I don't get people's resistance to helmets!

[Veronica]

S WE pay because once they can't take care of themselves, the government writes them a disability check and WE pay for that.

Yeah, we're also paying for all the people in jail.
We pay for kids to have one on one services in school when they are emotionally disturbed.


There are a lot of things we pay for. I suspect that a lot more of our health care costs come from smokers and overweight people than from someone who crashed while NOT wearing a helmet.

V.

[trekin']

I think people should be free to do what they want. I only wish that parents would think about their children or the other people who love them before their hair....don't people realize that with freedom comes responsibility?

I have had 4 falls since I started riding 3 years ago, and I have hit my head on the pavement 4 times...even the slow motion fall I had in a friend's driveway could have resulted in a concussion...thank God for the guy who invented the bike helmet! I'll take helmet hair any day over a head injury!

[Running Mommy]

I have just one thing to add to this discussion....

Today I was on my mtb at the 4 way stop by my sons school. I take him to and from school via a cool dirt trail, so I was waiting for school to dismiss. I first watched as a woman on a cute little beach cruiser (orange and green, quite fetching- even had a basket on front) came to the 4 way stop. She was towing one of those covered kid trailers (burly type) with two little ones in the back. Not a helmet to be seen! And the kicker- there was traffic at in the intersection and she cruised right through without stopping!
I just remember thinking to myself "that woman should be brought up on child abuse charges!".
And then a few minutes later a father on a mtb came up with one of those tag along bike things that hooks to the back. He was there to pick up his daughter. Well he had a little guy on the tag along thing and again, no helmets to be seen. He stopped to say hello. I bit my tongue for a minute and then I said to the little guy "hey dude. Where is your helmet? Gotta protect that noggin there" in as nice a tone as I could muster. The father rolled his eyes at me. So I looked at him and said "yeah, you wouldn't roll your eyes if you saw the collection of smashed helmets that I have at home from seemingly minor falls. I'm doing a program at the school trying to get the kids to wear helmets up here. I have a lot of friends that are alive today because of their lid." He just smiled and said "uhh huh" and then took off. And as he was trying to mount the bike it kind of fell over and the kid toppled off. I said "my point exactly" and just smiled.
Holier than thou attitude I had?? Yeah maybe. Some people go around trying to convert people to their religion, I preach helmet use...

[Veronica]

Well just like with religions no one is converting.

I stand by adults have the right to make their choice.

Feel free to keep preaching...

V.

[mimitabby]

I have just one thing to add to this discussion....

And then a few minutes later a father on a mtb came up with one of those tag along bike things that hooks to the back. He was there to pick up his daughter. Well he had a little guy on the tag along thing and again, no helmets to be seen. He stopped to say hello. I bit my tongue for a minute and then I said to the little guy "hey dude. Where is your helmet? Gotta protect that noggin there" in as nice a tone as I could muster. The father rolled his eyes at me. So I looked at him and said "yeah, you wouldn't roll your eyes if you saw the collection of smashed helmets that I have at home from seemingly minor falls. I'm doing a program at the school trying to get the kids to wear helmets up here. I have a lot of friends that are alive today because of their lid." He just smiled and said "uhh huh" and then took off. And as he was trying to mount the bike it kind of fell over and the kid toppled off. I said "my point exactly" and just smiled.
Holier than thou attitude I had?? Yeah maybe. Some people go around trying to convert people to their religion, I preach helmet use...

What a great story!! how much you wanna bet the kid asked his/her dad when they got home "how come I don't have a bike helmet?"

[SandyLS]

Our adult daughter fell off her horse a few weeks ago. She was not wearing a helmet. She suffered two skull fractures. She is home from the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery. She is a very lucky woman! We all wear helmets when biking and her kids wear helments when on the horse. I guess life is a dangerous thing. I'm begining to think we should srap the helment on when we are born and take it off only when we are sleeping. With my luck I'd then fall out of bed and hit my head! I guess a helmet didn't help Christopher Reeves prevent his injury.
I stopped to tell a lady who comutes to work how lucky she was to live close enough to do so. (It would be an 80 mile trip for me.) I couldn't resist asking her to please wear her helmet. I see she still isn't wearing one though.
At my age I need to do everything I can to preserve brain cells.

[Python]

Last winter I needed to pop up to the shop. As I came out my front door I caught my foot in the small frame as I closed the door (still don't know how I managed to do that ). I twisted and fell backwards. Fortunately the back of my head struck the grass and not the concrete path. We'd had frost but the temperature had gone up so although the grass was hard, it wasn't as hard as it had been so my head wasn't as badly hurt as it could have been. It hurt a bit and I had a small lump on the back of my head and that was just a minor tumble. Coming off the bike and landing head-first on the road would hurt an awful lot more and due to the speed factor, would cause a lot more damage so I'd rather let the polycarbon take the brunt of that damage.

When I bought my son his first bike some years ago, I bought him a helmet to go with it - and he was told "no helmet - no bike". He wore his helmet. Most of his pals thought it was "cool" but helmets then were a lot heavier than they are now. Apart from the obvious, I like my helmet because it has a peak on it which helps keep the sun out of my eyes.

I think it is down to personal preference and I wouldn't condemn anyone for not wearing one.

[missymaya]

My BFs grandpa tripped over a foot rest, hit his head, went into a coma and then died a week later, and he was by no means weak in any physical manner. Not saying that we all need to wear helmets when walking down the street or going to the grocery store and to be super paranoid about getting injured doing menial tasks, but if walking through the living room and tripping and hitting your head can lead to that, then riding a bike and falling over (which I would guess can happen more often than tripping in the living room and bonking your head pretty hard) could probably lead to the same conclusion. If I can prevent that just by doing something as simple as wearing a helmet, then that's what it'll be. As I said earlier, I've fallen hard twice and if it weren't for my helmet, I probably wouldn't be here.