclehelmets.org/1012.html

also just want to add
yea some might know or been involved in a bike accident
and the helmet saved them from being hurt
and thats great
but look at what your were doin when it happened
was you doin something that maybe you shouldnt have been

ok I'm goin to let it go
Again if you feel you should or need to wear one then wear it
if you dont feel you dotn need it then I hope that like me you never need it 🙂
remember you can drown in your own bathtub too ( it has happened )

mike7382 said:

I have to say I never fall off of my bike. I cannot remeber the last time I did. I do go 15- 20 miles a day though. So I was wandering if I should wear one? Please tell me if u wear one and if I should a good brand of helmet.

I can't even believe you are asking that question. 😕 Go get a helmet...whatever fits your noggin!

1x1 said:

I can't even believe you are asking that question. 😕 Go get a helmet...whatever fits your noggin!

Yes wear a helmet.Like I said I am in the risk reduction business and there is not enough imperical data at this point to make reasonable , excuse me, statistical conclusion as to whether helmets help reduce injury. Consider that most accidents are not reported because no medical treatment is involved and this might be due to helmet use, or not. As far as I am aware ASTM,ANSI or other independent labs or testing facilities do not certify bike helmets. Motorcyle helmets yes. I would rather recommend that an individual wear one than take the responsibility that it just might increase injury to them if they don't.
Again consumer reports did an independent study and made some recommendations on helmets a couple of months ago. I for one do not have any brain function to spare. Beside they look cool.

mike7382 said:

I have to say I never fall off of my bike. I cannot remeber the last time I did. I do go 15- 20 miles a day though. So I was wandering if I should wear one? Please tell me if u wear one and if I should a good brand of helmet.

Dont wear one..get hit by a car and die..one more idiot off the road...I always see these idiots ride without helmets...or have theirs perched on there bars like the pros do..to lok cool...and I wouldnt say much if they were riding on some deserted road...but on city streets? What are you stupid? Youre going anywhere from 15-25 miles an hour...moron..how could you even ask a question like that? Dont wear one and take your chances....ok?