Do you regularly wear a cycle helmet?

[NRG]

All I am saying is that IF an accident happens, the out come of the accident can be tipped in your favour to some extent by wearing a helmet......

Citation or reference please?

 

[bazwaldo]

In my southern area the lycras wear them, part of the image with the wrap around goggles of course, and quite a proportion of commuters wear them.

I think wrap around glasses are great! My normal sunglasses are dreadfrul when getting sideways sunshine through intermittent trees!!
I bought some cheap safety glasses from Amazon and they have done the job perfectly.
You don't have to pay a fortune for high status brand name style glasses!!

Barry,

 

[bazwaldo]

Well I always wear a helmet whether commuting to work (mostly) or recreationally cycling perhaps with my 10 year old daughter.
It offers protection from the elements as I have noted before - rain, cold, sunburn - also if I happen to fall off and bang my head it is always going to help.
While I appreciate flecc's comments about making your own luck and responding to other's actions the situation where you are wiped out by something completely out of your control always exists.
If wearing a helmet helps me to survive such an incident then I will be glad to wear a helmet so my 10 year old daughter hopefully does not have to suffer the loss of her Father at a young age.
At the same time I think it is important for people (adults) to decide fror themselves if they want to wear a helmet or not, I always insist my daughter wears a helmet!

Barry.

 

[tillson]

Citation or reference please?

There probably isn't one. It's a bit like asking for a citation or reference saying that's it dangerous / painful to marinate your penis in in tobasco sauce and to then put it into bacon slicer. It's just one of those things that you don't do. You don't need a citation or a reference.

For me personally, logic suggests that if you have a lump of polystyrene strapped to your head and you receive a blow which lands on the polystyrene bit, it Can tip the balance of probability of not sustaining injury in your favour. It has to be better than an impact directly onto bone.

 

[Cyclezee]

It's a bit like asking for a citation or reference saying that's it dangerous / painful to marinate your penis in in tobasco sauce and to then put it into bacon slicer. It's just one of those things that you don't do. You don't need a citation or a reference.

Health and safety warning!
Don't try this at home guys.............or anywhere else for that matter

 

[flecc]

For me personally, logic suggests that if you have a lump of polystyrene strapped to your head and you receive a blow which lands on the polystyrene bit, it Can tip the balance of probability of not sustaining injury in your favour.

Completely agree and I go further, it probably will tip the balance, though I prefer to do without both the polystyrene and the impact.

It has to be better than an impact directly onto bone.

Mostly has to be better. Not if it means severe brain damage and a cabbage like existence instead of death. Life ain't that great.

 

[NRG]

There probably isn't one. It's a bit like asking for a citation or reference saying that's it dangerous / painful to marinate your penis in in tobasco sauce and to then put it into bacon slicer. It's just one of those things that you don't do. You don't need a citation or a reference.

For me personally, logic suggests that if you have a lump of polystyrene strapped to your head and you receive a blow which lands on the polystyrene bit, it Can tip the balance of probability of not sustaining injury in your favour. It has to be better than an impact directly onto bone.

You're just being facetious, theres no 'probably' about it...interesting to note the Olympic track cyclist helmets use a collapsible aircraft alloy honey comb to absorb some of the impact in the case of an accident.

 

[NRG]

Completely agree and I go further, it probably will tip the balance, though I prefer to do without both the polystyrene and the impact.



Mostly has to be better. Not if it means severe brain damage and a cabbage like existence instead of death. Life ain't that great.

Indeed Flecc, it's may protect the bone but what about the vulnerable bit inside the skull...

 

[tillson]

interesting to note the Olympic track cyclist helmets use a collapsible aircraft alloy honey comb to absorb some of the impact in the case of an accident.

Yes, I understand that part of the objective is to reduce the acceleration force on the brain. A structure intended to collapse when loaded in the intended way can do this.

Polystyrene used in cycle helmets has a degree of compressibility and the structure of the helmet can collapse, all of which absorb energy and reduce the acceleration on the brain. Under these circumstances, I believe that it is reasonable to suggest that a cycle helmet Can tip the balance in the wearer's favour.

Citations / references: Newton's First and Second Laws of Motion.

 

[NRG]

I mentioned the track cycling helmets to highlight the inadequate protection current polystyrene helmets offer.

I'm not going to post on this thread again and will end with a recommendation to everyone to read and digest the article below from Cycle Helmets .org...if you don't get it at first, read it again and again...

Cycle helmets - an overview

 

[tillson]

I mentioned the track cycling helmets to highlight the inadequate protection current polystyrene helmets offer.

I'm not going to post on this thread again and will end with a recommendation to everyone to read and digest the article below from Cycle Helmets .org...if you don't get it at first, read it again and again...

Cycle helmets - an overview

That's an interesting article and well worth reading. Thanks for posting it.

 

[flecc]

Excellent article in that link NRG, thanks for drawing attention to it.

 

[bode]

That's a very good, detailed article, and explains succinctly (though hardly in a nutshell!) why I and many others choose not to wear helmets (apart from just not liking them for discomfort/looking like a wally reasons).

There; I can't believe I actually contributed to a helmet thread!

 

[funkylyn]

There; I can't believe I actually contributed to a helmet thread!

Awwww.......Very well done Roger....the headbanging must be working

Lynda

 

[SportRider]

A most interesting article. However, having only been released from hospital yesterday morning, my firm non-helmet-wearing stance is beginning to waver.

To cut a long story short, in over 40 years of using bicycles I've never injured my head (everything else, yes, head, no), but on Saturday I fell off my bike, cracked the side of my head on the road, and the next thing I knew I was waking up in an ambulance. I had been unconscious for some 15 minutes.

I was just pulling away so wasn't travelling at any speed (there was therefore no grazing evident on limbs), but my head obviously struck the road hard enough to knock me clean out and, according to witnesses, there was an impressive puddle of blood decorating the tarmac.

Apart from a pounding headache and a badly bruised shoulder I appear to be okay. It could, however, have easily been a different story.

The question is, would a helmet have saved me from injury in this instance?

Probably.

Will I wear one in future?

Probably...

 

[jazper53]

A most interesting article. However, having only been released from hospital yesterday morning, my firm non-helmet-wearing stance is beginning to waver.

QUOTE]

Was that on your new e-bike

 

[tillson]

To cut a long story short, in over 40 years of using bicycles I've never injured my head (everything else, yes, head, no), but on Saturday I fell off my bike, cracked the side of my head on the road, and the next thing I knew I was waking up in an ambulance. I had been unconscious for some 15 minutes.

I'm pleased to hear that you are ok and hope that all aches and pains resulting from your prang are soon forgotten.

I was interested to hear that you have enjoyed 40 years of cycling without a head injury until your recent crash. Following on from a recent discussion on hear, does this mean that your judgment not to wear a helmet has been historically 100% justified for 39 years and 364 days?

 

[Scimitar]

Following on from a recent discussion on hear, does this mean that your judgment not to wear a helmet has been historically 100% justified for 39 years and 364 days?

That's an impressive percentage, by any measure.

 

[SportRider]

That's an impressive percentage, by any measure.

I suppose it is. To be honest I hadn't really thought about it. Now I have, the figure is incorrect.

I'm 54, and have been riding bicycles since I was a small child (since 4 or 5 years old, if you count the stabilser days), so it's over 40 years.

In that time the only head injury I have sustained has been on a motorcycle, but that involved a head-on collision with a myopic Austin 1100 driver on the A34, who thoughtfully decided execute a right-hand turn in front of me. But that's another story.

Another story concerns me witnessing the death of a fellow motorcyclist who, despite wearing a helmet, was killed while stationary.

It was in my schoolboy motocross days, and we were training in a local chalk pit. He'd just finished a few laps of the course, rode over to where we were milling about, stopped the bike, then put his foot down to support the bike's weight. His foot slipped on the damp chalk and he fell sideways, cracking his head on a small rock/boulder.

He died shortly after in hospital.

I'm not making any claims either way here. It's just that there seems to be no hard and fast facts when it comes to head protection and head injury.

Ride safely, folks...

 

[yselmike]

I wear mine at night for the 20km ride home, after I got hit by a scooter with a bit of concussion and needing a head scan
it seems the right thing to do I was very very lucky.
The wally factor never seemed to happen never got a second glance mind you my helmet is super cool.
Urban-TC Plus