Occasional or regular non-bike helmet cyclist?

[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.

[redrhodie]

So I smashed my helmet up and got 2 small scratches on my ankle (I still don't get how I fell like that)...
.

After my last crash, I had a bruise on my ankle in a weird place. I finally figured out it was from the impact with my pedal. Could it be that?

Glad you weren't hurt! Railroad tracks are evil.

[OakLeaf]

I disagree that as a dedicated helmet-wearer, I overestimate the risk.

I balance the risk against the burden, is all. That's the reason that even after my concussion on a bici, I was (for a while) willing to ride a moto without a helmet.

Because of the weight distribution between rider and vehicle (and possibly other factors like wheel/tire size), even "minor" bicycle crashes tend to throw you violently onto your head. That's not the case for falls when motorcycling, driving a car, or walking. Also, the burden of a bici helmet is minuscule in terms of weight, comfort, cost, and sensory restriction. The burden is so small that it's worth it to prevent even a remote risk of a great harm.

Someone made a snark about wearing helmets in cars... most states have already done that balancing test and decided that the burden of sensory restriction far outweighs the potential gains, and made it illegal to wear a helmet while driving a car on public roads. Remember that on a two-wheeler, you don't have the issue of pillars that already restrict your vision enormously ... and your hearing is already restricted by wind noise (or by earplugs that you wear to protect against wind noise, even if they're illegal too ) ... so the balance comes out differently. Anyway, I'm not sure where that statistic came from - AFAIK, head injuries are pretty rare among people wearing seatbelts in cars.

[Pax]

I wish people could simply choose what is best for themselves and their families, and allow others to do the same.

[Eden]

I wish people could simply choose what is best for themselves and their families, and allow others to do the same.

I don't....... I think we need certain rules and laws to protect the whole of society and I don't always think that people choose what is "best" by a rational or logical process of weighing facts.....

[Cataboo]

After my last crash, I had a bruise on my ankle in a weird place. I finally figured out it was from the impact with my pedal. Could it be that?

Glad you weren't hurt! Railroad tracks are evil.

No, it was my outer ankle. But not on the poky out bit, on the slope coming up from it. Maybe it hit one of the potholes or bumps in the road. It's just weird that I didn't bruise or scrap anything else up on my legs.

[KnottedYet]

As a medical professional, I am begging you not to wear helmets.

It costs millions of dollars to rehab survivors of bike/car (or bike/gravity) accidents.

Death is cheaper.

Please don't wear helmets. Brain death has legal status. Once you are brain dead, but your body continues to pump along in vain, your organs are ripe for the plucking. We are in dire need of juicy ripe organs for transplants.

You are more valuable to me dead than alive.

So don't wear those helmets, and be sure to buy your health insurance from private companies that have strong "death panels."

Your nice healthy cyclist liver can save the life of an unrepentant drug abuser! Your powerful heart can save the life of an obese welfare beneficiary! Your clear lenses can return sight to a smoker!

C'mon, kids, do your part to keep the medical system running! Die at the most opportune moment for the most people!

(for those of you who do not live in the U.S. - this is bitter sarcasm based on an insider's view of the morally bankrupt but profitable U.S. medical system)

[emily_in_nc]

Ok, here's my dilemma. I am an avid helmet wearer, never go without one. However, in Belize, NO ONE wears helmets. I mean NO ONE. Many of the locals don't have a lot of money, and a bike is their only means of transportation. People ride one-speed beach cruisers with bare feet, sandals, or maybe sneakers, no clipless pedals or bike shoes. Everyone rides in normal clothing, not bike shorts/jerseys. Most roads are unpaved (packed sand), and a lot of rides are on the beach, but there are a few paved roads which are driven mostly by golf carts, but there are taxis and a few small trucks on the roads as well as many bikes, pedestrians, etc..

When we are in Belize, do I wear a helmet and thus immediately put a label on myself of "different", "outsider", "ex-pat", "gringo", and, quite possibly "rich"; or do I do ride sans helmet in order to fit in and live as the locals and not appear ostentatious? For safety purposes, a helmet is obviously the way to go; but there are cultural issues at play that are very different from those where I live now.

This is something I've really been struggling with. So far, on our trips to Belize, we have rented bikes and have not worn helmets. We only took carry-on luggage and didn't even have space for them, and bike rental places don't offer them. But what about when we live there?

I honestly have not made up my mind about this. What would you do?

[JennK13]

So far, on our trips to Belize, we have rented bikes and have not worn helmets. We only took carry-on luggage and didn't even have space for them, and bike rental places don't offer them. But what about when we live there?

I honestly have not made up my mind about this. What would you do?

If you would wear a helmet under the same riding conditions back home, why wouldn't you wear it there? I don't think the country you're in dictates whether or not you wear a helmet.

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

Was strange before...is even stranger now

I rest my case!

So if Charlie Sheen got in an accident.....wait....I really don't think it matters - not really a strong case either way!

I balance the risk against the burden, is all. That's the reason that even after my concussion on a bici, I was (for a while) willing to ride a moto without a helmet.

Because of the weight distribution between rider and vehicle (and possibly other factors like wheel/tire size), even "minor" bicycle crashes tend to throw you violently onto your head.

I really think the second part has a lot to do with another piece of equipment that most of use but don't talk about when it comes to injury. Clipless pedals. The mechanics of being clipped in forces you to "catapult" over the handlebars in a 180 and brings you right down on top of your head. Without being clipped in, you would go over the bars, but not in an arch that forces you onto your head - you'd go face first, and land on your outstretched arms/hands (probably resulting in more broken arms/wrists as you try to stop yourself) but not as often on your head.
We also have many posts about the number of falls from our clipless pedals, and many people here cite slow moving accidents where they fall (and because you're clipped in and can't move your leg out to help break the fall, your pedals force you down on the side of your head).
I've been riding seriously for about 2 1/2 years. I've gone down about a dozen times, twice were "accidents". The first I was on platform pedals when I hit a mud slick and slid about 30 feet. The second time was Saturday when a rider went down in front of me and I hit his leg at 16 mph and went over my handlebars while clipped in (I have no idea how, but I happened to land on my elbow). Every other time I've fallen it has been because I couldn't unclip, failed to unclip, or fell the opposite direction of my unclipped foot.
Think about how many times you've fallen and what the cause was. The more you fall, the more chance there is to hit your head. Clipless pedals are dangerous things.

I wish people could simply choose what is best for themselves and their families, and allow others to do the same.

Pax, I'm with you.....

[KnottedYet]

Are Newton's Laws different in Belize?

Is Belize a land with a different constant for gravity?

I'd be making my decisions based on science. I only have one brain. It already got smashed up once. I'd rather not do that again. No matter how funny I look.

If the poverty of other riders really bothered me, I'd connect with a helmet manufacturer and a local hospital and start a helmet program like the one Cascade bike club has in Seattle.

[Cataboo]

When we are in Belize, do I wear a helmet and thus immediately put a label on myself of "different", "outsider", "ex-pat", "gringo", and, quite possibly "rich"; or do I do ride sans helmet in order to fit in and live as the locals and not appear ostentatious? For safety purposes, a helmet is obviously the way to go; but there are cultural issues at play that are very different from those where I live now.

Erm. Aren't you already going to stand out as different, an outsider,an ex-pat, a gringo, and rich? I mean, you don't look like a Belize native. Your bike is probably also way nicer than a native's.

But... Maybe you should buy a bunch of helmets and give them out to natives that can't afford them... and then there will be a few other people wearing helmets.

[lph]

Ok, here's my dilemma. I am an avid helmet wearer, never go without one. However, in Belize, NO ONE wears helmets. (...) Most roads are unpaved (packed sand), and a lot of rides are on the beach, but there are a few paved roads which are driven mostly by golf carts, but there are taxis and a few small trucks on the roads as well as many bikes, pedestrians, etc..

I can understand not wanting to look too weird in a foreign country. Many reasons to want to blend in as much as possible, for safety, better communication, to show respect. If I were you I'd think over the riding conditions and typical speed, think over how you should change your riding style if you were to not wear a helmet, and then depending on what you land on, either go buy a neutral matte helmet, or skip it. If you do feel unsafe without - wear one, and use it as a conversation starter.