BIKE HELMETS.....Do YOU wear one??

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Replies

  • shepismint
    shepismint Posts: 3 Member
    I ride a minimum of 14 miles a day commuting - wouldn't do it without my helmet as I bike on the roads!
  • 3foldchord
    3foldchord Posts: 2,918 Member
    I guess about 80% of the time.
  • jeolds
    jeolds Posts: 104 Member
    Most of the time, I do. It just depended on what I was doing. The motorcycle is another story. I have three of them for it and yes, I do wear one all the time for that.
  • nc_moon_beam
    nc_moon_beam Posts: 38 Member
    I don't bike, but I ride horses and I wear a helmet. Every ride, every time.
  • djcon
    djcon Posts: 216 Member
    ALWAYS...Now it is like wearing a seat belt...it is a habit .... I cant stand to ride my bike without my helmet on
  • dalgirly
    dalgirly Posts: 280 Member
    I always always do.

    I work in an ICU, and have seen multiple kids come in who haven't worn helmets and seen what can happen. Not that a helmet will save your life every time, but why not wear a helmet? There is no harm. And it could save your life!

    Although, as a kid, I never really did. And even before I started working in an ICU, I only wore a helmet when biking on the road. Now I always do. Its just safer.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,474 Member
    no,,, but i should, i do steep hills and get a high on the speed, SHAME ON ME!
  • cloggsy71
    cloggsy71 Posts: 2,208 Member
    ALWAYS wear a helmet, no excuses!
  • doggiesnot
    doggiesnot Posts: 334 Member
    I always wear a helmet. I've never needed one, but would rather have it and not need it, then need it and not have it.

    I ride 8 miles to work everyday, half is on wooded trails, and half is on streets/sidewalks. I would wear a helmet even if it were all trails. It's not restrictive at all and I don't even notice it's on while I'm wearing it.
  • supercatie18
    supercatie18 Posts: 82 Member
    Yes, yes YES! There really isn't any reason not to wear one, I also used to not where one as a teenager because I thought it made me look like a "dork". Now, I really don't care! My head is more important! Especially if you are riding with your child... what if you were injured due to not wearing a helmet and he was on his own?? Plus they really aren't very expensive.
  • fishgutzy
    fishgutzy Posts: 2,807 Member
    I started wearing a helmet the summer I started riding a bicycle from Boston MA to Burlington. It was a great summer.
    Better to wear a helmet and never need it than not wear one and end up wishing you had.

    I know one person who is alive today because he wore a helmet in the woods. Something unpredictable happened and he hit a rock head first. The helmet shattered, as it is supposed to. He had two big black eyes for a week. But he knew that with the force he hit the rock, he'd be dead without the helmet.

    As others have said, cheap insurance.

    A class mate of my kids didn't think he needed a helmet on his skateboard either. He was more concerned that his friends would make fun of him. No one was making fun of him at his funeral. He fell backwards and hit the concrete. A very short fall. He died two days later. Now my son doesn't complain when I tell him to wear a helmet.
  • TheBigYin
    TheBigYin Posts: 5,686 Member
    Never used to, then it became mandatory to wear helmets in competition so I started wearing them - first off in races only - then realised I needed to wear it in training to be used to the weight/heat (modern helmets are far better in this respect!)

    Now, it's just part of the "uniform" - glasses, gloves, helmet, disco-slippers...
  • curvykim78
    curvykim78 Posts: 799 Member
    ALWAYS wear a helmet, no excuses!
    Sounds like a good motto!
  • curvykim78
    curvykim78 Posts: 799 Member
    I started wearing a helmet the summer I started riding a bicycle from Boston MA to Burlington. It was a great summer.
    Better to wear a helmet and never need it than not wear one and end up wishing you had.

    I know one person who is alive today because he wore a helmet in the woods. Something unpredictable happened and he hit a rock head first. The helmet shattered, as it is supposed to. He had two big black eyes for a week. But he knew that with the force he hit the rock, he'd be dead without the helmet.

    As others have said, cheap insurance.

    A class mate of my kids didn't think he needed a helmet on his skateboard either. He was more concerned that his friends would make fun of him. No one was making fun of him at his funeral. He fell backwards and hit the concrete. A very short fall. He died two days later. Now my son doesn't complain when I tell him to wear a helmet.

    Oh my goodness! What a sad way to learn a lesson. :( At least your son wears one now.
  • bpotts44
    bpotts44 Posts: 1,066 Member
    I don't and I know I really, really should. I bike a lot - regularly 8 miles in the morning. I never bike in the road, always sidewalks and bike lanes, but if a small woodland creature darted out into the path in front of me, I have no doubt I'd wreck hard to keep from hitting it. I'm worried that if I wear a helmet I'll stop biking (I really can't communicate how much I hate the feel of a helmet on my head), but even that would be better than seriously hurting myself.

    Nice topic, I needed a nudge. :)

    The newer helmets are WAY more comfortable than helmets of the past. Think of the confidence you will have on the bike when you are not worried that a small woodland creature will end your life.
  • amiller7x7
    amiller7x7 Posts: 202 Member
    A recent magazine article I saw said" "The American Association of Neurological Surgeons reports that more sports-related head injuries in 2009 occurred on bicycles than on football, baseball, and softball fields combined, and sports-related TBI numbers are rising." (http://www.menshealth.com/health/smack-upside-head) - suggests that wearing a helmet just might be a good idea...period. It's also a legal requirement to wear a helmet when bicycling on roads and multi-use trails in the area we live.
  • islandmonkey
    islandmonkey Posts: 546 Member
    I live in Canada, where our taxes supplement health care for everyone. I certainly don't want to pay for someone else's (preventable) head injury.

    Most municipalities here have mandatory helmet rules anyway; more for children but many/most for adults too.


    I have many coworkers from Australia, and some municipalities have very strictly enforced helmet rules ($200 fine for not wearing, and you WILL get pulled over for it)
  • eddie8131
    eddie8131 Posts: 600 Member
    There are many, many people who believe bike helmets do nothing to protect you and look stupid, and believe in their right, very very strongly I might add, to not wear one. In my experience, this is a very touchy issue with some people.

    It is interesting that this issue is very similar to a debate about religion. Passionate feelings on both sides, no middle ground, etc.

    I wear a helmet, and as with religion, I respect everyone's right to do as they please, as long as they don't infringe on my rights.
  • pearsy67
    pearsy67 Posts: 104 Member
    I have had to buy two new helmets in the past 12 months due to them doing their job. On two completely different bikes I have come off and only the helmet turned what would have probably been stretcher cases into just embarrassing mishaps.

    The first was on my road bike where I cut a corner a bit too much and the handle bar snagged the fence at the apex and catapulted me into the steel fence on the other side of the path. Result severely smashed helmet, broken bike and a me walking away cursing.
    The second was on my mountain bike when I found that it does not handle asphalt corners as well as it does dirt, it dumped me straight onto the back of my head. Result, broken helmet and an embarrassing leap to my feet and continue riding.

    Both of these times it was completely unexpected but the helmet absorbed a huge impact the way it was designed because it was the right size and worn correctly. I can't advocate the use of bike helmets enough.
    Like the saying goes, if you ride a bike, it is not a case of If you will crash, just when.
  • cloggsy71
    cloggsy71 Posts: 2,208 Member
    Yes, always wear a helmet - no excuses!
  • free8gent
    free8gent Posts: 61 Member
    Absolutely!! Locals in Beijing look at me like I am nuts, but I would not go without one anywhere. When the stats are clear of the benefits they provide, I can't imagine why I wouldn't wear one. Sure some people think I might not look as cool, and it can have some negative hairstyle impact, but I'd rather forgo these minor inconveniences than suffer brain trauma or worse because of it.
  • alaskanaomi
    alaskanaomi Posts: 36
    I work in emergency dispatch. I've heard enough stories to know better than not to wear my helmet.
  • justal313
    justal313 Posts: 1,375 Member
    In a string of bad luck and stupidity I was hit by 2 cars as a teenager while riding my bike about a year apart.


    The first time a car came up over a blind hill and pasted me and LAUNCHED me. I had decided to tuck my head and roll but instead I landed on top of my head and compressed my c-spine. Didn't know there was any damage until about 5 weeks later I couldn't turn my neck because of the pain and x-rays revealed that two bones in my neck were rubbing together. (I believe that was what was wrong, I was 15 so maybe I have some of the details slightly wrong) I had to do 3 or 4 months of PT before everything was fine. I wanted to kill that woman, not the one who hit me, but my physical therapist, as she was sadistic and evil and clearly hated me. I know better now and it's because of her I don't have to turn my entire body to look to my left or right.

    Where was I? Oh yeah helmets...

    About a year later I'm out on my bike and it starts raining. Now I'm wearing a helmet because it was the only way my mom was going to let me have another bike...

    I come up to an intersection and attempt to stop my bike and I skid right out into traffic and get hit. The car had to be towed away (take that) because my bike is a real heavy frame. But I hit the ground hard. My helmet splits in half, that could have been my head!!! Oh and I got a wicked case of road rash from being pushed by the car as I'm on the ground and it's still pushing me.

    When I get a bike in a year or two (when my daughter is old enough to ride) I will have a helmet and pads and whatever as will she. Her's will be pink with butterflies or at least butterflies, she loves butterflies. Mine will have a skull and fire painted on it as I need to reclaim my youth and nothing says young like flaming skulls.
  • JosieJo2000
    JosieJo2000 Posts: 162 Member
    It's the law here that we have to wear one, but I would regardless. I love riding my bike but my kids need me, something as simple as wearing a helmet can save lives so I do it for my family.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    I'm 51 and had never even heard of a bike helment when I was a child, so naturally I grew up riding a bike without one. And when my children were young they were just becoming popular but still very few people wore them. It was actually my teenage children that started wearing them on their own and insisting that I also wore one. Now that I have grandkids, I wear one because I don't want them to ask "Why do I have to wear one when Granny doesn't?".

    Plus, my husband has taken me mountain biking and I was more than happy to wear it. A couple of trails made me wish I had full body armour on. :laugh:
  • Kcham817
    Kcham817 Posts: 106 Member
    I never wore one as a child, but I usually ride in the spring and summer and yes I wear one now.
  • Gramps251
    Gramps251 Posts: 738 Member
    Never.
  • mitchellkd
    mitchellkd Posts: 35 Member
    always! And it's a law in Virginia!
  • HypersonicFitNess
    HypersonicFitNess Posts: 1,219 Member
    We always were our helmets when biking....especially off road, mountain biking, you can never be too careful there are rocks, roots, trees, other bikers....any one of those things could cause a concision in the least....lets not talk about the worst. No matter how great a biker you are...you cannot dodge everything, every time and what about an unexpected squirrel, deer or other animal crossing your path on a path covered with leaves where you cannot see the roots or rocks? What will protect your head if you hit something and fly off your bike?

    BTW - I have flown off my bike after my tires slipped on some wet leaves....I only scraped my stomach and it wasn't bad b/c I had on three layers. No other damage and yes I had a helmet on, but what if it would have been a couple inches further? I would have hit a tree..... just sayin'
  • Jpinpoint
    Jpinpoint Posts: 219 Member
    It's not a law where I live, however, no matter if I'm on a bicycle or one of my HD's I always wear a helmet. I prefer my brains to be in a bucket should they fall out. It's easier to be put back together if doctors are provided with all of your innards.

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