That’s a stupid theory. I break my helmet, I get a new one.
My first helmet was retired after many years still intact, but certainly saved my skull once coming home late at night when I lost it for no reason going over an overpass walkway after a late shift one night. Preferring to lie bleeding on a rarely used walkway until someone discovers my unconscious body just 'cause I have some undefinable dislike of helmets is insanity.
Things I use now that they also didn’t have before include seat belts, vaccinations, and life insurance.
I have hit my head, and it hurt enough with my helmet on (no head injuries other than the cut on my chin), that I shudder to think of how hurt I would have been if I hadn’t been wearing it.
The tiny effort it takes to buckle a seat belt or wear a helmet is more than made up for by the increased safety doing so gives you.
You do realize that listening to headphones while biking isn’t the best of ideas, right? From here, “…85 percent of the information needed for safe driving is visual…” As taste and smell enter very little into driving, that leaves about 15% to hearing, which headphones block out. (Note that this page refers to driving a car, but on road biking should be roughly equivalent, especially in traffic.) Even on a bike trail, hearing can be important as faster moving cyclists tend to announce their passes for safety reasons.
Add to this the fact that impairing your ability to ride safely is being used as an excuse for another unsafe behavior and you’re taking a pretty big risk here.
I know at least 2 people who will say if asked that they owe their lives to bicycle helmets. I can’t honestly say the same, but my helmet has saved me a good bit of pain.
I’ll never understand the mindset of someone who refuses to wear a bike helmet when they’re readily available and not prohibitively expensive. No, they aren’t the most comfortable headgear on earth. Yes, minor discomfort (which you get used to fairly quickly) is by far preferable to brain damage or death.
I don’t jog at 20+ mph. This may be just a wild guess, but I bet you don’t either. :rolleyes:
Different activity, different risks.
I am really surprised at the number of people that don’t wear helmets while road riding. Not wearing a helmet and wearing headphones? :eek: Besides being illegal in California, IMHO that comes under the heading of a death wish.
Growing up, I didn’t wear a helmet. They didn’t exist. Neither did child seats for cars and seat belts.
Do you also not wear seat belts, or buckle you child in a car seat, because you didn’t have those as a child? Pretty sloppy reasoning.
Hentor Take a close look at these guys. No first names on masking tape, and every single one of them can kick your ass on a ride. I rest my case.
While your head may be about the same distance from the ground, I don’t think most folks are going to pick up enough speed while jogging to get the same distance and impact someone on a bike would if they had a fall.
For the record, I’m guilty as hell re: helmet wearing. I seldom ride my bike, and even more seldom am able to find my helmet. As you can see, I have no excuse and will have to mend my ways.
But people don’t jog at 25 mph. And the kind of fall you take if you trip is different than being launched head-first over the handlebars.
More anecdotal stuff: I ride about 5K miles a year on pavement. Last crash three years ago I ended up with broken collarbone, broken rib, collapsed lung, fractured pelvis. And a scratched and dented helmet that I retired with honor.
And, looking at preview, I see I am tail-end charlie on these comments.
I spent a childhood riding bicycles without helmets, and like any kid, we did lots of stupid, dangerous shit. When it was time to go bike riding and roller skating as an adult, I donned the helmet and it was very uncomfortable, but I did it anyway because it sent the right message to my children. We also drove in cars that were deathtraps by today’s safety standards, went un- or undersupervised for periods of time that would have neighbors calling CPS, were able to be away from home from sun-up until dinner without ever needing to check in via cell phone, etc. It definitely was a different time, and as an adult, I have to learn to respect and adapt to the differences.
That said, hockey and helmets never mix! Multiple concussions and lost teeth are part of the ambiance. It has all been downhill since helmets were mandated.
FWIW I have broken one helmet while riding. I was preparing to dismount going about 3 mph when my pedal caught a small stump (about 3/4" diameter) sticking out of the ground. Over I went, and my helmet hit a rock. Broke the helmet, I didn’t feel a thing except a thump.
My daughter broke one also. She was roller blading on the sidewalk. She hit a seed pod from a tree, and crashed face first into a concrete block wall. Cut her lip and broke her helmet clean in half.
Money was tight then, but boy was I happy to buy her a replacement. I never had to nag her to wear it after that either.
Not one single person has come in yet and said they don’t wear a helmet and they died or had extensive permanent brain damage. So what more proof do you need that they are unnecessary?
They give you the false impression that you’re safe.
The most important factor, by far, in your likelihood of injury is how close cars are to you when they pass. If you wear a helmet, they pass very close, and increase your risk of injury. (They pass furthest from a cyclist if the individual is a woman without a helmet. The most effective piece of safety equipment you can wear is a good wig.)
I know this is a bike thread, but my son (13) was sledding with friends this past weekend, and had a crash. We don’t know exactly what happened, because he has no memory of the event. He had a concussion, and now has post-concussive syndrome, which means headaches and dizziness that may never go away. His doctor was very upset that he was not wearing a helmet. I never thought about it.
Someone else up there said it - I’ve never fallen, but my helmet, which I don’t even always wear - has dozens of pockmarks where rocks hit it instead of me.
Cars aren’t the issue, the ground is, or a rock, or a tree. If a car hits you, ain’t no helmet going to help your head.
Besides, virtually every organized ride I’ve ever been on requires riders to wear a helmet.
tesseract, I think the concept of him becoming a parent just isn’t as ‘real’ to him as it is to you, because, you have this thing growing inside your belly. It is a totally real concept for you, but for him, it probably just hasn’t sunk in so much. You, of course, have been taking all these steps, eating better, taking vitamins, because you have this baby growing inside your belly. It’s not that he doesn’t love the baby or that he doesn’t care about his child, he just isn’t as aware of the baby as you are.
I’ve never had problems hearing with a helmet on. They don’t cover your ears, so how is the helmet decreasing your ability to hear?
I’ve also never been biking along and thought, “Oh my god, there’s a plastic and foam safety device on my head!” just prior to crashing. I don’t see how wearing a helmet is distracting, once you get used to it. It’s certainly no more distracting than getting a new bike and having to get used to it.
I’ve never thought I was invincible while wearing a helmet. Does it make me less likely to have serious brain injury? Yes, because I don’t take any more risks while biking while wearing one than I would without one.
This is just silly. I seriously doubt drivers passing a bicyclist give any more or less room because of safety equipment.
Everyone knows that it’s fashionable to die with your grey matter splattered all over the pavement because you hit a small pothole. Duh.
:rolleyes:
I learned my lesson on helmets after giving myself a nasty concussion while snowboarding a few years back. If banging my head on snow was enough to rattle my brain around, I don’t want to imagine what concrete would be capable of.
