# Biking. Helmet or not? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 2, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-helmet-or-not/447801 "2008-05-02T19:52:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-helmet-or-not/447801/41 "2008-05-03T04:32:50Z")
I always wear a helmet, almost. Very rarely I jump on the bike early in the morning and head off to work and simply forget to put it on, I realise something’s wrong a little later. If I’m not too far from home I go back, otherwise I do without. I don’t find heat to be a problem, I regularly ride in temperatures over 90F and I don’t find the helmet to be particularly hot, infact it protects my head from the sun and stops me from getting too burnt. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-helmet-or-not/447801/42 "2008-05-03T04:37:58Z")
[QUOTE=BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed] I can get on board with the seatbelt in cars. I could probably even be persuaded that a seatbelt on a plane is going to do something after falling 10,000 feet if you showed me some statistics. [/QUOTE] You wear a seatbelt in a plane in case of take-off and landing accidents and turbulence. In a catastrophic crash they will do nothing, but most crashes are not catastrophic. Turbulence kills people who are not wearing their seatbelts. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-helmet-or-not/447801/43 "2008-05-03T05:02:11Z")
[QUOTE=Darryl Lict] To me, the greatest danger for bicyclists is the unmitigated gall of “cycling enthusiasts”. Their training group (I refuse to to call it a peleton) feels like they can disobey every traffic law. They clog the entire lane when they could be riding in single file. They blow through every stoplight and stop sign. They are aggressively taunting drivers and inciting road rage. There is a local rural intersection where a small road meets a major highway. “Cycling enthusiasts” blow through the stop sign and challenge cars driving on the major highway doing 50mph. [/QUOTE] Dear god I hate those fuckers. I’m a lowly Bike commuter on a road that follows the Missisippi, so it is popular with recreational riders. I don’t have the pretty lycra and the $3k bike, but every driver those assholes piss off are more than happy to take their anger out on me. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-helmet-or-not/447801/44 "2008-05-03T05:16:14Z")
I don’t wear one riding on campus, there are no cars where I ride, and I have difficulty keeping up with it between classes and the like. At home/off campus I do so most of the time, but I do forget. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-helmet-or-not/447801/45 "2008-05-03T05:31:45Z")
No. I don’t think I’ve ever worn one and I ride every day. Kind of a stupid reason, too. I just hate carrying the damn thing around. ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-helmet-or-not/447801/46 "2008-05-03T05:43:35Z")
[QUOTE=1920s Style “Death Ray”] You wear a seatbelt in a plane in case of take-off and landing accidents and turbulence. In a catastrophic crash they will do nothing, but most crashes are not catastrophic. Turbulence kills people who are not wearing their seatbelts. [/QUOTE] This is a vitally important point. On a plane, wear the damn seatbelt. On motorcycles, I always wear a full-face helmet. ---
**Author:** ![SanderSaares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ea924/32.png) [@SanderSaares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanderSaares)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-helmet-or-not/447801/47 "2008-05-03T07:18:02Z")
Always. I like my head in one piece. I ride paved roads and dirt country roads. Rarely in town (only to get out of it). ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-helmet-or-not/447801/48 "2008-05-03T08:22:19Z")
You’d be retarded not to. Literally. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-helmet-or-not/447801/49 "2008-05-03T08:30:57Z")
Usually wear it. I only don’t if it’s extremely hot and I’m staying on campus (where I’m rarely on the road and never going more than a quarter mile. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-helmet-or-not/447801/50 "2008-05-03T11:57:33Z")
Always. As Jerry Seinfeld said, “Any brain that does not make its owner wear a helmet while cycling probably isn’t worth having anyway.” ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-helmet-or-not/447801/51 "2008-05-03T12:53:46Z")
[QUOTE=Darryl Lict] The point I’m trying to make is that asshole cyclists wearing helmets are probably more at risk of injury and death than I. Also, kids (college students) do an even worse risk assessment that me. I guess none of you guys engage in statistically risky behavior like talking on a cell phone while driving. When I die or am permanently incapacitated, you guys can tell me you told me so. And one more time, I admit that it would be safer to wear a helmet. [/QUOTE] Oh, come on. Sure, some assholes wear helmets, but that doesn’t make it stupid to wear a helmet. I personally always wear a helmet when I bike (though I haven’t even touched one in years), partially because my parents required me to and partially because if I hadn’t been wearing one when I had my first accident, I’d probably be either in the hospital permanently or making frequent visits as a head injury patient. Oh, and no, I never talk on my phone while driving. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-helmet-or-not/447801/52 "2008-05-03T13:35:32Z")
[QUOTE=outlierrn] Cite? [/QUOTE] In the USA it’s 12mph, not 7. The European standards are even less stringent, but I cannot find the exact figure. IIRC the European helmet test is equivalent to a fall at 7mp or 8mph onto a flat surface. > [@](#): > > Collision energy varies with the square of impact speed; a typical helmet is designed to absorb the energy of a head falling from a bicycle, an impact speed of around 12mph or 20 km/h. This will only reduce the energy of a 30 mph or 50 km/h impact to the equivalent of 27.5 mph or 45 km/h, and even this will be compromised if the helmet fails. From [Bicycle helmet - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_helmet#Design_intentions_and_standards) > [@Edward the Head](#): > > A lot of motorcyclist claim the same thing. They say the force of the helmet will snap your neck. Funny, but the same thing would then happen in a car without a helmet and wearing a seatbelt. It makes zero sense. What you just wrote makes zero sense. In how many car accidents does your head strike the tarmac? The argument is that if your head strikes the road with a helmet on, the increased diameter of the helmet will cause much greater rotation in your neck than if your head were bare. The inability of the helmet to slide over the skull in the same way that the scalp does exacerbates the effect: > [@](#): > > Most helmets provide no protection against rotational injury and may make it worse. “The major discovery is that the skull plays an important role in protecting against rotational acceleration,” says Phillips. He says almost all head injuries involve not just a direct blow to the skull but also damage to blood vessels caused by the brain rotating within the skull. > > In mechanical terms, the head is an elliptical spheroid with a single universal joint, the neck. It is therefore almost impossible to hit it without causing it to rotate. The head tries to dampen these forces using a combination of built-in defences: the scalp, the hard skull and the cerebrospinal fluid beneath it. During an impact, the scalp acts as rotational shock absorber by both compressing and sliding over the skull. This absorbs energy from the impact." I am only presenting this argument as devil’s advocate - as I said, I usually wear a helmet, and always when mountain-biking or commuting in traffic. I cycle over 3,000 miles a year so I take quite an interest in the pro- and anti-helmet arguments. Skulls are much stronger than people give them credit for, though - if the helmet fascists were correct, then 20-30 years ago in the pre-helmet era, hardly any kids would have made it to adulthood as they’d have fractured their skulls falling off their bikes. :rolleyes: Judging my the comments on this thread, though, the helmet lobby has succeeded in making the majority of otherwise right-thinking people believe that it’s madness to get on a bike without a helmet. That’s very sad, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-helmet-or-not/447801/53 "2008-05-03T14:17:16Z")
[QUOTE=Santo Rugger] You’d be retarded not to. Literally. [/QUOTE] Do you wear a helmet while playing [rugby?](http://www.health24.com/fitness/Specific_Sports/16-2175-2176-2197-1160.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-helmet-or-not/447801/54 "2008-05-03T14:55:04Z")
[QUOTE=Darryl Lict] Do you wear a helmet while playing [rugby?](http://www.health24.com/fitness/Specific_Sports/16-2175-2176-2197-1160.asp) [/QUOTE] Many rugby players do wear head protection and head injuries in rugby are unlikely to kill. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-helmet-or-not/447801/55 "2008-05-03T16:43:12Z")
Always - it’s the law here, anyways, but yes, always. Also on my scooter. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-helmet-or-not/447801/56 "2008-05-03T16:49:00Z")
I once ran into a telephone pole face first (it is a matter of perverse pride to me that I was going uphill at the time). I fractured my malar bone, and required plastic surgery. I STILL didn’t wear a bike helmet. When I took up with Pepper Mill, she was appalled to learn this, and she insisted I wear a bike helmet. I have ever since. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-helmet-or-not/447801/57 "2008-05-03T16:51:54Z")
Every single time. I’ve broken a helmet in a low speed crash. Bell replaced it for free (and sent me a certificate that said **Saved by the Bell** 😃 ) We have a term for people that ride w/o helmets. We call them organ donors. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-helmet-or-not/447801/58 "2008-05-03T16:55:36Z")
[QUOTE=Rick] Every single time. I’ve broken a helmet in a low speed crash. Bell replaced it for free (and sent me a certificate that said **Saved by the Bell** 😃 ) [/quote] All that proves is that polystyrene is not as strong as a skull. > [@](#): > > We have a term for people that ride w/o helmets. We call them organ donors. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: Helmets are made out of polystyrene. They’re not a magic force-field. They’ll save you from getting a bruise on the noggin, but any crash that’s going to kill you will likely kill you whether or not you have an inch of plastic foam on your head. Please take a reality check. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-helmet-or-not/447801/59 "2008-05-03T17:43:56Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] Helmets are made out of polystyrene. They’re not a magic force-field. They’ll save you from getting a bruise on the noggin, but any crash that’s going to kill you will likely kill you whether or not you have an inch of plastic foam on your head. Please take a reality check. [/QUOTE] Of course it’s not magic, it’s material that’s designed to crumple and/or split, absorbing energy in the process and slowing down your head gradually. At least more gradually than without the helmet. It doesn’t save you from all accidents, but I think it’s worth the minuscule amount of inconvenience it may cause. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2008, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-helmet-or-not/447801/60 "2008-05-03T19:34:28Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] They’ll save you from getting a bruise on the noggin, but any crash that’s going to kill you will likely kill you whether or not you have an inch of plastic foam on your head. [/QUOTE] Which, of course, are the only two possible outcomes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-helmet-or-not/447801.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biking-helmet-or-not/447801.md?page=4)