Occasional or regular non-bike helmet cyclist? [Archive]

shootingstar

04-25-2011, 03:26 PM

I'm starting this thread because Oak, wondered who was driving the anti-helmet trend. One of the strong anti-helmet cyclists is Mikail Andersen, the guy for Copenhagenize and Copenhagen Chic: http://momentumplanet.com/videos/mikael-colville-andersen-why-we-shouldnt-wear-bike-helmets

It's pretty clear on his first blog which is part of his bike planning consultancy work.

I realize helmet won't fully protect me for all circumstances. But I have 1 life, 1 brain and a full life to live ahead for the next 30-40 yrs., with people who care about me. Let me live my life with the greatest comfort in my mind.

I understand that helmets seem to give an aura of dangerous sport and may put off some people. Hasn't stopped more and more girls playing hockey in North America. Hasn't stopped people from getting a car license, even though alot of drivers may experience even 1 minor accident (fender bender) in their lifetime.

But I am not riding for others to convince them. It's nice if my cycling gets people thinking beyond cars, but really I'm riding for my own physical and mental health, to save money and to have more transport options for myself beyond transit, walking. I'm pretty selfish in my cycling objectives.

Well, what are you? Or are you closet non-bike helmet cyclist but wear a helmet anyway? I know folks have made in clear in the last thread in streetwear vs. cycling clothing (http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=42398)here on the forums.

Me:
I'm a bike helmet user all the way. Do I think cyclists should wear helmets, if they are riding on any road? Yes. If it's on a short path....maybe not.

oz rider

04-25-2011, 03:59 PM

We really should limit helmets to Fridays ss. ;) Are you talking about the 'anti-helmet' group that wants to normalise utility cycling and thinks helmets make cycling look dangerous, thereby slowing uptake? Or some sort of anti-helmet group that wants no-one to wear helmets? Or the anti Mandatory Helmet Law (MHL) lobby (which is often characterised as anti-helmet but is actually anti compulsion ime)? There is a massive difference. At various points of the compass we have the 'my helmet saved my life' anecdotes, the medical/ABI lobby, the more cyclists = safer bunch and shades in between. Have fun. heheh

macski

04-25-2011, 04:11 PM

It's compulsory to wear a helmet when cycling in Australia - the police can (and do) fine you if you cycle without a helmet. But even if it wasn't enshrined in law I would still wear a helmet.

I do however have happy memories from childhood of riding a bike with the wind in my hair long before the compulsory helmet laws were passed.

Kiwi Stoker

04-25-2011, 04:51 PM

I think the people supporting this are people who have never had an accident or never had an accident involving their head or face.

I have had two accidents and both times my helmets was involved. I could of lost my eyebrow and fractured my eye socket without it.

No I will ALWAYS wear a helmet not matter where I ride and how slow I am going. A friend had a slo-mo accident and ended up with serious head injuries and he was almost stationary (and no car involved, he just over balanced).

OakLeaf

04-25-2011, 05:18 PM

Just yesterday I accidentally left home without my helmet ... long story, but I was really discombobulated, seriously sleep-deprived and NONE of my stuff was where it normally is. I knew something was missing but didn't figure out what it was until I was almost a mile from home. Had to ride back for it - helmets are required on our club ride, but I'd never have considered doing it anyway.

I'm a concussion survivor, no long term effects thank heaven, but hard enough that if I hadn't been wearing a helmet, it would have been very, very serious indeed.

Nevertheless, years ago (just a few years after that bici crash) I used to occasionally ride a motorcycle bareheaded, around town. Never at highway speed. I've told the story before about the last time I rode bareheaded, but it's worth repeating...

DH and I had just started dating. At the time, he lived in a state with a helmet law and hadn't ridden bareheaded in a long time (mostly because that's his preference and only a little because of the law). We went on a camping trip in a state without a helmet law, and one night we decided to ride the motos bareheaded from our campsite to a nearby restaurant, just a mile and a half each way.

The wind felt nice on our heads and all, but each of us was so terrified for the other one, that we've never done it again.

I wear mine for myself, for 100% sure ... but also, I wear it for the ones I love, and who love me.

ETA... anyone who thinks the wind in her hair is such a big deal, has obviously never ridden with the wind in her b00bs. That I probably will never have the chance to do again, but the feeling is seriously worth the risk. :D :D

Catrin

04-25-2011, 05:24 PM

Last March I had a failed experiment with clipless pedals (no longer a problem but that is a different story). In the course of the many, many falls that weekend, I wound up giving myself a small concussion when my head hit a rock on one of those falls. Got a new helmet out of it - have wondered what might have happened if I hadn't been wearing a helmet.

I do not ride without a helmet, ever.

Pax

04-25-2011, 05:35 PM

I wear a helmet some of the time. Same with my motorcycle and scooter.

GLC1968

04-25-2011, 05:38 PM

Crankin

04-25-2011, 06:00 PM

I won't ride one pedal stroke without my helmet on. I could care less about the wind in my hair. I did a lot of stupid stuff when I was a kid that I wouldn't do now; since there were no bike helmets when I was a kid, the analogy I can make is that I never wore a seat belt, even though they were put in cars in the early 60s. I went through the windshield in a one car accident, cause unknown, when my mom was driving when I was 15. I never, ever have been in a car without a seatbelt on since. And that was not common in 1969. No one is allowed in my car unless they put it on.
It is hard to understand why a helmet would make someone think riding is an activity that only "pros" do. That is really distorted thinking.
And taking neuroscience is only making me feel more strongly about this.

warneral

04-25-2011, 06:06 PM

I like to read lovely bicycle blog. But I get a little jealous of how cute she looks on a bike! I personally wear the spandex and chamois and the ugly helmet b/c comfort and safety are more important to me. I believe she won't allow helmet talk on her comments even! I don't get it TTYTT

Pax

04-25-2011, 06:08 PM

The choice to wear or not wear a helmet is based on each persons risk tolerance. For some people the act of riding a bike at all is too dangerous, for others riding is an acceptable risk as long as certain precautions are taken.

I've always found it interesting that more people don't opt to wear helmets in a car, it would definitely cut down on head injuries in car accidents... but it's never brought up or discussed as an option... and many more people drive cars every day that ride bikes/motorcycles. :confused:

trista

04-25-2011, 06:21 PM

I usually wear one... because it "feels" wrong not to. Like riding in a car w/o a seatbelt. I have ridden around the neighborhood occasionally without one, but only because I either forgot or i'm just cranking my pedals after oiling the chain.

We see a lot of people without them... generally Latinos commuting to/from work, and when I see a helmet-less rider I don't think twice. Most likely, they will be fine without it.

I can see some of the rebellion against them though. When I started cycling, I was told all the things I HAD TO HAVE when I bought my bike, by my hard-core cycling friends to facebook friends to even my husband. And in the end, I realized that a lot of those things, I really didn't NEED or even want. Of course I agreed that I needed a helmet, wanted a helmet, but I can see a very rebellious person rejecting even that, just to go against the grain of the HAVE TO HAVE people.

chryss

04-25-2011, 06:46 PM

This is such a highly emotive topic that I've been ruminating for a while. Given I'm a new poster here I hope it's ok to add my €/£/$ 0.02.

I'm in my early 40s and grew up in Germany. Everyone rode bicycles for transportation and many for recreation, if they were mobile at all. In my family, only my 80+ y.o. grandmother who had really bad legs didn't. Our school had a huge bike parking lot. We went out with school classes or rode to the next town over even. And no one of course wore helmets. Now I know that doesn't meant they are a bad idea at all, but it's context that's important for some. Because while it was just understood that you wore a helmet on a motorbike, moped or scooter, and a seat belt in a car -- all of which were legal requirements -- it was also understood that if your bones were of normal resistance to fracture, you didn't need a helmet on a bike.

Then when I was a young adult, little children (3, 6, ...) were being equipped with helmets while riding. It seemed a bit like part and parcel of the increase in attention to protecting children from accidental harm that has happened since the days I was allowed to run wild on my bike. And overall, in my respectful humble opinion, overprotection isn't a good thing. But it STILL doesn't mean helmets aren't a good thing.

Then the parents of the behelmeted children started wearing helmets, coming across as somewhat sanctimonious. And some of my peers did -- those that fancied themselves more macho riders. Mountain bikes had become commonplace, even inside flat towns. But also interesting new faster bikes than our old 3-speed hub geared or MAYBE tamely rear-derailleured rides of my youth.

I had a time I didn't ride much then - I was living in Paris, but when I was riding it was still without helmet.

But when I started to ride more and more over the last years, by then in London, something had shifted. Relations between cyclists and drivers were a lot more contentious than in my youth. Drivers in London and Paris, unlike Germany or the Netherlands, aren't as educated in the needs of cyclists -- because they aren't necessarily cyclists themselves. I had a lot of rather tense situations, and it started occurring to me that a helmet would maybe not be completely useless.

And then, a year or so ago, my girlfriend (who's American -- we were in a LDR then) was aghast I was riding without a helmet. Even though she's older than me, HER American socialization as a college-educated mostly sporty recreational rider (with a fast WSD Trek road bike and a good ATB for the dirt trails) had taught her that when you ride, you wear a helmet on a bike, just like you wear a seat belt or a motorbike helmet.

So I got one and have been mostly riding helmeted since then. Not always. It still feels completely ridiculous to put on a helmet to roll a km or two to the café during lunch break.

But I live in the US now, too. In Fairbanks where there are a lot of cycle accidents. And even though I have doubts about its efficiency -- after all, the road safety videos from my youth about wearing moped and scooter helmets had stressed that nothing short of a full "integral" helmet with a stiff part around the chin would protect your head -- it's probably better than nothing. Still, we saw the videos of the melon in a moped-style half helmet, which is a LOT more covering and solid than a bike helmet, and it got smashed to pulp nonetheless.

But yes. Riding faster and faster in more and more cyclist-unfriendly places it makes more and more sense.

If I were to go back to Germany or cycle around in Amsterdam, I don't know if I could bring myself to putting on a helmet, though. My old danger assessment said "not necessary, or not significantly likely to be needed or helpful" and nothing changed in the circumstances in THOSE kinds of places. I'm more feeling akin to my friends who'd think I've gone soft in my head on my old days and ask me if I wrap myself in cotton wool overnight.

So that's what I am -- one of the closet non-bike helmet cyclists who wear a helmet anyway.

amb

04-25-2011, 06:46 PM

I just started riding (road) exactly 2 mos ago. I will not go on my bike without one. I've fallen twice (and a few near misses) learning to use my spd pedals. I've never hit my head but I really don't mind wearing a helmet. Mine is quite comfy.

My husband also has a motorcycle. Neither he nor I would ever ride it without helmets even though they are not mandatory. Why risk it, on a bike or motorcycle?!

OakLeaf

04-25-2011, 07:06 PM

even though I have doubts about its efficiency

I know there's a dent in a helmet an inch deep (back when helmets were that thick :p), and I just had my "bell rung." No, I can't say definitively what WOULD have happened. But that's a lot of force that was absorbed.

JennK13

04-25-2011, 07:08 PM

I ride with a helmet 90% of the time. If I'm clipped in and/or riding with vehicle traffic or on uneven terrain, I wear it, which is most of the time.

After cleaning/tuning my bike and riding it up and down the complex to check it out, I don't wear one (I'm usually in flipflops or sandals of some sort), or if I'm running across the street to the market to quickly grab a few things I typically don't. If I'm on my cruiser tooling around on the bike path, I may not wear it, either.

I'm like Pax, and it's a risk tolerance decision. To each their own. I rode horses for years and fell off, was bucked off, rolled over top of, trampled, etc, and I never wore a helmet during all of that (I used to race barrels), and I doubt even now I would ever wear a helmet while riding a horse. I do, however, wear one whenever I snowboard - I suck at it, and fall every time I go, and have rung my bell a number of times out on the mountain where I'm certain a helmet has saved me, at the very least, from a bad headache.

MY risk is a lot higher on the slopes than on the trail on my cruiser. I've been hit more times in the head/face while playing softball than on my bike and I still play shortstop (without a helmet). There's inherent risk in everything we do, and it's up to individuals to decide what's right for them. I truly believe in helmet education and advocacy, but I am against a law that requires people to wear them. I also don't believe in seatbelt laws even though I buckle up every time I get behind the wheel (no maybes or sometimes about that). If someone chooses not to, that's their decision. My risk factor decision doesn't give me the right to impose that belief on other people, and that's what I think seatbelt and helmet laws do (insurance rate factors aside). I see it like this - if seatbelts and helmets save lives, and there are laws that say people have to wear them, then they ought to outlaw things that are bad for you like cigarettes and alcohol which kill a lot more people than a lack of the other two (while I don't smoke, I do drink, so I'm not advocating for that! But I see it as the same thing :o )

Note, I am not a closet-non helmet wearer. Most times I wouldn't ride without one. I don't wear it because I feel pressured to do so, like our European transplant explained. My activity and the risk I assess to the situation helps me make that determination.

Kitsune06

04-25-2011, 07:34 PM

Oh gawd not another one of these threads. I thought these only came up on motorcycle forums. :rolleyes:

There really only seem to be two camps in this argument- the ones who recognize the protection helmets provide and won't ride without them, and the ones who recognize the protection helmets provide but hate being told what to do.

There will always be folks who either feel like they can handle the consequences or feel like the consequences just won't happen to them, and they're the folks who are riding everywhere without a helmet, driving without a seatbelt, riding a motorcycle in flipflops and shorts, or having unprotected sex.

No amount of fines or legislation will change this fact. This fact also provides me with job security at the hospital so I'm hesitant to discourage the above behavior. :D

My personal opinion? I won't ride without a helmet not because I don't trust my own abilities, but because I don't trust other drivers not to try to kill me. In a perfect world, I'd consider riding naked.... just let me know when that happens. There will be snowball fights in Hell while people dodge flying pig droppings.

marni

04-25-2011, 07:53 PM

Picture an egg.

Now picture an egg on asphalt.

ETA: Any questions?

My favorite illustration of why one should always wear a helmet. I volunteer to take myself and my shattered helmet from a fall several years ago around to various schools to show and tell the kids why they should always wear a helmet.

JennK13

04-25-2011, 08:15 PM

There really only seem to be two camps in this argument- the ones who recognize the protection helmets provide and won't ride without them, and the ones who recognize the protection helmets provide but hate being told what to do.

There will always be folks who either feel like they can handle the consequences or feel like the consequences just won't happen to them

I think there is also a third group who don't recognize the protection helmets offer. It's not a matter of telling people what to do, they just don't see the point and there are many statistics out there that show or can be twisted to show that helmets don't really offer protection.

I also think there's a difference between consequence and risk. A consequence of over exposure to the sun is skin cancer, but people have different risks of that actually happening and thus weigh that risk on whether or not they use sunscreen, and those at a higher risk won't go out without a hat and long sleeves on. Hence, the risk of injury determines my safety attire which has nothing to do with whether or not someone says I should or shouldn't do something. In slowpitch softball, I don't wear a helmet to bat or shin pads in the field; in fast pitch I do. There's a lady in our slow pitch league that wears a full catcher's helmet - "unheard" of in the league! But she's been hit too many times for her own peace of mind, so she wears it. We all have different levels of tolerance an risk but that doesn't make one right and the other wrong.

shootingstar

04-25-2011, 08:22 PM

Oak: ETA... anyone who thinks the wind in her hair is such a big deal, has obviously never ridden with the wind in her b00bs. That I probably will never have the chance to do again, but the feeling is seriously worth the risk.

Whoo-hoo, Oak. Really???

Appreciate chrys' experiences from Alaska,transplant from Germany, etc. :)

Nothing to do with cycling, but today there was a funeral for 19-yr. girl who got her car license recently, died after driving into a tree in one of the Vancouver suburbs, while she was talking on her cellphone.

Cellphone use while driving just adds another dimension of risk for cyclists which never existed before ..even 3 decades ago.

Trek420

04-25-2011, 09:17 PM

I wear a helmet always. All my crashes have been the classic "FU" falls or slow motion keeling over for no apparent reason ... always in public :o always on pavement. :rolleyes: I'm aware how bad that could be if my brain hits the curb and have not signed up for long tern care insurance. ;)

Velocivixen

04-25-2011, 10:04 PM

radacrider

04-25-2011, 11:43 PM

Yep, I see both on my rides. I have also heard and read all the various comments and arguments on both sides. What is funny is how both sides can use the same basic data and reach such opposite conclusions.

My son and I both wear helmets, we just have always worn a helmet. In Portland, kids under (forget the age now) are required to wear helmets. For my son, it was more than about the law, it was sharing that I had a high-speed, single bicycle crash once. This was back in the lycra covered, foam only helmet days. Hit the ground so hard I blacked out. The helmet was broken in to 3 pieces, but remained together because of the cover.

That convinced me that things happen fast and a helmet seemed like cheap insurance, because you just never know. This is our choice.

If others do, fine, if others don't, fine. We all, as others have said, have to make our own choices.

PS: I have hit the helmet 3 times so I will keep wearing one. I should note, that testing up and down the street I will go helmetless, but anything else, I strap it on.

Susan

04-26-2011, 12:23 AM

Over here, the reasoning against helmets is not that they make cycling look dangerous or prevent people from riding a bike (maybe because there actually are a lot of people cycling), but that the risk of being injured while riding a bike without a helmet is lower than the risk of a head-injury while driving a car or walking - still nobody would wear a helmet doing this.
I don't know if this argument comes from twisting the outcomes of some statistics, or if it actually makes sense.
What seems clear to me is that while this may be true, still, if you happen to fall on your head, it's better to wear a helmet while doing so - even if the car driver that runs you over doesn't (guess that's the difference between statistics and reality).

I myself am not sure what to think. Wearing a helmet while biking was unusual when I learned to ride a bike. Until I was grown up, it was never heard of that you could even consider wearing a helmet while cycling. Today, it's still not very common to wear a helmet when riding a bike for errands or into the city (except for kids). But nearly everybody uses them for doing cycling as a sport.
In the last years, helmets (and other protective gear) were heavily promoted for skiing, another sport that wasn't considered dangerous when I grew up.
I am not sure how much of the discussion about protection is just marketing new expensive equipment.

I fell on my head twice. Once while riding my bike on ice (while wearing a helmet) and once while helping my mum in the garden and falling from a stair onto concrete (while not wearing a helmet - 2 weeks in hospital in the midst of summer!). I guess if had been wearing a helmet I wouldn't have hurt myself as bad - but I'm not sure if that means that everybody should wear a helmet while being in the garden ;)

My husband and I are still considering buying helmets for the city. Just in case.

hebe

04-26-2011, 03:40 AM

My thinking on this is on the same lines as Pax and JennK. I do wear a helmet about 95% of the time, always in traffic or on rooty/bumpy trails, always when riding with small girl in the trailer, and always when my husband is away for work and I am the solo parent.

I have a background in risk, and feel fairly sure that crossing some of the local roads as a pedestrian is more dangerous than cycling unhelmetted half a mile along a flat traffic-free bridleway with an even surface and clear visibility in both directions, for example. I'll also do a quick spin around the block helmet-free when checking something on the bike - it's a residential area with a 20mph limit and speed-calming measures. It's also very common for children to be playing in the road in this area so traffic is careful. Even my route to nursery is chosen to be as quiet as possible, I generally see no more than 5 or 6 moving vehicles on the road sections.

I did blog about helmets recently. A roadside assistance business here recently polled its (motorist) members and found that a huge majority of them wanted cyclists to wear helmets. The result was this organisation has started a programme of handing out thousands of helmets branded with their logo to cyclists over the country. I remain pretty unhappy about this for a number of reasons. That said, I think it is absolutely down to the individual to decide what level of risk they are happy with and act accordingly. Be informed and know exactly what the capabilities of your helmet are.

Bike Chick

04-26-2011, 04:15 AM

I had a bad crash several years ago on a fast, tricky descent. I hit my head on a rock and suffered a concussion. The helmet was cracked in 4 places and the ER doc told me if I hadn't been wearing the helmet, my skull would've cracked like a watermelon. Made a believer out of me and I won't ride one pedal stroke without a helmet or ride with anyone not wearing one.

Crankin

04-26-2011, 04:24 AM

And I wear my helmet when I am dressed in those cute commuter clothes, on my Jamis. Maybe I am a dork because I don't see the helmet as a detriment to my riding chic? One thing has nothing to do with the other. I could buy one of those cool Nutcase helmets to use when I am toodling around town, but frankly, I am perfectly fine with wearing one of my regular helmets.
Yes, I am risk aversive, more than a lot on this board. But, I just don't get the idea that the helmet messes up your cool factor.
Last year my son's wife wanted to buy a cruiser, to ride along the beach, to the next town in San Diego. After he convinced her that a hybrid would better suit her needs, they had to have the helmet discussion. She had never worn one. He pretty much told her that she would not be getting the bike unless she wore a helmet. He bought her one of the Nutcase ones that is very cool looking. Although she thought he was talking from a "racers" perspective, she wears it and she also sees that he wears his, even though he only rides for fun now.

limewave

04-26-2011, 05:52 AM

Ever since I became a mom, I always, always, always wear my helmet when I have wheels strapped to my feet. Even a 1/2 mile bike ride to pick the kids up from daycare or rollerblading, I wear the helmet. I trust that I have some pretty good cycling skills, but I do not trust everyone else that is on the road.

Pax

04-26-2011, 06:02 AM

Maybe another part of this is habit? I've been riding bikes my whole life (well, since age 3 anyway :p ) and motorcycles since age 12. Back then (60's and 70's) no one wore a helmet for anything so I never got in the habit. Fast forward to 2011 and I live in one of four states with no motorcycle helmet law so I've never been compelled to wear one. I tend to wear one (MC helmet) when it's cold or windy, and I'll put on a bike helmet if I'm riding out in the country... most of the rest of the time it never even occurs to me.

shootingstar

04-26-2011, 06:54 AM

And I wear my helmet when I am dressed in those cute commuter clothes, on my Jamis. Maybe I am a dork because I don't see the helmet as a detriment to my riding chic? One thing has nothing to do with the other. I could buy one of those cool Nutcase helmets to use when I am toodling around town, but frankly, I am perfectly fine with wearing one of my regular helmets.
Yes, I am risk aversive, more than a lot on this board. But, I just don't get the idea that the helmet messes up your cool factor.

Maybe it's the helmet hair thing for some women who don't like helmets.

I'm with you that being cool in commuter clothes is still possible with helmet. But it must be beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I've been tempted to get a Nutcase helmet because they have some fun/funky designs. Unfortunately my head shape doesn't fit into a rounded Nutcase helmet, no matter what size. :(:confused:

I actually need to wear large size helmets..none of the marketed "women's" sizes work at all. For a small person, I have a large head. :p

Last year, dearie was cycling when another cyclist collided into him by crossing him too quickly. ..only 4 blocks from home. Dearie blacked out for over half hr. and woke up in the emergency room. His helmet was cracked. Other cyclist paid for his damaged helmet.

This incident occured in the morning after the rush hr., in a low volume area for cars and cyclists during that time...near a bike route.

roadie gal

04-26-2011, 07:22 AM

ivorygorgon

04-26-2011, 07:26 AM

The laws requiring helmets are not just to provide individual safety. When someone without health insurance rides without a helmet and is hospitalized, the costs to society as a whole are large.

Pax

04-26-2011, 07:34 AM

As an ER doctor who lives and works in an area where we have a lot of road and mountain bikers my opinion (and only mine) is that riding without a helmet is just stupid and you should be REQUIRED to have health insurance and a WILL if you want to ride without one.

The laws requiring helmets are not just to provide individual safety. When someone without health insurance rides without a helmet and is hospitalized, the costs to society as a whole are large.

Slippery slope, get too heavily in to safety legislation and you could risk having the activity outlawed altogether. Typically the ones making the laws are not the ones engaging in the activity, to them if safety is the biggest concern a broad brush fixes the problem most easily.

Norse

04-26-2011, 08:25 AM

It's like the seat belt in the car; I would feel naked leaving the driveway without it. Here's a good story of a guy whose HEAD was RUN OVER by a delivery truck, crushing the helmet but saving his noggin: http://www.active.com/page21571.aspx

Couple of other helmet stories: (1) Little boy I used to babysit was 5 years old riding his little bike on the sidewalk, front tire hit a rock, bike stopped, he did an endo, landed on his head and died. This was back in the 80's before people really started using bike helmets (I was not the one watching him when it happened but what guilt the parents must still live with). (2) Was out on a training ride with friends on a cold, wet, rainy day; one of the gals had her back tire slip out going over train tracks and she went down hard on the pavement with her helmet smacking hard - the helmet was cracked but her head was not and she walked away with an injured shoulder. She keeps that helmet to remind her kids why she will never let them ride without. Personally, I never, ever ride without my helmet.

chryss

04-26-2011, 08:33 AM

I like it that this thread is more thoughtful than dogmatic.

My experience and Susan's (in Austria) resonate - unsurprisingly.

I've had a concussion, too -- by fainting and falling over. Indoors. On carpet. I also once hit my head falling off my bike -- no concussion, but a wound that needed a stitch. My friend had one slipping on the stairs down to the underground train. Normal daily activities bring with them the danger of injury and death. My brother hit his head badly playing on his tricycle as a child in the garden at age 3, yet I think putting helmets on playing toddlers, which some do, will do more harm than good.

(And I rode horses, too, and interestingly while I would bike to the stable without a helmet, I'd in nearly all cases wear one on the horse...)

The kind of cycling I used to do -- slow, utility or pleasure transport mostly on separate bike lanes, quiet side roads and multi-use path shared with pedestrians -- counts or at least counted as one of those activities. Of course I fell. But cycling as fast as a slow car, with feet attached to pedals on roads also used by either a high number of cars or very fast cars, in an environment where drivers tend to be hostile? Or going down bumpy dirt trails? This is a different situation, so a helmet it is.

I'm sensitive to the "cost to the collectivity argument" too of course, but would like to see statistics -- what's the percentage of injuries on non-helmeted cyclists vs. helmeted cyclists vs. people just walking on the street.

And thanks again for the warm welcome.

badgercat

04-26-2011, 09:05 AM

I am a Speech-Language Pathologist and I have provided cognitive therapy for people who heave brain injuries due to hitting their heads in various ways. Not a nice sight. Some are never normal again. It's not worth it to me. I always wear a helmet. Not wearing a helmet isn't an option for me.

*waves* I'm training to become an audiologist--I always feel a bit of kinship when I find out there's an SLP around, given our common roots in communication. :D

Anyway, back to topic. Helmets were certainly around in my childhood (I'm 25), but NONE of my friends wore them. It was absolutely devastating to me at the time that my parents would not allow me to ride my bike or rollerblade without one. It wasn't so bad when we were out on an MUP as a family, but around the neighborhood? The horror!

Junior high came around, and still I was the only kid in the neighborhood wearing a helmet. "But, you're the smartest kid in the neighborhood," my parents would say. 13-year-olds do not respond to this kind of logic, so my parents acquiesced and said I was old enough to decide to not wear a helmet if I didn't want to.

I didn't really ride during high school (it was too far away to ride to school, and it wasn't "cool" to ride around anymore). But the bike came to college with me for transport. I rode for that first year without a helmet until a woman I volunteered with (who went for THIRTY-MILE rides on the weekends, which seemed just unfathomable to me then) told me about two cyclists colliding on a slow-moving local MUP and one died. That was enough to push me back into the helmet camp, and when I was home that summer I went to a LBS and bought a helmet. I got a very stylish red and black one. :D

Long story short, I went through a "rebellious" phase (I use that very loosely, as I certainly accept that it's your choice to wear one or not), but now I never, ever, ride without one. Ever.

smilingcat

04-26-2011, 09:21 AM

As an ER doctor who lives and works in an area where we have a lot of road and mountain bikers my opinion (and only mine) is that riding without a helmet is just stupid and you should be REQUIRED to have health insurance and a WILL if you want to ride without one.

I'm not going to call anyone riding without a helmet stupid just as I would not call a chain smoker stupid for the same reason.

However; I am completely with you in regard to having a hefty health insurance for those riding without a helmet. Doesn't health companies and car insurance companies ask whether you smoke or not. And if you answer yes, by golly, your rate is much higher than non-smoker. Same should apply to those without helmet. Simply, the actuarial says that riding without a helmet significantly increases the cost of medical bill.

This, for reasons beyond me, is the same reasoning behind smoker and non-smoker when it comes to auto insurance. Hey, you smoke, pay up!! Again I have nothing against those who want to smoke, just stand 100 feet or more away from me.

Now about the will part. Sadly, those without helmet stand to lose their life more easily. So why put your loved ones through grief of going through probate, not to mention, the courts are busy handling probate. It's not something you would want to put your family through. BTW, everyone regardless of their live-on-the-edge life quotient, should have a will. Your family will thank you if you should come to an untimely end.

Slippery slope... hmm there was an incident about 20-30 years ago in Colorado with group of highly experienced nordic skiers with experience in winter camping. They set off on an "outing". They told their loved ones to expect them to be back before a severe winter storm blew in their way. Well they didn't. Colorado state sent out several teams of search and rescue teams. National Guard I think were called out with their helicopters and using IR camera to spot them... The group of experienced nordic skiers came out unscathed and wondered about what all the hoopla was about. The whole thing was national news so every one knew about it. Most of Colorado residents and rest of the country were going "Hey, the 'idiots' should pay back the state for the expense of search and rescue. If they were that experienced why have the state waste its resources and $$ when it could have been avoided"

The allure of "freedom" with the wind blowing in your face sounds "romantic" but its not for me.

Crankin

04-26-2011, 09:22 AM

I still don't get why one would think that wearing a helmet means the activity should be banned. To me, it just doesn't make sense. I have no problem with someone telling me what to do if safety is involved. I guess this is unusual?
I am not a downhill skier, but everyone I know who is wears a helmet. Adults. Same for horseback riders.
I grew up in the 50's, 60's, went to college in the 70's; of course I didn't wear a helmet then. There weren't any. My 2 kids even learned to ride without helmets in the late 80's. They were 7 and 9 when we bought helmets for all 4 of us, even though DH and I hardly rode. Once I caught my older son riding ddown a huge hill with his helmet hanging from the handlebars when he was 12. I was in one of those rental car pick up vans, so he didn't know it was me driving by... I scared the cr*ap out of him when he got home and I said, "Helmet on the handlebars does not protect your head."

Kerry1976

04-26-2011, 09:44 AM

I didn't grow up wearing helmets, but I do now. The below story is not the reason why, but if I ever had doubts it serves as a very real reminder.

About 11 years ago, an 11-year-old child of a friend died in a bicycling accident. She was thrown head first over the handlebars on a family bike ride. Her death was tragic not only in the loss in general, but the way the media chose to handle it. A large area newspaper did a full-page story on her death and blamed it squarely on her parents not making her wear a helmet. This was horrific for them. These were not negligent parents. They adored their child. I think everyone understood the newspaper was trying to take a loss and make it into a learning experience, but at the time it felt almost cruel. However, if the story made one person stop and think about the wearing of helmets, I suppose it was worth it.

hebe

04-26-2011, 09:54 AM

Kerry1976

04-26-2011, 10:09 AM

I find the Health Insurance discussions interesting as we have health care that's free to all at the point of delivery here (though we all pay for it through our taxes). The understanding that I have is that the risk of a serious bike accident (and associated medical costs) is significantly mitigated across the population by the benefits (and savings) that accrue because regular cycling hugely reduces deaths by heart disease, for example.

Interesting discussion, thank you.

That makes a lot of sense. I had kind of thought of the same thing. I think in terms of running as that is my primary sport. I had two stress fractures last year so it was a bad year in terms of seeing the doctor. However, I am healthier overall so the overall impact should be less.

lph

04-26-2011, 10:57 AM

hmmm.... I'm a regular helmet-wearer, and used to be pretty dang dogmatic about it, but discussions like this one have made me think things over a bit.

Risk: yes, I've landed on my head a couple of times and split my helmet, and it probably saved my life or at least saved me from injury and a lot of pain. The way I ride (commuting in traffic, mtbiking on trails), a helmet is obviously a good idea. That doesn't mean that every cyclist in the country rides the way I do. And I'm not going to go bug-eyed if granny pedalling along slowly on the sidewalk and dismounting at every crosswalk doesn't want to mess up her hair and isn't wearing a helmet. For certain riding styles, cycling is no more dangerous than ordinary, everyday life. But then again - risk is notoriously hard to gauge correctly.* The only time I have ever seen my dh ride without a helmet we toodled down to a local school, he felt the urge to ride over a tiny skateboard jump, fell on his head, cracked it open, needed 8 stitches, a night at the ER and was home for a week with a bad concussion.

Habit: I want to wear a helmet for most riding. I know I could skip it for certain rides, i.e. my risk assessment tells me I would be safe "enough" doing so, but I'm a creature of habit, and when it comes to safety I like to keep it simple. So I wear a helmet all the time. Only time I don't is when I'm wrenching, and just ride down the block and back to check the bike.

Principle/image/whatever: I think of myself as a serious cyclist. I have a son, and live with a lot of kids around me. I try to live a bike-heavy and car-light lifestyle, and show it. I spend a lot of energy at work convincing others to ride to work. For all these reasons I'll wear a helmet even when I don't necessarily absolutely have to. If it makes the neighbours and the other kids' parents think "ooh, she's pretty cool, and looks like she's got a handle on things" rather than "oh gawd, another one of those insane suicidal idjits" - well, it's a good thing.

And no, I don't think about all this every time I go out ;) I just put the darn thing on and forget about it. But I do go fix every crooked child's helmet I see. I want them to be comfortable, and feel cool, and then go ride.

*PS. I have the feeling that the most avid helmetwearers probably overestimate the risk, and the most avid non-wearers underestimate it. So how many people have I annoyed now? :D

alice

04-26-2011, 11:15 AM

*PS. I have the feeling that the most avid helmetwearers probably overestimate the risk, and the most avid non-wearers underestimate it. So how many people have I annoyed now? :D

I agree!

I would describe myself as a closet-helmet-choice-nonjudgmentalist. (Ha! How's that for using too many words?) I wear a helmet about 80% of the time; the other 20% I don't feel like it and I assume the risk for the type of riding I'm doing that day/time. Not wearing one when I don't want to keeps me from being bitter about "having" to wear it the rest of the time, because I know that every time I put one on (or don't) it's because I'm choosing to. I try not to judge other people for never (or always) wearing a helmet, and I hope other people don't waste their time judging me.

As a related side note, hair really is a big issue for some people (like me). My helmet wearing percentage of trips increased dramatically when I cut off all my hair and putting on/taking off a helmet now no longer requires five minutes of undoing/redoing my hair.

hebe

04-26-2011, 11:26 AM

I am ashamed to say that helmet hair is generally a huge improvement on what nature gives me every morning. Certainly nothing covers the grey hairs like a helmet.

MomOnBike

04-26-2011, 11:58 AM

I wear my helmet for the shallowest possible reason. I like to wear hats. After I ride up to wherever I'm going, I take my helmet off and put my hat on. I don't classify the riding I do as particularly dangerous - mostly poking around on bike trails around town. I'm not convinced a helmet is necessary in that situation the way it would be if I did any gnarly single track at high speed biking.

That being said, one more bad diagnosis and I'm off on a tour around the US, and I'll wear the helmet on the days I feel like it, and leave it off if I don't. I just won't feel like I'll be in danger of losing much quantity of life, while quality (wind in hair, and possibly Boobs) will become so much more important.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking for another really bad diagnosis, but if it happens, all bets are off.

Pax

04-26-2011, 12:12 PM

MomOnBike - that sounds like a heckuva plan! ;)

JennK13

04-26-2011, 12:34 PM

Slippery slope, get too heavily in to safety legislation and you could risk having the activity outlawed altogether. Typically the ones making the laws are not the ones engaging in the activity, to them if safety is the biggest concern a broad brush fixes the problem most easily.

I agree. And with the new health care reform, everyone IS required to have health insurance here in the states, so that takes care of that issue (type of coverage apparently isn't an issue since we have choices, just like with auto insurance). As for legislation and passing a law that requires the population to wear specific safety gear for a recreational activity only leads to more intrusive government. Cycling is no more dangerous than skiing/snowboarding, or being tossed by a horse - would you then propose that any activity that involves speed and the probability of falling should require a helmet by law? I know quite a few people who've slipped on ice walking out their front doors the day after a freeze who have hit their heads and ended up in the hospital - maybe we all should wear helmets when going out on cold mornings.

Originally Posted by lph View Post
*PS. I have the feeling that the most avid helmetwearers probably overestimate the risk, and the most avid non-wearers underestimate it.

I'm in agreement with you Iph.

As for helmet hair or not looking cool, that has nothing to do with whether or not I wear a helmet. It's all about the activity I'm engaging in and whether or not the risk warrants a helmet. Heck, I dang near knocked myself out reaching way back into the fridge to get something, and stood up before I was completely out smacking the back of my head on the door jam. Literally, started blacking out.

I think the money on lobbying would be better spent on 1) bike safety and riders education classes so cyclists learn proper bike handling skills and how to ride safely both in traffic and on the trail with other cyclists; and 2) driver education to teach people how to watch not only for bikes, but for motorcycles, peds, etc. and to also just have Share the Road type marketing all around so that it's in the forefront of drivers' minds. Marketing on how it's not "us" against "them", or a certain lifestyle, but how it's an inexpensive means of transportation for the young, the old, the college student - those who can't afford cars - appeal to the minds of the people while we're in this recession - just make it more "normal" as it is in other countries.
Sure, there's always the chance of a fall that can cause injury, and if you fall on your head, a helmet could help lessen that trauma and perhaps save your life. But giving people the skills they need to ride more safely, and keeping drivers alert will help lower the number of accidents that occur, and won't require a law that will only lead to other laws that infringe on personal rights. Runners have leg injuries, so maybe they will be targeted next and only be allowed to run so many miles a week so that they aren't a burden on the healthcare system that we're all going to have to pay for (there's already a pitch count rule for baseball/softball, though not a law). They should probably outlaw skydiving, too, while they're at it.

For those who've had accidents where you hit your head, I understand why you wouldn't go without one (it's why I wear one religiously while snowboarding). But I also know a lot of people who ride, and who've had accidents, and while head injuries are severe, the frequency of accidents is low when compared to the number of miles traveled. I'm just saying, that for a lot of people, it's not about looking cool, or messed up hair, or going against "the man" who said we have to wear it - it's just because we don't see it as necessary for the risk of the activity we're doing at the time. And almost all of us who occasionally go without a helmet say we wear it when the risk is higher (riding at speed, in traffic, in a group, mountain biking).

shootingstar

04-26-2011, 12:47 PM

lph: *PS. I have the feeling that the most avid helmetwearers probably overestimate the risk, and the most avid non-wearers underestimate it. So how many people have I annoyed now?

This is probably true on the over-estimation and under-estimation scale. However, I just continue to wear my helmet. Once you get into a habit, it's like brushing teeth or putting on a pair of shoes. I don't think about it.

On the rare occasion, I have forgotten to wear my helmet and cycled 3 kms. down the road. My head felt naked and unprotected. To me, it wasn't a great feeling. I'm not interested in someone else convincing me hard and long about feeling safer without the helmet.

So it makes me a nerd among some helmetless folks.
This isn't new to me..and extremely pale and minor: being judged on superficial reasons...for how I look, how I appear or what I wear. There have been WAY more serious barriers/misunderstandings in my life for being wrongly judged who I am. Wearing a helmet is such an easy thing for me and shrug, if it puts me in a minority over time to wear a helmet: so what?

I value my life and its quality over a long period of time. Not for a short period of time to feel breeze in my hair.

Would I be impeding movement to encourage more cycling, by wearing helmet? If I am, I have been all along doing the countermeasures in the past few years: I write about cycling to promote cycling for transport, health and tourism..... plus just ride the bike often and volunteered for various cycling advocacy organizations. And not have a car for decades.

Also we shouldn't waste our energy to de-regulate bike helmet wearing legislation in various jurisidictions that have such laws. Instead teach people yea, ok wear street clothing, build communities that allows use of more alternative transportations, yaddydada, etc.

It would be nice North America find its own strengths and benefits in cycling culture that is and will be different from Europe. We should learn from Europe where it's practical and where it fits our culture and our huge expanses of land mass with roads crossing for hundreds of kms...with less dense population spread across the continent. It's different terrain, extreme climates, more inhospitable because of less amenities for food, shelter in between (I really noticed this when cycling in Germany, etc.). Get real and hence, cycling culture and practices must be geared to fit with this continent, but also fit within North American society, where cars still will be around because we have longer distances to traverse between cities, towns, states/provinces ...unless we start builidng more rail lines, etc.

Over time, we have to get over the feeling that North American cycling culture/infrastructure is a shadow of Europe.

We have to also remember not all parts of Europe are cycling intensive. It's like North America. Being in Prague, Czech. I certainly felt that way, despite being surrounded by medieval and rennaissance architecture.

hebe

04-26-2011, 01:40 PM

redrhodie

04-26-2011, 03:26 PM

I have 3 helmets that I wear regularly, a commuter with lights, a larger one I can fit caps under for cold weather, and a tighter one for warmer days (so I'm not always adjusting the straps). Takes one second to put any of them on. My hair looks the same after I get up in the morning, after I wash it, and after a 30 mile ride with a helmet (see my avatar, not far from the truth). No reason why I shouldn't wear one.

I don't care if other people don't want to wear one. It's their head. I'm into the freedom to be reckless, if no one else gets hurt.

laura*

04-26-2011, 04:23 PM

The laws requiring helmets are not just to provide individual safety. When someone without health insurance rides without a helmet and is hospitalized, the costs to society as a whole are large.

Freedom costs (money). To promote freedom, I believe that society should shoulder such costs.

---

Years ago, my mantra was "when joggers start wearing helmets, I'll wear a helmet". Where and when I rode meant that I encountered numerous cars for only 1% of the ride, and maybe five cars during the other 99%. Most of the time I was churning up mountains at 5 MPH (ie a 12 minute mile) - slower than some joggers. As for crashes, the most recent crash had been circa 1987 when I tipped over in a parking lot due to some foolishness.

Increasing age has resulted in thinner grayer hair which necessitates a hat, visor, and sometimes sunglasses. A visored helmet takes care of this need better than even a hat. I now wear a helmet essentially all the time.

---

The downside to wearing a helmet is that it's an enabler of other behaviours. I now fearlessly ride in traffic. On the rare occasions I encounter dense urban jams, I'm now on of "those" riders - weaving between cars, lane splitting next to buses, passing everybody, squeezing through any opening, and etc.

goldfinch

04-26-2011, 05:09 PM

I'm not going to call anyone riding without a helmet stupid just as I would not call a chain smoker stupid for the same reason.

However; I am completely with you in regard to having a hefty health insurance for those riding without a helmet. Doesn't health companies and car insurance companies ask whether you smoke or not. And if you answer yes, by golly, your rate is much higher than non-smoker. Same should apply to those without helmet. Simply, the actuarial says that riding without a helmet significantly increases the cost of medical bill.

Life is full of risks. Why chose the no-helmet folks for health insurance penalties? Riding in a car is dangerous period. The number of people killed and injured in car accidents are shockingly high. Should people with cars pay a higher health insurance rates? How about people who eat hydrogenated fats? How about people who work dangerous or stressful jobs? As it is, I disapprove of insurance underwriting, which makes it difficult or impossible for many people to buy insurance because of their health. (sorry--end political rant).

It is tough to draw these lines. Sometimes we are sure enough about societal costs (or enough noise is made) that we pass health and safety laws but even those have limits. Smoking is proven to be harmful and to do no good. Smoking has been banned in many places. But smoking is still legal. There are mandatory seat belt laws but your car will still start if you don't buckle up. There are speed limits but most cars can be driven far faster than the limit. It is illegal to drive while drunk, but we don't require people to blow into a breathalyser before starting their cars. One state we lived in didn't have a mandatory motorcycle helmet law but did have some kind of law which limited or barred recovery in lawsuits for head injuries if you were not wearing a helmet.

I do not favor mandatory helmet laws at least for adults. I'd rather see law enforcement policing risky driving behavior than spending time ticketing people who ride without helmets. And I sure would like to see good data on injuries and risk beyond anecdotes.

My husband was a special education teacher and he taught several kids with head injuries. All were from one risky behavior or another, from diving into pools to riding in cars. But we don't make kids wear helmets until they are grown up.

Crankin

04-26-2011, 05:10 PM

goldfinch

04-26-2011, 05:47 PM

Wow, I never thought so many would not wear a helmet, even some of the time.
I can't imagine it. And it does bother me when I see riders helmet-less. Just like it bothers me when I see people in cars not wearing seat belts. And yes, I think you should wear helmets skiing and horseback riding. Personally, it wouldn't bother me if skydiving was outlawed. I was once in the ER with my DH when they brought someone in who had been a sky diving accident. Enough said.

Work in an ER and see the results of car accidents. It is a wonder that we drive! Some data:

Car crashes are the #1 cause of death among American teenagers.
source U.S. Center for Disease Control

The average American makes 50,000 car trips in his/her lifetime. Based on this average, the odds of being killed in a car accident are 1 in 140.

In the last 100 years, 2 million Americans died in car crashes.

http://www.safeteendriving.org/resources/facts_figures.php

Scary, eh?

jessmarimba

04-26-2011, 06:01 PM

I seem to have injuries from accidents that are far worse than the average person would experience in the same accident. That being said, I went on a 10 mile ride in Aspen last summer on a cinder flat path (rails-to-trails, maybe?) that intersected no roads and had no other cyclists. And I was on a mountain bike going about 8 mph. That ride, in jeans and no helmet and just smelling the mountains and the river, was bliss.

I can't imagine - with my luck - not wearing a helmet anywhere besides a trail identical to that. But I certainly appreciate the feeling of freedom without one.

oz rider

04-26-2011, 07:34 PM

And I sure would like to see good data on injuries and risk beyond anecdotes.
Thank goodness. There are resources here. (http://www.cyclehelmets.org/) And yes, we killed more on the roads (no cyclists afaik) this Easter than have died in Afghanistan, but the Prime Minister won't be attending the road victims' funerals. People are not very good at assessing risk (not even distinguishing between utility and sport cycling), which is one of the reasons the anti-compulsion groups dislike MHLs; they make cycling look dangerous.

Bike Writer

04-26-2011, 07:40 PM

I've known of people who have died from getting hit in the head or hitting their head when standing still (just a simple fall) and have died. As tough as our skulls are, it really doesn't take much to cause life-threatening injuries to our fragile brains. I always wear my bike helmet (and a helmet when rock climbing and probably skiing as well, if I did that anymore), no exceptions. I don't even like test riding a bike in a parking lot without one.

That said, a girl I know from another forum rides with a helmet that is SUPER cute! It's looks kind of like a hat and she even has an adorable and stylish looking flower on it. Oh, wait...I can link to her blog so you all can see it...it's so cute!

http://www.annacyclestoparis.blogspot.com/

Scroll down just a bit and you'll see her pics...

I think that for a lot of people, they just don't like to be 'told what to do'. I have a close friend who's father road a Harley without a helmet his whole life (even for the brief time in FL when it was law to wear one). He ended up being killed in an accident only a mile from his home - while he wasn't moving. Someone hit him while he was straddling his bike waiting for a light to change. And the doctors were pretty certain he would have survived had it been wearing a helmet. :mad:

I love how the internet works :D I followed your link and boy-oh-boy that is one nifty helmet, just darling! The blogger had an email so I emailed her and she bought it in London at this website http://cyclechic.co.uk/ however she also said that they have a US website also at this link http://www.thebicyclemuse.com/. So I am now emailing the contact person on that site to see if they have the helmet in the desired color. Whew. What a hunt, but well worth it if I can find the helmet in glossy white or red. I LOVE the look of those round helmets! :) but then again, I am kind of a retro person.

smilingcat

04-26-2011, 10:23 PM

Interesting read of all the posts. I am honestly surprised by the number of "nahhh I rather not wear it or just occasionally".

hebe

04-26-2011, 11:58 PM

I agree that culture and or habit probably plays a large part in this. Very slightly off topic, but I remember being absolutely stunned on a work trip to Florida once, when a uniformed police officer asked if he could join me at my breakfast table, and sat down with a gun in his belt (gun-holding thingy - holster?) I know that it probably wouldn't have been loaded, and that it must be absolutely normal for millions of people, but for me coming from a country where police are normally unarmed it was a huge thing to get my head around and actually did put me off my pancakes a bit. Even though he was a charming police man and no doubt would have been very effective in ensuring that everyone had a safe breakfast.

Sorry for going o/t. Just to clarify, I'm not drawing any parallels between armed police and bicycle helmets.

lph

04-27-2011, 01:15 AM

Even though he was a charming police man and no doubt would have been very effective in ensuring that everyone had a safe breakfast.

*snort* :D

Mr. Bloom

04-27-2011, 03:18 AM

*PS. I have the feeling that the most avid helmetwearers probably overestimate the risk, and the most avid non-wearers underestimate it. So how many people have I annoyed now? :D

well said. I think helmet use should be a choice, not a requirement.

Most of the US laws I've reviewed (admittedly not all) only require helmets for certains ages or on certain types of roads (like state highways...but not neighborhood streets).

However, I will never ride without one, even though I've only had 1 minor accident in nearly 9,000 miles. I would miss my helmet mounted mirror too much:D

Crankin

04-27-2011, 04:15 AM

macski

04-27-2011, 04:34 AM

I ski as well as ride a bike (hence the name) and it's not compulsory to wear a helmet in Australia when skiing but I wouldn't ski without one. I started wearing one when I did a bit of social ski racing and you had to wear one during races. I found I liked it and it kept my head nice and warm (perhaps too warm on spring days). When I tried a few runs without it I felt really strange and vulnerable. So I was glad I was wearing one when someone skied into me when I was stationary and I flipped and landed on my head - saw stars for a couple of minutes even with the helmet.

I haven't ridden a bike without a helmet in 40 years - even when I was doing a test ride around an empty car park.

Pax

04-27-2011, 04:38 AM

hebe - not to freak you out more, but if the police officer was wearing a weapon, it was loaded. (former police officer here)

shootingstar

04-27-2011, 04:51 AM

Another thing is, why do people think it's OK to insist that children wear helmets, but not for adults? Like our heads won't suffer when we hit them? You wouldn't be upset if your spouse had a TBI, but you would if it was your kid?
It seems like my opinion is in the minority on this thread, and I'm OK with it, but I do get upset with issues of safety, health, etc.

Hard to understand how to make children wear them, but parent not wear a helmet.

Hebe, Canada has stricter gun control laws than U.S. But our police officers on the street are armed with gun holster, etc.

hebe

04-27-2011, 05:32 AM

Hard to understand how to make children wear them, but parent not wear a helmet.

Hebe, Canada has stricter gun control laws than U.S. But our police officers on the street are armed with gun holster, etc.

The logic as I understand it is that childrens' skulls are softer and still growing, and that children are intrinsically more likely to come off their bikes (exhuberance, lack of experience etc), therefore a helmet makes sense. Small girl wears one whenever in the trailer or on her bike, non-negotiable. I always wear one too when towing her. I actually walked the bike part of the way back from nursery yesterday after she managed to get her helmet off and wouldn't put it back on. No helmet, no speed faster than slow walking.

Pax, shootingstar, thank you. I learn so much here. Pax, I'm glad I didn't know that at the time though :)

oz rider

04-27-2011, 05:42 AM

Hard to understand how to make children wear them, but parent not wear a helmet.
Besides the soft skulls 1, most parents are protective and have been trained that cycling is dangerous, 2, society often legislates to protect children because they are assumed to not have the reasoning skills to make informed decisions themselves (eg. regulation of cots, baby seats), and 3, children are over-representated (here) in bike stats because they are, well, kids (developing peripheral vision and judgement of speed, focused on the activity at hand, poor road skills, teenage male risk behaviours etc etc).

Susan

04-27-2011, 06:05 AM

Not only do I see differences in people's thoughts about this by country/continent, but also by region in the US.
Again, I still don't get why this should be an issue. But then, I don't think people should have a choice about wearing a seatbelt. And I admit, I do say things to others about some of this stuff... one time, when both of my kids were in car seats, I was driving home from work, with the 2 empty car seats in the back. A very young couple pulled up next to me, with a small infant in the arms of the woman. I said something to them, like "get a car seat," and the guy got all crazy and followed me for quite awhile.
Another thing is, why do people think it's OK to insist that children wear helmets, but not for adults? Like our heads won't suffer when we hit them? You wouldn't be upset if your spouse had a TBI, but you would if it was your kid?
It seems like my opinion is in the minority on this thread, and I'm OK with it, but I do get upset with issues of safety, health, etc.

I don't think anyone doubts that if you get into an accident where you happen to fall on your head, a helmet will help.
From my understanding the question is more if statistics that say that you are more likely to get a head-injury while walking or driving a car are correct. If they are correct the question would be - are you never leaving your house walking without a helmet? Because then, you are actually risking more than when doing so while biking.
Because on any activity where you fall on your head (like standing still in the garden for my anecdotic example earlier in the thread) a helmet will help. But no-one would wear a helmet ALL the time because of that (and I hope not any time soon).
It's not the same like not using a seat-belt.

Still, I do use a helmet some of the time. This thread even got me intrigued and I am searching for a helmet for the city. But thats just me. It doesn't mean that it makes sense from a statistical point of view.
What we believe to be unsafe and what is unsafe isn't always the same. I always get upset when parents have their children in a seat on the rear rack (picturing what will happen if the bike falls over) - but most people seem to be ok with this risk. One mother even told me this "feels" safer than putting her daughter in a trailer.

Maybe it's also a question of environment. Areas where there is a lot of cycling are maybe just bike-friendlier than other areas or countries. Probably it really IS less dangerous to cycle in cities like Amsterdam for example, where you can see a lot of "unsafe" practices from cyclists.

smilingcat

04-27-2011, 09:15 AM

Just to give you a slightly different point of view, put yourself in a shoe of an EMT, ER doc, nurse...

Do you realize what frustration they go through to try to put you back together from a head injury when it could have been mitigated or severity reduced had you been wearing a helmet. You don't know how many times I've heard this from EMT, my ex-brother in law is an EMT with a fire dept. But its not just him either, it's from all of them. I've heard the frustration in my father's voice regarding motorcyclist. He would come home angry and sad at the same time. I don't know if he had to give the bad news to the loved ones or not. He never said. But you could see the sorrow in his eyes after he came home from being called in "on-call". Yes he was a doctor.

On one of my crashes where I do remember the accident and what followed, the first thing EMT said to me was "Were you wearing a helmet?" and I said "Yes of course. If I hadn't, you would be scraping me into a bag." Then he thanked me for wearing a helmet.

Another time was when I had to SAG in on a ride. I was suffering from mild hypothermia. He looked at my helmet and thanked me for having a helmet with full coverage on the back. This was when cycling helmet was still new. It was a Kiwi helmet not much of air vents but the helmet went down the backside of my head around the ear with thick padding. It was a bicycle helmet. He was critical of the "newer" helmets of the time.

I know many of you want the feel of "freedom" but you need to see the back side of it too and what the EMT, the doctors who see the backside all the time. Few of the doctors here have chimed in. They are not trying to take your fun away, if for nothing else have empathy for those who try to put the cyclists back together. And maybe you can understand why many of them want mandatory helmet use.

Crankin

04-27-2011, 10:52 AM

+ a million.
And I believe that Roadie Gal did chime in, as an ER doctor.

Kiwi Stoker

04-27-2011, 04:33 PM

In NZ accident costs (medical treatment and rehab) is covered by the government. Car owners pay a levy because car accidents are so common. Cyclists don't.

I think that if the country pays your medical costs rather than you having to pay medical insurance or out of your own pocket, then the governemnt DOES have a right to mandate safety things, like wearing a seat belt, or wearing a cycle helmet. Yes, it won't stop an accident but at least hopefully the cost of putting you back together is reduced.

oz rider

04-27-2011, 06:22 PM

I'm a little stunned at the risk perception here. We have suggestions of denying medical care to unhelmeted cyclists (but not the bigger killer of heart disease or the more dangerous behaviour of walking) and laying guilt trips on cyclists for ER staff (but not demonising people without smoke alarms who distress firies). Is the bike hate so strong at TE?

I don't recall anyone suggesting bike helmets be outlawed (I thought they are optional in most of the US). It seems to be an attempt to judge others for their risk decisions. And let's not even pretend that helmets are designed to save us from being run down by inattentive or drunk drivers; they're not.

I think it's really unfair to the cyclists here to be perpetuating the myth that cycling is a dangerous activity. Here's a safety quiz (http://www.bicyclinglife.com/SafetySkills/SafetyQuiz.htm) (international data) just in case anyone would actually like to find out more. And in case you don't, it notes (among other things) that the total number of head injury fatalities in the US is around 75,000 per year, while cycling fatalities from ALL injuries is only about 800. So we need tens of thousands of cyclists a year to make sure 'your helmet saves your life' (then prove it) to even get close. The helmet manufacturers would be delighted to help of course.

Anecdotes are powerful and that is why advertisers use them, but we should also seek facts in arriving at a realistic perception of risk. Then go for a ride. :)

Mr. Bloom

04-27-2011, 07:15 PM

Gary Busey! Advocated no helmet motorcycle laws...had a wreck, hit his head.

Was strange before...is even stranger now

I rest my case!:D

radacrider

04-27-2011, 07:22 PM

Anecdotes, research data seem to support both sides. Again, I see wearing or not wearing a helmet simply a matter of choice, and neither side should have to justify their choice.

I choose to because I feel a bit more insurance - remember, I have head-first crashed 3 times (both at speed and at no speed). Things happen fast, I ride sort of fast and the roads can be hazardous. Note, I have also fallen without moving, so it is not just a speed thing.

I know some hate seat belts, I have worn a belt for so long it feels too weird not too. What's funny? I often buckle up to move the car from the driveway to the curb, just because it feels too odd not too, not because I'm safer.

So, if you wear one, cool, if you don't, cool, if you do sometimes but not others, that's okay too. I do support kids wearing one, because they do not have the reaction skills should something happen (I'm sure some do, but in general, likely not).

Cataboo

04-27-2011, 09:03 PM

I occasionally forget my helmet - I always go back and get it when I realize.

If I wasn't a believer in helmets, I definitely am after biking with TxDoc last week... It was pouring rain, we were riding skinny road slicks (700x23) on Baltimore roads with a ton of potholes and railroad tracks.

I'm not entirely certain how I fell, I know, we were riding pretty slowly because it was raining and we were going over some railroad tracks that diagonally cut across the road and there was a ton of potholes - something caught my front wheel and I started to fall, but I managed to recover from that fall, but something caught my front wheel and skidded it out the other way... Suddenly I was on the ground (flash of white light when my head hit)...

So I smashed my helmet up and got 2 small scratches on my ankle (I still don't get how I fell like that)... but I didn't even have a headache afterwards, despite the dents in the outside of the helmet and the foam being broken on the inside. I said something like "at least I don't road rash" and TxDoc said something like "most people would prefer that to hitting their head" and looked at me like I was nuts.

I'm not sure the argument that kids have slower reaction times matters - because most of the time when I've fallen, I've had no time to react more quickly... and my reaction time has little to do with whether or not a car hits me often.

I almost hit a cyclist today and was really annoyed. He had no helmet on and headphones on. It was going through a city center with 2 lanes in either direction. He was in the outside lane, I was in the inside one... andthe light changed and we all stopped... He decided to dash in front of me, cutting me off and then got into the inner lane of the opposite lanes of traffic (despite cars coming towards him in that direction)... Where he rode up to the front of the line of traffic and jumped back into the front of the cars waiting at the red light...

It wasn't real smart of him.

Azurah

04-27-2011, 09:54 PM

I feel naked if I don't wear a helmet when biking. It just feels wrong. I always wear it.

redrhodie

04-28-2011, 06:14 AM

So I smashed my helmet up and got 2 small scratches on my ankle (I still don't get how I fell like that)...
.

After my last crash, I had a bruise on my ankle in a weird place. I finally figured out it was from the impact with my pedal. Could it be that?

Glad you weren't hurt! Railroad tracks are evil.

OakLeaf

04-28-2011, 06:51 AM

I disagree that as a dedicated helmet-wearer, I overestimate the risk.

I balance the risk against the burden, is all. That's the reason that even after my concussion on a bici, I was (for a while) willing to ride a moto without a helmet.

Because of the weight distribution between rider and vehicle (and possibly other factors like wheel/tire size), even "minor" bicycle crashes tend to throw you violently onto your head. That's not the case for falls when motorcycling, driving a car, or walking. Also, the burden of a bici helmet is minuscule in terms of weight, comfort, cost, and sensory restriction. The burden is so small that it's worth it to prevent even a remote risk of a great harm.

Someone made a snark about wearing helmets in cars... most states have already done that balancing test and decided that the burden of sensory restriction far outweighs the potential gains, and made it illegal to wear a helmet while driving a car on public roads. Remember that on a two-wheeler, you don't have the issue of pillars that already restrict your vision enormously ... and your hearing is already restricted by wind noise (or by earplugs that you wear to protect against wind noise, even if they're illegal too :rolleyes:) ... so the balance comes out differently. Anyway, I'm not sure where that statistic came from - AFAIK, head injuries are pretty rare among people wearing seatbelts in cars.

Pax

04-28-2011, 06:57 AM

I wish people could simply choose what is best for themselves and their families, and allow others to do the same.

jessmarimba

04-28-2011, 09:22 AM

I'm a little stunned at the risk perception here.
Anecdotes are powerful and that is why advertisers use them, but we should also seek facts in arriving at a realistic perception of risk. Then go for a ride. :)

My realistic perception of risk is based on a $140K medical bill from my last helmeted crash. Thank god I had health insurance. Though I guess if I hadn't been wearing a helmet, a funeral would've been cheaper than the medical bill, right?

I think helmets are a lot like insurance - they don't seem necessary until something catastrophic happens, and then you wish you had it. I wouldn't build a house in New Orleans without flood insurance, and I won't ride on roads or trails without a helmet. And while people think taking risks without insurance only affects them, in reality it can have an impact on the entire community.

shootingstar

04-28-2011, 11:37 AM

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/new-health/health-news/concussion-experts-took-your-questions-do-helmets-keep-you-safe/article1984075/

Today's national newspaper in Canada interviewed a physician Charles Tator at a large acute care hospital in Toronto. Tator headed up for many years I think the critical care emergency unit. His speciality for last few decades is traumatic injuries, specifically spinal cord and head injuries.

Those who posed questions to him, were cyclists and non-cyclists across a broad spectrum of opinions on helmet use.

I worked at a hospital for spinal cord injured adults that was down the street from this acute care hospital. Our hospital received the permanently paralyzed patients after they underwent the critical/emergency care for rehabilitation at our hospital. At the time, I was there, we did have some patients that got press coverage because of their life-altering disability. We had some patients who became paraplegics or quadriplegics due to gun shot wound (spinal cord), football, hockey, falling from a ladder, roof, etc. One of the patients was Canada's Commonwealth Games silver medallist cyclist, Jocelyn Lovell. He was hit by a dump truck while on bike. Obviously his injuries were not on the head...but elsewhere which left him wheelchair bound for life.

Perhaps this is why even though I am not even a health care professional (I worked in the medical library there), I was left with a powerful impression where I valued my personal mobility (and life) even more. That plus being hit by a car as pedestrian when I was a teen.

Like some here, I consider a helmet a form of insurance and weighing personal risk to me is easy. There also have been sufficient personal anecdotes from TE members here who have been injured or who have direct health care/patient care work with patients with head injuries.

I'm not sure why people insist on only wearing a helmet, ---if there is a huge glut of head injury statitstics for cyclists that never wore helmets.

But then, it is your life and your risk assessment.

Eden

04-28-2011, 11:49 AM

I wish people could simply choose what is best for themselves and their families, and allow others to do the same.

I don't....... I think we need certain rules and laws to protect the whole of society and I don't always think that people choose what is "best" by a rational or logical process of weighing facts.....

Pax

04-28-2011, 01:22 PM

I don't....... I think we need certain rules and laws to protect the whole of society and I don't always think that people choose what is "best" by a rational or logical process of weighing facts.....

Who do you think should decide what is best for other people?

Biciclista

04-28-2011, 01:36 PM

probably because we have to pay for those other people when they crash and become 100% disabled

Biciclista

04-28-2011, 01:38 PM

I personally don't feel like my helmet is doing me much good... but it does me more good than no helmet. If we didn't pass seatbelt laws, a huge percentage of people would not be wearing their seatbelts today, etc, ad infinitum...

Cataboo

04-28-2011, 06:22 PM

After my last crash, I had a bruise on my ankle in a weird place. I finally figured out it was from the impact with my pedal. Could it be that?

Glad you weren't hurt! Railroad tracks are evil.

No, it was my outer ankle. But not on the poky out bit, on the slope coming up from it. Maybe it hit one of the potholes or bumps in the road. It's just weird that I didn't bruise or scrap anything else up on my legs.

KnottedYet

04-28-2011, 07:01 PM

As a medical professional, I am begging you not to wear helmets.

It costs millions of dollars to rehab survivors of bike/car (or bike/gravity) accidents.

Death is cheaper.

Please don't wear helmets. Brain death has legal status. Once you are brain dead, but your body continues to pump along in vain, your organs are ripe for the plucking. We are in dire need of juicy ripe organs for transplants.

You are more valuable to me dead than alive.

So don't wear those helmets, and be sure to buy your health insurance from private companies that have strong "death panels."

Your nice healthy cyclist liver can save the life of an unrepentant drug abuser! Your powerful heart can save the life of an obese welfare beneficiary! Your clear lenses can return sight to a smoker!

C'mon, kids, do your part to keep the medical system running! Die at the most opportune moment for the most people!

(for those of you who do not live in the U.S. - this is bitter sarcasm based on an insider's view of the morally bankrupt but profitable U.S. medical system)

emily_in_nc

04-28-2011, 07:11 PM

Ok, here's my dilemma. I am an avid helmet wearer, never go without one. However, in Belize, NO ONE wears helmets. I mean NO ONE. Many of the locals don't have a lot of money, and a bike is their only means of transportation. People ride one-speed beach cruisers with bare feet, sandals, or maybe sneakers, no clipless pedals or bike shoes. Everyone rides in normal clothing, not bike shorts/jerseys. Most roads are unpaved (packed sand), and a lot of rides are on the beach, but there are a few paved roads which are driven mostly by golf carts, but there are taxis and a few small trucks on the roads as well as many bikes, pedestrians, etc..

When we are in Belize, do I wear a helmet and thus immediately put a label on myself of "different", "outsider", "ex-pat", "gringo", and, quite possibly "rich"; or do I do ride sans helmet in order to fit in and live as the locals and not appear ostentatious? For safety purposes, a helmet is obviously the way to go; but there are cultural issues at play that are very different from those where I live now.

This is something I've really been struggling with. So far, on our trips to Belize, we have rented bikes and have not worn helmets. We only took carry-on luggage and didn't even have space for them, and bike rental places don't offer them. But what about when we live there?

I honestly have not made up my mind about this. What would you do?

JennK13

04-28-2011, 07:31 PM

So far, on our trips to Belize, we have rented bikes and have not worn helmets. We only took carry-on luggage and didn't even have space for them, and bike rental places don't offer them. But what about when we live there?

I honestly have not made up my mind about this. What would you do?

If you would wear a helmet under the same riding conditions back home, why wouldn't you wear it there? I don't think the country you're in dictates whether or not you wear a helmet.

Gary Busey! Advocated no helmet motorcycle laws...had a wreck, hit his head.

Was strange before...is even stranger now

I rest my case!:D
So if Charlie Sheen got in an accident.....wait....I really don't think it matters - not really a strong case either way! :p

I balance the risk against the burden, is all. That's the reason that even after my concussion on a bici, I was (for a while) willing to ride a moto without a helmet.

Because of the weight distribution between rider and vehicle (and possibly other factors like wheel/tire size), even "minor" bicycle crashes tend to throw you violently onto your head.
I really think the second part has a lot to do with another piece of equipment that most of use but don't talk about when it comes to injury. Clipless pedals. The mechanics of being clipped in forces you to "catapult" over the handlebars in a 180 and brings you right down on top of your head. Without being clipped in, you would go over the bars, but not in an arch that forces you onto your head - you'd go face first, and land on your outstretched arms/hands (probably resulting in more broken arms/wrists as you try to stop yourself) but not as often on your head.
We also have many posts about the number of falls from our clipless pedals, and many people here cite slow moving accidents where they fall (and because you're clipped in and can't move your leg out to help break the fall, your pedals force you down on the side of your head).
I've been riding seriously for about 2 1/2 years. I've gone down about a dozen times, twice were "accidents". The first I was on platform pedals when I hit a mud slick and slid about 30 feet. The second time was Saturday when a rider went down in front of me and I hit his leg at 16 mph and went over my handlebars while clipped in (I have no idea how, but I happened to land on my elbow). Every other time I've fallen it has been because I couldn't unclip, failed to unclip, or fell the opposite direction of my unclipped foot.
Think about how many times you've fallen and what the cause was. The more you fall, the more chance there is to hit your head. Clipless pedals are dangerous things.

I wish people could simply choose what is best for themselves and their families, and allow others to do the same.
Pax, I'm with you.....

KnottedYet

04-28-2011, 07:35 PM

Are Newton's Laws different in Belize?

Is Belize a land with a different constant for gravity?

I'd be making my decisions based on science. I only have one brain. It already got smashed up once. I'd rather not do that again. No matter how funny I look.

If the poverty of other riders really bothered me, I'd connect with a helmet manufacturer and a local hospital and start a helmet program like the one Cascade bike club has in Seattle.

OakLeaf

04-28-2011, 07:45 PM

Clipless pedals.

I'm old enough to remember toe clips. Trust me, clipless are WAY easier to get out of.

You describe my toe-clipped concussion just about exactly like my training partner did, and you weren't even there. :p I don't remember a bit of it of course, but that's how he tells it. Stuck a pedal in a corner (learned THAT lesson! :eek:), ricocheted three feet in the air, jackknifed back to front, pivoted bottom to top, and came down on the side of my head with sparks coming off my Kiwi helmet. (I'd forgotten the brand until Smilingcat mentioned it!)

But here's the second part of it. How my training partner sat by me for 25 minutes while I made nonverbal sounds; when I regained semiconsciousness, checked me over as best I could for neck injuries, and then had to make a decision about leaving me there, alone, injured and with obviously impaired judgment, by the side of the road, for 10 minutes while he went and got his truck ... which he did, but then, not having a backboard, had to physically lift me into his truck, potential spine injury and all.

There was a hospital five miles away. This was 1987, there were no cell phones, and the nearest pay phone was no more accessible than the hospital.

Five months ago I went over the bars at 20 mph and landed on my chin. Again, potential neck injury and obvious apparent chest wall injury - thank the powers that be that I escaped both times with my spinal cord and internal organs intact. This time was way different. My training partner pulled his phone out of his jersey pocket, called 911, and the medics were strapping me to a backboard inside of five minutes.

Should we penalize people who ride without cell phones?

JennK13

04-28-2011, 07:47 PM

Who do you think should decide what is best for other people?

Exactly...one person's perceived level risk is different than another's. Some of you on this site are hard core mountain bikers, barreling down a steep slope, jumping roots and rocks. That's just plain crazy to me! I'd break my neck then smack my head as my limp body tumbled the rest of the way down.
But I also think it's freakin' cool and wish I was coordinated and brave enough to do it.

I ride and commute on streets and in traffic, and it's amazing to me how many people think I'm crazy for riding with so many cars around. They would never do that. Some would rather take their chances against a root on a downhill than against cars in traffic. It's all a matter of perception and ability, and just because you would or wouldn't do something doesn't make it stupid or crazy for someone else to do so. To think that just because someone is afraid of riding bikes down a mountain in the dirt, that they could call it dangerous, and try to outlaw it is ridiculous. People ride all over the planet without helmets every single day and they are perfectly fine. What makes the states any different, or more dangerous? Yes, if you fall on your head, it has a high probability of being a serious injury. Yes, wearing a helmet is a simple way to minimize some of those injuries. I wear a helmet most of the time. But like someone else posted, there are approximately 800 cycling deaths a year - that doesn't mean that these would have been prevented with helmets, or that these people weren't wearing them. It's a personal choice - like smoking (except on top of all the healthcare problems we're all paying for to these smokers, we also suffer from exposure to their second hand smoke). There are more important things than lobbying for helmet laws.

JennK13

04-28-2011, 07:55 PM

I'm old enough to remember toe clips. Trust me, clipless are WAY easier to get out of.

Five months ago I went over the bars at 20 mph and landed on my chin.

Should we penalize people who ride without cell phones?

A friend of mine broke his ankle because he couldn't unclip while mountain biking - the bike went one way into a boulder; his foot was attached to the pedal, and ankle went a different way. OUCH!

Landed on your chin....great potential for a spinal cord injury, extreme loss of quality of life or death even, and we don't wear helmets on our chins. Again, I wear mine most of the time, but a lot of injuries are not preventable or made less severe by a helmet, even when you land on your face/head.
(And, glad you're okay :) Hugs!)

I know a lot of people who ride without phones. It's like a getaway for them. I've happened upon strangers on the side of the trail and have let them use my phone on several different occasions for both injuries and mechanical issues. I don't ride without my phone!

Cataboo

04-28-2011, 09:48 PM

When we are in Belize, do I wear a helmet and thus immediately put a label on myself of "different", "outsider", "ex-pat", "gringo", and, quite possibly "rich"; or do I do ride sans helmet in order to fit in and live as the locals and not appear ostentatious? For safety purposes, a helmet is obviously the way to go; but there are cultural issues at play that are very different from those where I live now.

Erm. Aren't you already going to stand out as different, an outsider,an ex-pat, a gringo, and rich? I mean, you don't look like a Belize native. Your bike is probably also way nicer than a native's.

But... Maybe you should buy a bunch of helmets and give them out to natives that can't afford them... and then there will be a few other people wearing helmets.

Crankin

04-29-2011, 03:50 AM

Emily, I understand how you feel, completely, but I would still wear my helmet. I rode a cruiser on the beach in Hilton Head sans helmet a few years ago, and I complained and felt uncomfortable the whole time. Since I am not so great at making transitions to a new style of bike, I felt there was a higher probability that I might fall. I did not want to fall even on hard sand without a helmet.
I think the point that you already are different by virtue of your skin color is well taken.
A few years ago, I arranged for the local police dept. to give out free helmets at the middle school I taught at. The population included a lot of children of immigrants and other groups who do not use helmets. At the end of the day, the free helmets were thrown all over the parking lot, left by the kids who didn't take them. I was pissed, but I knew I couldn't change the thinking of a whole group of people. I continued to leave my helmet dangling from the handlebars of my bike, when I rode to school, and left my bike in the classroom.

lph

04-29-2011, 04:01 AM

Interesting timing - just today I read an article where a Norwegian doctor - also leader of his local cycling association - maintained that helmets made little difference in cycling injuries in adults. It didn't say a lot, but his opinion was basically that helmets could give a false sense of security, while only a smallish percentage of real injuries from cyclist accidents in traffic actually were head injuries. One could posit that that was precisely because they were wearing helmets, but I assume he was smart enough to factor that in and meant injuries/blows taken to the head region including helmet. Just another opinion, and as such anecdotal, but still from a medical professional with more than one anecdote to relate.

I'm surprised he didn't say anything about the relative danger of head injuries vs other injuries, though. Breaking both legs is painful and a serious injury, but it still won't kill you.

However he also said that helmets were very useful in preventing injury to children, as they tended to have the kind of accidents where helmets made a difference - low speeds and short falls.

I don't think he in general wanted to make a point against wearing helmets - it's fairly uncommon to not wear one here - but a point against thinking a helmet will keep you "safe" - and not least that getting people to cycle at all would have many more positive health effects than insisiting they wear helmets.

I think these discussions are interesting because while I personally may want to ride with a helmet at all times, I might think differently if I were doing large-scale cycle planning.

lph

04-29-2011, 04:16 AM

Ok, here's my dilemma. I am an avid helmet wearer, never go without one. However, in Belize, NO ONE wears helmets. (...) Most roads are unpaved (packed sand), and a lot of rides are on the beach, but there are a few paved roads which are driven mostly by golf carts, but there are taxis and a few small trucks on the roads as well as many bikes, pedestrians, etc..

I can understand not wanting to look too weird in a foreign country. Many reasons to want to blend in as much as possible, for safety, better communication, to show respect. If I were you I'd think over the riding conditions and typical speed, think over how you should change your riding style if you were to not wear a helmet, and then depending on what you land on, either go buy a neutral matte helmet, or skip it. If you do feel unsafe without - wear one, and use it as a conversation starter.

OakLeaf

04-29-2011, 04:38 AM

I wear running shoes while traveling in Europe. No "real" shoes even come close to fitting my feet, and if I'm going to be walking miles a day, I need to wear shoes that won't have me in agony after an hour. I wear non-designer jeans, and put my hands in the pockets, too. People can spot the American from a mile away.

I totally get what you're saying though, Emily. Being a tourist is one thing; living there and expressing an unspoken disdain for the way the locals live and raise their children is another. I'm reminded of the scene at the beginning of "Babel" where Brad Pitt's character's wife won't drink non-bottled water, and slathers her hands with alcohol gel any time she accidentally touches anything. I don't think the question is as simplistic as some here have expressed. People in the US are as a group wildly averse to a small set of risks pushed by the media (germs! :eek:), that in many ways alienates us even further from the realities of life, both here and in the rest of the world.

Using your helmet as a "teaching opportunity" to turn the locals into little North Americans is an order of magnitude more culturally insensitive than just wearing your own. Few things IMVHO are more distasteful than an uninvited missionary (viz. the recurring cracks about Jehovah's Witnesses in "Dear So and So" and other threads).

I say think about it and do what makes you most comfortable, but if you choose to wear your helmet sometimes, you might get into risk assessment for each ride. Will you be on pavement or softer ground? Will you be doing downhill mountain biking, or lower speed riding without a lot of obstacles? Will you be riding a road bike, or a heavy upright bike that's less likely to throw you on your head? I agree with choosing a helmet that's more hat-like and less sporty in appearance ... even if it might be less ventilated in the hot weather.

OakLeaf

04-29-2011, 04:50 AM

A friend of mine broke his ankle because he couldn't unclip while mountain biking - the bike went one way into a boulder; his foot was attached to the pedal, and ankle went a different way. OUCH!

I guess back in the days of toe clips, CX was almost unknown in the USA, and early mountain bikes used flat pedals. So there aren't too many off-road cyclists here who ever had to deal with toe clips.

If your friend had been using toe clips, would he have had time to reach down and loosen the strap? The procedure for getting out of a clipless pedal is ALWAYS quicker and safer than getting out of a toe clip, simply because it doesn't involve your hands! Obviously with either system, there are times when someone doesn't or can't get their foot out fast enough, but being able to keep both hands on the bars to brake and steer makes clipless a whole lot safer.

IAE, it sounds like he didn't land on his head at all, and I'm glad for that. Hope his ankle is healing/has healed well!

shootingstar

04-29-2011, 06:28 AM

emilync: When we are in Belize, do I wear a helmet and thus immediately put a label on myself of "different", "outsider", "ex-pat", "gringo", and, quite possibly "rich"; or do I do ride sans helmet in order to fit in and live as the locals and not appear ostentatious? For safety purposes, a helmet is obviously the way to go; but there are cultural issues at play that are very different from those where I live now.

Emily you will be noticeable as a non-local --no matter what you wear....how you walk, your skin colour, your speech, etc.

A rule of thumb: If you were moderately injured does your health care insurance cover yourself? Is there excellent, comprehensive medical care in Belize for significant injuries, surgeries or would you have to be flown back to the U.S. My siser, ER doctor worked in the tiny Carribbean island of Dominica for 4 months as part of program for medical care in daveloping countries, where it's very rugged and local medical care very sparse. Not enough good road access.

Then I would wear my helmet if I knew I could not get the same level of comprehensive care as I would get in a major city in Canada.

If people think I sound whatever...this what I personally know:
a cousin, a strong swimmer who drowned off the coast of California at age 18 yrs.
a sister of a close, long-time friend who drowned by a beach in Acapulco --a rip tide pulled her out as she walked along a beach
her 55 yr. mother hit and died in car accident as a pedestrian

and so on. Of course I hear some stories from ER sister-doctor.

I don't get paranoid but I value my life and its quality long-term.

emily_in_nc

04-29-2011, 08:04 PM

Thanks to everyone who posted about my helmet dilemma. Many good points were raised and some I had not really considered before. To clarify, this would be riding a beach cruiser bike, single speed, slowly, mostly on unpaved roads or beaches, totally flat. But I could certainly be hit by a car when riding on the road, even though there are many fewer of them than on the US roads I ride.

I've actually been on web sites looking at urban helmets, which I think would be less conspicuous, but the problem that a couple folks alluded to is that they are barely vented, and Belize is hot and sunny. The ideal helmet would probably have many vents and be white, but also have a brim to help with the sunshine.

I agree with those who say that I should not attempt to convert the locals, and I won't. That's not my style, and attempting to bring in or import a boatload of helmets would be difficult in a third-world country as well. We'll be on an island, and helmets aren't even sold in stores there. I also think, like crankin's experience, that the locals might reject them out of course. It's just not part of their culture.

Yes, I know I'll look different even without a helmet, but wearing one just increases the level of perceived difference.

Shootingstar's point about medical care in case of an accident is a very important one. The medical care in Belize is fairly basic, and serious injuries could require a trip to Mexico or even back to the US. That might be reason enough to override all else and wear a helmet no matter what the down side.

Thank you all!