helmets are not optional

[smilingcat]

Dear Mr. Silver,

I'm a bit of a klutz at times and I can tell you that the brain bucket saved my life on two separate occasions.

Yes thank goodness for the helmet.

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I did have a talk with a young man about wearing a helmet. We were standing and waiting for the light to turn green. He told me no need since he isn't riding like one of the racers. To him, I looked like a racer of sort.(okay so I'm decked out in full cycling gear sans CSC, Team Discovery... jersey. I wear "normal" jersey not even a kit). The light turns green, the young man trying to look like Joe cool starts up, mashes on his pedal to get in front of me and proceeded to jack knife his front wheel. Down he went. Oh poor boy.

I didn't want to add insult to his bruised ego, so I went on my cherry way.

I hope he has enough sense to buy a helmet.

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I say nothing to the ones without a brain. I just tap my helmet two or three times as I pass by.

Smilingcat

[Crankin]

Whether or not kids around here wear a helmet seems to totally depend on the socio-economic make up of the community. I have noticed this on my drive home from work, which goes through 4 towns.

Working class communities, not necessarily low income: maybe really young kids (less than 8) wear them
hardly any adults wear them

middle class, mix of blue collar and white collar: a little bit better than the above, but I rarely see an older kid or teen wearing a helmet

mostly professional communities: the kids all wear them, but when parents ride with them, the parents don't! (unless they are "cyclists")
About 5 years ago, the police department in the town I teach in gave any student who wanted one, a free helmet. We found some of them thrown on the parking lot. I rarely see any kids wearing them when they ride to school. A few have them hanging from their handlebars. When I ride to school, I leave my helmet prominently hanging from the drop bar of my bike.

[Mr. Bloom]

I often tell riders when their helmets are fitted improperly.

I am polite and non-condescending (I hope...). I explain that a helmet saved my wife...and that they may want to wear it like this...

It's always been received well...but if it's not...I don't really care.

I can't keep someone from jumping off a cliff...but I'd feel guilty if I could have intervened and didn't.

[KSH]

With all of that said... I have to say that honestly I don't care if someone wears a helmet or not. It's their life. Their head. It's not my place to tell them to protect it.

We let people ride motorcycles, legally, without a helmet. They drive 60-70-80+ mph, with a helmet. It's legal.

I don't care if that person chooses to wear a helmet or not.. and I don't care if a cyclist cares or not. Honestly.

My cycling club gets all in a huff about it, and no one is allowed to ride with us, without one... but I personally don't care.

But I did think it was funny that the lady was carrying her helmet on her bike and not wearing it. I also think it's equally funny with a see someone on a motorcycle doing that as well.

With all of that said... I wear a helmet at all times. I did when I rode motorcycles (for 2 years-no other transportation)... and I do it riding my bike.

[F8th637]

I feel exactly the same way you do, KSH. It's their head and they are responsible for it. Kids I would encourage but adults, well, you are on your own.

[K8sgotgame]

I always wear a helmet (partly) because I had a bad accident as a kid.. front wheel came off my mtb on a dirt road (super cool older brother had been "playing" with my bike earlier), the fork dug in and I flipped over. I just happened to land on the wheel which punctured my stomach and the rest of the bike landed on my head. I ended up with a very deep gouge in the helmet and it was also cracked in half. It felt great

I always wear one when I ski, snowboard or rock climb.

BUT.. I also ride horses, and although I wear a helmet 99% of the time I do have a tendency to hop on quickly to show someone something or will jump on one of the horses out in the field with no saddle/bridle/helmet (I'm a genius, I know). I'm less strict with myself around the horses, probably because I'm more solid riding them than a bike or walking on my own two feet.

Helmets are great.. but what really grinds my gears are people who have them just kind of sitting on the back of their head or they just don't fit properly. What's the point if it's not going to stay on anyway?

[makbike]

New bike shop in town has brought out a lot of new riders in my small community. After our three hour faculty meeting today I went out for a spin to work off some of my frustrations of the day (long meeting + a full day of student testing!). I passed a cyclist heading the opposite direction - no helmet on his head. I simply shook my head (helmet in place) and said to myself "there goes another organ donor." I will never understand why people (cyclist/motorcyclists, etc) have such an aversion to protecting their brains.

[farrellcollie]

I wear a helmet, but if other people don't want to - it doesn't bother me. I think americans have become way too hysterical about such things - not just bike hemets - but life in general. I usually don't wear a seatbelt, I eat food after the expiration date and will ride in the back of pick up trucks if the occasion arises.

[Mr. Bloom]

Helmets are great.. but what really grinds my gears are people who have them just kind of sitting on the back of their head or they just don't fit properly. What's the point if it's not going to stay on anyway?

To clarify...this is when I intervene. It's the folks who have a false sense of security that benefit from the awareness & education. The folks who don't care? I agree with KSH and f8th on that (although I silently disapprove...)

In the wreck I described tonight, cycling buddy had two tiny scapes over his eyebrows from impact. If his helmet was on the back of his head, he would have had a serious head trauma...and just 20 minutes before, I had demonstrated to him the proper position for the helmet (he's a fairly new rider)...and I'm glad I did.

[lph]

Yeah - I'm with those that don't get it, but don't get upset about it either.

That's not quite right, it upsets me a *little* when I see someone decked out like a lean+mean French racer dude on a hotshot fast bike winging down a busy road without a helmet, for the same reason that it upsets me a little when obviously good rock climbers lead pitches without a helmet, because it gives the impression that "kids, if you're good enough, you don't need a helmet".

On the other hand, it is their head and their life they're risking, and I can't force people to be good examples. Nor do I feel that people should be good examples at all times.

But the average joes out trying what it's like to ride to work or whatever, riding slowly and staying way out of traffic - I don't worry too much about the lack of a helmet. If I can I try to mention it as a friendly tip, and tell them about the times it's saved me from head injury, and about the time not wearing one gave my dh a bad concussion and 8 stitches to his head.

But I do wear a seatbelt. Never know when some other idjit is going to rear-end you, people do the strangest things in cars.

[Meg McKilty]

With all of that said... I have to say that honestly I don't care if someone wears a helmet or not. It's their life. Their head. It's not my place to tell them to protect it.

We let people ride motorcycles, legally, without a helmet. They drive 60-70-80+ mph, with a helmet. It's legal.

I don't care if that person chooses to wear a helmet or not.. and I don't care if a cyclist cares or not. Honestly.

Yeah, and it's my back breaking when they end up on the neuro floor flipping their bodies that happen to breathe while no long-term care facility will take them for 5-8 months.

However, it does give me plenty of job security.

[HoosierGiant]

I said it in a previous post, but I'll do it again:

Unfortunately, too many people subscribe to the I-don't-ride-fast-enough-to-need-a-helmet philosophy.

Every potential cyclist should be required to read Dangerous Decision: The Consideration for Helmet Use at Any Speed by J. Raleigh Burt, an 8th grader who earned 1st place in the Junior Division of the 2005 Colorado State Science Fair.

To quote:

"From the height of a recreational riding position, a simple tip-over fall can create enough speed and energy to cause substantial damage to the human head and brain. In other words, it is the height of the potential fall and not just the speed the cyclist is traveling where the threat of injury exists....

The results from the experiment showed that the velocity, force, and energy created in a simple tip-over fall onto a hard surface are more than great enough to cause a serious head and/or brain injury to a cyclist not wearing a helmet. Even collisions with softer surfaces produced potentially hazardous forces."

Update: For a podcast interview with Raleigh plus a link to the complete report, see http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000194.

For a rather lengthy list of references to scientific journal articles dealing with helmets and bike safety (many linking you to abstracts only, but certainly still informative), visit the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute at http://www.helmets.org/journals.htm.

[Tuckervill]

Hey, could that post go in its own thread, so we can find it simply with a search?

I bought Zen's bike for my DIL and she's going to use the baby trailer I bought for my dog. I want them both to wear helmets.

Karen

[cyclinnewbie]

With all of that said... I have to say that honestly I don't care if someone wears a helmet or not. It's their life. Their head. It's not my place to tell them to protect it.

<climbing onto my soapbox>
I'm gonna throw my 2 cents in here, for what it's worth. I guess I don't care if adults don't wear a helmet, because they're making an "informed" decision. Except for when they wreck, have a massive head injury, become a vegetable, require nursing home care for the rest of their lives, and then I have to pay for their stupidity. That is irresponsible.

The other thing that makes me mad is kids not wearing a helmet. Who wants to see their child in the above situation? I did an ICU stint in nursing school, and took care of not one, but TWO 18 year olds (ok not kids, by no means were they adults either), who had severe head injuries from crashing on their skateboards. They were going to be in a vegetative state for the rest of their lives. One of the mom's said her son wouldn't wear a helmet because it wasn't cool. I get that it's vitally important to be cool, but even at 18, I got that it was also vitally important to be alive. I have never ridden without a helmet, I require my kids to wear helmets, and even my 13 year old will not get on his bike without one despite the fact that some of his friends don't. He tells them "When you've lost the ability to talk or wipe your nose because you've hit a car with your head, I will come to the nursing home and visit you, but I won't be the one in that bed". And, God willing, he won't be.

I know that a helmet is not a guaranteed life-saver, but geeze, it's pretty much all we got, so why not do all you can? Having said that, I have not and would never be rude when speaking to someone about their choices.

I also realize that this mentality goes for other irresponsible acts such as drunk driving, drugs, unprotected sex, etc. I could go ON AND ON, but I shall spare you LOLOL.
<climbing off my soapbox>

[malloreigh]

Portland helmet advocacy is a good scene... encountered it at the Multnomah County Bike Fair last year. Helmets aren't mandatory by law in Oregon so they have a cute program advocating their use.

That said, the bike snobs here in Vancouver are all about not wearing helmets. Those little cycling caps may make you look cool but they won't protect your brain... and I must admit I do feel pretty dorky wearing my helmet riding with the cool kids... but my head will be okay if anything happens, so I feel a bit better bombing down main streets.