Occasional or regular non-bike helmet cyclist?

[Mr. Bloom]

*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?

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

[Crankin]

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.

[macski]

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]

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

[shootingstar]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

[Kiwi Stoker]

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]

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 (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]

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

Was strange before...is even stranger now

I rest my case!

[radacrider]

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]

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.