WANTED: Cracked, Crashed, Smashed Helmets..

[bouncybouncy]

you might want to check out this story...amazing!!! the guy's head was literally run over!!!

http://www.madison.com/tct/news/index.php?ntid=133934

[Thorn]

thinking that maybe that would make an impression on the child. Nope. Unfortunately our conversation did nothing to change the child's behavior.

Denise...don't discount your effort. Perhaps it didn't make a difference that day, but people can take a long time to digest concepts that initially don't agree with them. Maybe you did make a point. Don't give up trying (though I truly doubt you would).

This thread has been really interesting in a scary sort of "wake up" mode. I've always been a helmet believer and shudder when I see helmetless heads--particularly on kids riding on the wrong side of the street <grrr />. I did crash while wearing my helmet. I got knocked out and was only coherent after arriving in the ER. I have no recollection of the ambulance ride although I was told I rode in one. The helmet kept my injury to a small concussion.

When I read the postings here, I realize that in comparison my injury was minor. Still, without that helmet it wouldn't have been.

[run it, ride it]

ever crash twice in a helmet you didn't think was damaged the first time? tell you what, you really feel crash number two! do make sure to show crashed helmets with no visible damage--sometimes this is just as powerful as overwhelming damage. makes it a little more relatable for kids who have had small injuries but cannot fathom something really horrific. perhaps company reps can help you out with analyses of such helmets on a microscopic level.

[CR400]

I'll see if I can at least get you some pictures of my helment. I have been planning to use it for my own little bicycle saftey class though. Most of the back of the helment behind my right ear was so badly damaged that it fell apart by touching it. The only thing left holding it in place was the plastic shell over the top.

My accident came with help from some ones dog. So please keep your dogs confined.

I was riding with a friend when a dog started to chase him.
The dog crossed into my front wheel, and sent me out of control. I saw it coming though and grabbed my brakes so I only hit the ground at 17mph not 20 or more. I remember uncliping as it happened so I could bail from my bike. I really didn't want to endo, (afraide I would hit my head, its happend before the bike came around with the handle bars almost breaking my nose. different bike and accident).
So I leaned to the side and hope to land on my side. Oops I landed on my head anyway. I was in the air and saw my water bottles falling from there cages and that when I realized I was upside down as well. I closed my eyes and waited for the impact. It felt like I hit really hard on the right top of my head. Sorry I'll continue this in a momment

[CR400]

Ok, I'll continue. I'm at the local library and they only give you so long to be on line at a time.

Right after that I rolled onto my side and skidded a few feet. I remained alert the whole time. The first thing I did after I stopped was to check and move each limb. The way I hit I was really worried about being paralized more then anything. After that I wanted to get up but that little voice on the inside told me to stay down until medical help got there. My friend came back and called 911 for me and stayed with me until I left in the ambulance. The best part was my brother was one of the EMT's that picked me up. Infact he rode in my abulance. So at least I had my family with me. His supervisor wanted him to stay with me at the hospital but I sent him back to work.
At the hospital they sent me to get two cat scans and I had to wait like four hours to be released. They found nothing wrong with my head or neck but I had really bad vertigo for a few weeks after that. They sat me up in bed at the hospital and I thought I was going to fall out of the bed the room was spinning so fast. Apparently I had a death grip on the rails of the bed. I also walked into things for about two week or so after the accident. The vertigo would hit and I would walk diagonally across a room thinking I was walking straight.Which ment I had to go in for another CT becuase I was shownig signs of a possible brain bleed. But by the grace of God and wearing my helment I have no permanent injuries.

[Shimpie]

This is a wonderful idea and a great topic. Too bad I just threw away my helmet last month. I was finally able to let it go even though I crashed 3 years ago. I'll see if I can at least hunt up some pictures of it.

I was commuting to work early in the morning. As I was coming down a hill, a landscaping truck drove pass me. The truck was pulling an improperly hitched trailer that popped off at the bottom of the hill. The trailer wiped me out from behind. I went flying over my handlebars and did a headplant into the curb. I don't have any memory of the impact except for waking up in the middle of the street covered in grass clippings. The only reason I know my head hit the curb is because there is a big red paint transfer on my white helmet. There was no other source of red on the street. My helmet had two cracks. One big red crack directly on top of my head and one on the back of the head.

I felt fine until I arrived at the hospital by ambulance. By then, the adrenaline had worn off and my whole head was ringing. (Here is a good tidbit of advice. Don't assess your injuries until after the adrenaline wears off.) I ended up with a concussion, whiplash, and a very deep palm sized patch of road rash on my butt/hip. No broken bones. No sprained joints. However, I did develop back pain from my compressed neck. Physical therapy took care of that. My injuries would have been much worse without a helmet.
-Shimpie

[Eden]

Hey! did you get a squid yet? How about this one

[bikerchick68]

Thanks for teaching safety to kids! I'm always hollering at kids that I ride by, WHERE IS YOUR HELMET??? I'm sure they just love the old lady bellowing at them

I had an employee hit 4 months ago. He WAS wearing a helmet and it DID save his life... he had severe head trauma, was blind for 8 days before he began regaining his sight, lost short term memory for over a month, lost 7 teeth, severly damaged his right arm and hand and thank god they were able to save 2 fingers. They discussed amputating. Our company reps visited the hospital since his family is in Mexico and he couldn't remember their names or anything about them... we couldn't leave him there for a month completely along. When he regained his memory he was able to let them know what happened.

He has not returned to work yet, and I doubt he will for some time. But frankly, the fact that he MAY return at all someday is a miracle. Without the helmet, I am sure he would have died.

[Eden]

just a Bump for a worthwhile cause!

[mimitabby]

Eden? what squid? no attachment!

[Eden]

really? I can see it -very odd.....
just in case I'm the only one here it is again

[Fredwina]

still no pic! Could be where you're linking from. You may need to copy it to someplace like photobucket and link from there....

[Eden]

still no pic! Could be where you're linking from. You may need to copy it to someplace like photobucket and link from there....

weirder and weirder - I'm not linking, I'm supposedly uploading so it should be stored here?? maybe I should try sticking it on my website and linking it instead.

hopefully that works!

[tangentgirl]

I should not have been reading this two hours before I take off for home on my bike. I've got my helmet, as always, but all these stories make me want bubble wrap. Lots of bubble wrap. Maybe I can stop by the mailroom on the way out...

[Fredwina]

nope.
what appaear to be happening (bear in mind i'm not I web browser expert) is that your PC has the image in its cache - an area of memory - that way, if you're going back and forth between TE and say, hotbicyclestudmuffins.com you don't have to download the same images (like the lady at the top of the page). Your Browser is smart enough to grab the image from the cache instead of the other site when it's displaying the TE page. since I've never been to your site, my Browser will attempt to grab the image from site x.
Here's where my knowledge ends somewhat. Some sites (like Blogger, if your site's URL is *blogspot.com) will figure out that your'e trying to display the image on site that's not there and block it. I found this out the hard way. and it's hard to figure out, since your impulse to to verify the image is on site X before checking TE(mainly to protect copyrights), which handly sticks in to your cache.... I store images on Photobucket, since they don't do that
Makes you wish for an exciting career in IT, doesn't it?