Riding w/o a helmet

[OakLeaf]

Welp, AFAIC, presence or absence of cars really has nothing to do with it. Honestly, in a collision with a car, a helmet probably isn't going to help. The only times I've landed on my head have been in single-vehicle wrecks. When a bike crashes without colliding with another vehicle, it tends to throw the rider violently on their head. If I hadn't been wearing mine back in '87, being dead is about the best thing that would've happened to me.

A couple of years ago I was headed out to the club ride, a little bit discombobulated since we had a houseguest staying in our downstairs where I normally stow my bike stuff, and I got about four blocks before I realized what that strange naked feeling was. I went straight back home for it.

It's been a while since I trotted out the story about the last time either DH or I rode our motos without helmets ... We'd just started dating. At the time he was living in a state where helmets were required, so it had been a very long time since he'd ridden without one. Also at the time, I'd often ride short distances at lower speeds bareheaded. One night we decided to leave our helmets at our campsite and ride to a restaurant a mile or two down the road. By the time we got back from dinner, each of us was so terrified for the *other* one that we have never done it again.

But, I also feel like everyone needs to make her own decision about that. The only thing I can't abide is seeing helmets dangling from the handlebars or bungied to a rack. If you're going to have one with you, for crying out loud, wear it.

[lph]

Personally, I always wear a helmet, and I insist that my son do so too. The way I ride and the places I ride, I've ending up hitting the deck about once a year or every other year, crashes where wearing a helmet has helped. I also get very wary when I see other people not wearing helmets in traffic, as it signals to me that this is someone who doesn't cycle much and is happy to take chances. This is because in Norway helmets are pretty much the norm.

However, I've read enough statistics on how helmets won't help in serious crashes, and the negative sides of mandatory helmet use, to realize that my view probably is heavily tinged by habit. I probably could ride safely without a helmet, and I'm sure other people could too. In Denmark they do, all the time. So I try not to be too black and white about it.

[Crankin]

I never ride without a helmet. Period. Even for a little test in my driveway. I've had a few crashes and none of them involved cars; always my own fault, the fault of another rider, or environmental conditions. My helmet took the brunt in the last major one in 2007. Although my head and neck hurt for a week and I had an MRI, I was fine, no TBI.
I admit I do get upset when I see others ride without helmets. Around here, you don't see it too much, but when I was going to school in Cambridge, I would say about 75% of the commuters didn't wear one, as per Trek Dianna's comment. Also, I get really upset when I see parents riding without helmets and their kids have one on. I admit I have made comments to people in these situations, as well as when I see teens or kids riding with the helmet dangling on the bars. Probably the best one was when DH and I were coming home from a ride and were about half a mile from our old house. We came upon our neighbor, riding with his kids (about 10 at the time), going the wrong way down Burroughs Rd, a narrow country road that has a good deal of traffic. He didn't have a helmet on and the kids' helmets were on incorrectly. We both said something, fixed the kids' helmets, and suggested the dad get one, and told them riding against traffic is against the law. Of course, Mr. Acton Boxborough football hero from 1981 did not get a helmet, and a few weeks later was arrested for DUI in just about the same spot we saw him riding.
This probably says nothing about wearing helmets, but I fully admit, it gets me upset when I see others not wearing one.

[Grits]

I always ride with a helmet, but if I had been in the same situation as the OP, I probably would have done the same thing - take a short greenway ride and hope for the best!

[Jolt]

Forgot my helmet once riding to volunteer at the bike co-op (less than 3 miles from home). It only happened because I took the Trek that day so I could do some work on it during adult shop time, that bike is kept in the basement, and the helmet was with the Surly which is in the kitchen and is the bike I usually take. So, I brought the bike up and forgot to go back upstairs to get my helmet (oops). Realized it when I was more than halfway to the shop so kept going, but was embarrassed to be setting a bad example by arriving there without my helmet!

[BikeDutchess]

One of the joys of visiting the Netherlands is that I always ride without a helmet there. The bike I ride there is more of an upright model and the infrastructure is very much designed around bicycles. Here in the U.S., I wear a helmet when riding my road bike. With my commuter bike, it varies. A few blocks to the store, I may not wear the helmet. More than that, I generally do. My thinking around this has evolved. While accidents are always possible, I don't think riding a bicycle at a commuter speed is inherently dangerous. Even as a pedestrian, I can step off the curb funny and trip & bang my head or break an ankle. I don't judge others in the U.S. for riding with or without, other than kids. IMO, children should always wear helmets (mine did) as they just don't have the coordination and judgment yet that experienced adult riders have. And with the hills around here, kids can pick up speed very quickly.