helmets are not optional

[Mr. Bloom]

Yes, this can be contentious.

Tonight, I was talking with a neighbor while he was watching his kids ride. I told him about last night's wreck and how it cracked my buddy's helmet rather than his head...he said "these kids need helmets, don't they?"

"Yep"

I didn't lecture, I did berate...he was comfortable in a narrow perspective...and made a choice based on an expanded horizon. He imagined his kids hitting the pavement and was compelled to act.

This is an approach I'm personally comfortable with - effect change through a positive perspective and choice rather than mandate and control. I've always felt this way, but am now learning how to apply it in issues closer to home as well.

[KnottedYet]

I got to witness a woman crashing on a MUT with her baby (helmetless) in a backpack carrier on her back.

The friend I was walking on the MUT with was so upset by the carnage that I never did find out if the child survived. We had to walk away or my friend would have fainted or puked or something.

I agree, adults are one thing (mom wasn't wearing a helmet, either) but children are something else entirely.

[OakLeaf]

Oh, man.

Prayers for the baby, hugs for you and your friend.

[OakLeaf]

Oh, man.

Prayers for the baby, hugs for you and your friend - and baby's mom, too.

[Tri Girl]

I even wear a helmet when I ride to the "Red Box" less than a half mile from my house, or to the grocery store a mile away. I'm on residential streets with no traffic, but in the off chance that a kid or dog or rock happen to throw me- I want my noggin safe and sound (well, safe anyway). Plus, I think I'd look more stupid for NOT wearing one than looking dorky for wearing one.

[Beane]

Whether or not there should be laws requiring people to wear helmets is really just an issue of politics.

My point was simply that it seems awfully stupid to bike without a helmet.

[Wahine]

A helmet saved my life and I'll tell the story to anyone that'll listen. Like Mr. Silver, I believe in educating people that I have contact with. I'm lucky enough to be in a profession where I get to chat to a lot of people who ride or are thinking of riding and I do make a difference. I won't go anywhere on my bike without a helmet and I make it pretty clear to my friends that I don't want to ride with them if they won't wear one. The downside is that some people will then choose not to commute because they don't want helmet head when they get to work. Vanity is a powerful thing.

[OakLeaf]

A helmet saved my life and I'll tell the story to anyone that'll listen. Like Mr. Silver, I believe in educating people that I have contact with.... I won't go anywhere on my bike without a helmet and I make it pretty clear to my friends that I don't want to ride with them if they won't wear one.

+1

And part of how I educate people is with my hairstyle. Not everyone wants a helmet-friendly haircut, I understand that. Still, I get comments all the time when I pull off my helmet and fluff up my hair. "Wow, no helmet head, how do you do that?"


Another story I tell people a lot is the story of the last time DH and I rode without helmets - because it's not the story of how my helmet saved my life, it's the story about how wearing it shows my concern for my loved ones. I might have told this one here before - but here I go again

The last time DH and I rode without helmets was just a couple of months after we'd started dating. He'd been living in a helmet-law state for many years, and although he hadn't ridden bareheaded in a long time, he'd done it in his youth, and I guess he was just curious to re-experience what it felt like. I lived in a state without a helmet law, and although I always wore one for long trips and highway travel, I often scooted around town without one. On this particular day, we'd gone camping, and we were going to get dinner at a restaurant near our campsite. It was a mile and a half, and we decided that we'd leave the helmets in the tent.

On that little mile and a half scoot, each of us was so terrified for the OTHER one, that we promised each other then and there never to do it again.

[RolliePollie]

When I first tried clipless pedals, I tipped over and slammed the back of my head into the pavement. Thank heavens for my helmet! The helmet seemed to be fine, but a couple weeks later, I dropped it and it cracked in two. There is no way I would ever get on my bike without my helmet on. It bothers me when other people don't wear helmets because as mentioned previously in this thread, it becomes everyone's responsibility when someone gets hurt and doesn't have health insurance. And lots of people in CA don't have health insurance.

CA has a helmet law for motorcyclists (I'm actually shocked we don't have a bicycle helmet law yet). The other night, I noticed a Highway Patrol car stopped on the other side of the freeway. Next I saw a motorcycle (also on the other side) driving the wrong way on the shoulder. He was not wearing a helmet. I guess he saw the cop and instead of passing him and getting a ticket, he decided to drive the wrong way back to the last on ramp. I found this kind of entertaining.

[OakLeaf]

Anyone in the US who thinks her expensive health insurance covers her for a head injury needs to (1) educate herself about what is involved in rehabbing a TBI and (2) read her policy. Very, very, very few of even the most expensive policies will cover extended neuropsych rehab or occupational therapy. And that gets fewer every day.

I'm not even going to begin to address the rest of it at this hour in the morning, except to say that anyone in the US who thinks the public (government, taxpayers, however you want to phrase it) is NOT subsidizing her expensive health care insurance to a MASSIVE degree, also needs to educate herself.

Go ahead and have your debate, but let's not bring red herrings into it.

[indysteel]

When I first tried clipless pedals, I tipped over and slammed the back of my head into the pavement. Thank heavens for my helmet! The helmet seemed to be fine, but a couple weeks later, I dropped it and it cracked in two.

I've repeatedly heard that you should replace your helmet anytime it sustains an impact, even if it otherwise looks okay.