This really isn’t angry enough to go to the Pit. Sorry.
So I’m riding my bike on campus today to the Clinical Library to photocopy some stuff for my Big Stupid Term Paper. Since I’ve never been there, I stop and ask a guy walking by where it’s located.
“Yes it’s in that building right there. So, do you own a bike helmet?”
Oh, Christ. “No, I don’t.”
“Blah blah blah… you should really get one. Not for yourself, blah blah, if a car hits you, you’re gone.” (I kind of tuned out during his speech, evidently.)
“Um, so where’s the library?”
Dude, I assume you’re a highly educated individual, but you should know by now that people don’t like unsolicited advice/criticism/whatever. Guess what? I HAVE gotten hit by a car, last semester. And you know what it did? It made me extra-careful about watching where I was going.
If I was doing some off-road riding or anything else where I stood the chance of toppling head-first in a ravine, damn right I’d be wearing a helmet. As for now, I’m only riding my bike around campus, and doing an extremely safe job of it. So don’t tell me what to do with myself.
tsarina, who realizes it wasn’t a huge deal but doesn’t like being the object of some asshole’s “personal mission”.
Just explain to them in your very best “up-talk” (where everything ends like a question) that you really would wear one, but you don’t like what they do to your hair.
I opened this thinking you were talking motorbikes. Tortuga showed me this gross picture of a guy who got his brains extracted on the asphalt because he was riding witout a helmet, but it was a motorized ride, and he was a shithead, so there was shit all over the sidewalk. For a bicycle, unless you’re going over 35mph, shyeah right.
Reminds me of a bike accident I had when I was 17. Except I wasn’t riding, I was standing on the side of the road and some prick mowed me down with his bicycle.
My face hit his helmit, broken jaw, broken cheekbone, 3 days in the hospital. Ouch.
I’ve learned that no matter how careful of a bicyclist I am, there’s going to be someone out there who’s able to get me into an accident. Might as well protect myself as best as I can.
Maybe the guy had some loved one get into a nasty bicycle accident, and didn’t realize that you’d think he was an asshole for being concerned about your well-being. He probably shouldn’t have gone into some huge speech about it (assuming he did; couldn’t tell from the OP exactly), but still.
As for the mph concern, my husband took a spill on his bicycle while doing about 20 mph. He hit his shoulder on the pavement hard enough to break it and keep him out of work (he’s a letter carrier) for 2 months. Just because it’s not a motor vehicle doesn’t mean it can’t be dangerous even at lower speeds.
I know that I will always come out the loser when it’s me and my bike vs. an automobile (or really bad road conditions). I also tend to go as fast as possible while on my bike, and I figure I’ve invested too much in my brain to lose it for a stupid reason like not wearing my helmet. YMMV.
I think a better attitude would be “Yeah, well maybe I don’t want to be a drooling idiot” Not that I am someone who would give unsolicited advice but seeing how you posted I might as well reply.
As an ex-bike messenger who worked for over 7 plus years I always wore a helmet. Aside from the obvious dangers there are the small things that will get ya. One time I got on my bike got all set to go, pushed off right on to a brick, flipped over landed right on my head dented the helmet. I never gave anyone shit for not wearing a helmet but I have gone thru 2 helmets and I could say that now I am one of the safest riders on the road. So remember it is not how careful you are, there are lots of assholes who will run you over who are not careful. Being careful doesn’t protect you from assholes.
Now that I’m not on the road all day long I tend to not to wear a helmet every time I go out but my attitude is not that I don’t WANT to but I didn’t.
::Shrugg:: It’s all cultural. I live in a country with more bicycles than people. I have never worn a helmet while riding a bicycle in my entire life. Over here, it’s considered a thing for small kids. Of course, motorists are used to bicyclists on the streets, so I’m sure there’s a difference in the actual change of getting hit.
I used to mountainbike a lot back in my college days. Had a few serious crashes where I managed to avoid the trees somehow. I wouldn’t do that again, but I take my regular bicycle out without a helmet all the time.
It’s all about perspective. I was in Arizona a few weeks ago, and the sight of all the people riding around on Harleys without a helmet freaked me out. I mean, how suicidal can you BE??
That was until I got out of the airconditioned car, of course.
Well, I have mixed feelings about the issue. I don’t think I would walk up to a random person and start lecturing about bike helmets. However, I have told people to get out of my car because they refused to wear the seat belts. But that’s partially because I bear some responsibility for what happens to the people who ride in my car…not to mention that it’s a 1986 model with no air bags and faulty brakes.
I would never ride a bike without a helmet. It seems like such an easy precaution to take, but I’m not going to have a fit if someone disagrees.
As another ex-bike messenger I have to concur with Briminator. Wear the skid lid! Future generations of tsarina’s are counting on you.
A lot of times it’s not how safe you’re being it’s how unsafe the other person is being that is just about to flatten you. I’ve seen people get totally hammered while completely stopped (what could be safer than that, eh?) and it’s not pretty. :eek: Having personally been knocked unconscious because I thought helmets were for dorks I can now say I don’t make that mistake again.
More than likely the guy talking about the helmet has first hand experience with their efficacy. Don’t make me recount the times I’ve found myself careening down the asphalt on my skid lid and thinking in that wonderful-slow-motion-accident-kind-of-way that a hard outer shell on one’s noggin is a good idea…
I don’t own a bike, but I wear a helmet when I ride my horse. And if anyone else wants to ride him, I make them wear a helmet, too. My helmet probably saved my life once when he kicked me in the temple.
I’m only in my thirties, so I can’t believe I’m the only person who remembers the days when we didn’t even have bicycle helmets. Nobody thought we needed them and nobody complained.
If it’s illegal for tsarina to ride without a helmet in her area, she’ll probably get a ticket at some point. She might also get hit by another car. She might ride past some dipstick who swings a tire iron at her head. Her choice. If she doesn’t want to wear a helmet, she shouldn’t have to.
That was what her rant was about. She wasn’t complaining about any unassailable law of physics or the actions of an inaccessible government, she was complaining about some complete stranger giving her a hard time about something that wasn’t any of his damned business.
See?
Frankly, the next time I get on a bike I’ll put a helmet on. My choice.
Whatever I do, I won’t take any crap from holier-than-thou jerks I happen to meet on the street. Also my choice.
