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

sharkweek

I'd posted here in September saying I didn't -- later that month, I did get one, and while I haven't had any close calls, I feel so much better and more confident biking now. With all the comments from friends about how I could die, I was starting to feel like I was on borrowed time

jezcomblue

yeah, always..

iplayoutside19

When I bought my Mt Bike the bike shop owner said I wasn't leaving the store w/o a helmet. The type of riding I was going to do I wasn't going to argue with him. I can think of two spills where the helmet saved my life. One of them was on a road, and I had to get a new helmet. I was probably slightly concussed after that one.

I don't even know why this is a discussion, wear a brain bucket.

Philllbis

I wear a Giro. I started cycling last spring after not cycling for 20 years.

When I was in college I belonged to a College sponsored cycling team. We trained and rdoe in races. We didn't wear helmets in training. We had to have a faculty member on the team as part of the school sponsorship. One of the younger professors from the science department rode with us.

One day on atraining ride he crashed on wet pavement. It wasn't a terrible crash or so we thought but he hit the pavement and suffered a concussion. He ended up losing his memory for about 6 months and couldn't teach. I started wearing a helmet after that incident.

Spatialized

I've seen far too many head injuries as a nurse to not wear a helmet. Every time. I almost feel weird without it when I roll around the driveway testing adjustments.

It's been said before but, road rash will heal, bones will mend, bruise and scars fade, equipment can be replaced but my brain, that pink mushy thing inside my skull that makes me, me, doesn't heal so well, so you better believe that I'll wear a helmet on the bike.

Some nurses have a name for those that don't wear helmets (especially motorcycle riders): organ donors.

scottb81

I always wear one on the bike because I want my skull to stay in one piece.

nexangelus

Yep I do, also I can fit my camera (have taken to wearing a helmet cam just to highlight the stupid planks you get on the road every day to peeps) on it...and it is handy for fitting a light on if I choose, cannot be too safe at night (yes I cycle in the dark).

Fvaisey

Always. (Not on stationary bikes though. :-)

lilRicki

every single time i get on my bike i wear my helmet. Not only did I work with people with aquired brain injuries, i have a son that i would really like to have a round for a little longer...if he crashes pretending he's a super hero, lord knows what will happen. So I wear it to inforce him to wear it. And it's law for anyone under 18 to wear a helmet.

dorianaldyn

I always wear a bike helmet when riding a bike.
I wear a snowboarding helmet when on the slopes.
I wear a wakeboarding helmet when behind the boat.

Protecting my brain has always seemed like a good idea.

Lambja

My 6 year old son crashed on his bike a few years ago and spent 3 days in a coma. He was wearing his helmet and the doctors said that if he had not been wearing it, we would probably have been planning his funeral. Then a year ago I crashed (who knows how) but I did and went sliding down a small ravine, all the way down I could hear my helmet hitting the rocks. If not for my helmet, that would have been my head. I am very glad that after my son's crash that I decided I would never ride a bike again without that protection.

RekindledRose

WEAR YOUR HELMET.

cdngirl71

Yes!! I always wear a helmet when riding my bike.

CyclingAddict

Wear your helmet! It's harder to learn the alphabet the second time around.

Rocbola

When i grew up, all the way up to about 2 years ago, i never ever wore a helmet.

Now, i feel naked without it! I ALWAYS wear it.

Hellbent_Heidi

No, I do not.... never have, and do not plan to start now. I only ride on designated bike paths (paved or reclaimed train track), with the occasional (well marked) road crossings (at which I always stop). :ohwell:

Cyclink

Having broken three helmets, all three at crashes below 10 mph (usually involving unsupervised pets or children), absolutely.

bgelliott

Yes I do because I don't trust the idiot drivers on the road and I have a better chance of survival if my head is protected.

UncleRiotous

I never wore a helmet as a kid (I don't think they even existed back then). I got back into cycling about six years ago and have always worn one ever since (currently I put on about 3000 miles a year). Doesn't matter if I'm off road or on road they're comfortable and if I do have a crash (even mountain biking I don't often crash) then they could save me a serious injury.

I don't think it matters how fast you ride they're a good idea, I've had mates go over the bars due to a chain slip on starting off, I've had a rim blow out on me with no warning, I've hit black ice, each time I've been pleased I've been wearing one.

WABeachWalker

I wear a helmet for two reasons: 1) It's the law where I live, and 2) I have seen the consequences of even slow-speed crashes that cause concussions. Even a 5 mph crash can have nasty consequences.

When I was a kid growing up in Portland, Oregon, nobody wore a bike helmet and we did some pretty crazy stunts. I will probably never do those things again, knowing what I know now! Get a decent helmet and wear it every time out.

sunraew

I have a couple of life stories that proved it to me:

A while back, my friend and I had been training hard for about 6 months to go on a 120km bike race from the city to the northern coast. We were both wearing our helmets on race day. About 30km into it we got caught up trying to move through a tight pack. The rider in front clipped another tyre and crashed. My friend didn't have time or space to avoid him. It was horrible. Her bike flipped as she crashed. She landed hard hitting the back of her helmet. Other (inexperienced?) riders from behind didn't even try to avoid her but rode over her, including her face(!), before I could untangle myself from my own bike and drag her to safety being careful in case of a back/neck injury. She kept telling me she was okay and not to fuss, but didn't know her own name, what day or time it was or why were there. Then she had a seizure. [Freaked right me out as I'd never seen one before]. I went with her in the ambulance, and listened as the ER doctor in the nearby town told her that the damage was severe and that she could not afford to have another brain injury. There is no doubt in my mind that the injury would have been far worse without the helmet, especially newer technology ones (of course, that one needed to be replaced after the impact). Ever since, I've always worn a good quality (never dropped) helmet while cycling, mountain biking, kiting and snowboarding etc. AND I avoid crowded race conditions like the plague.

Then, more recently, a freak accident at home. I hit my forehead on the corner of a door frame. I don't remember how I found my way to, face first, closely inspecting the linoleum. I was just pacing off to the laundry and must have tangled over something. Hubby came along and found me lying there totally confused. Blood everywhere. Off to the ER, stitches, and concussion. "Beautiful" shiner. :blushing: I was trippy for some weeks after that. Not good for my best performance at work. Everyone wanted to know what the other guy looked like. Imagine the mess if I was travelling at 15-35mph? Again, proved to me that a helmet is so worth it...

Noh! I don't wear a helmet around the house!! :laugh: but have stopped nipping outside to the recycling bin in socks & jandals.

Protect your Melon! Wear a Helmet. Oh yeah, and (be fashionable,) fasten your helmet straps!

cleotherio

I always wear a helmet, even on bike paths. I always want to roll down the window and yell at cyclists who aren't wearing helmets whey they're riding on busy roads. Especially when they're riding against traffic. Stupid stupid stupid.

Sabine_Stroehm

I always wear a helmet, even on bike paths. I always want to roll down the window and yell at cyclists who aren't wearing helmets whey they're riding on busy roads. Especially when they're riding against traffic. Stupid stupid stupid.

Funny you should mention "paths". A friend of mine was in a horrible head on collision with another bike on a bike path. Lots of broken bones (including around his eye), BUT! his head was fine.
Lot's of folks think if there aren't cars, they don't need a helmet. Not true.

Catjag

I always wear my helmet. We have taught our daughter that she needs to wear hers and I lead by example. Also, the drivers in Vegas are nuts.

teryx123

I grew up before helmets and survived fine, but I do wear them now. A guy tried to make a move to pass me once 30 miles into a race, on a hill, and blacked out trying. He toppled over the front of his bike and landed on his head. It split the helmet clean in two pieces. It was one of those styro-fabric things. Aside from major road rash he was OK.

funkycamper

When I first started biking a few years back, after many years without a bike, I didn't because I thought I went to slow to bother. Got distracted by something, hit a curb, went head-first over the front of my bike, and got a huge goose-egg on my forehead which turned into two black eyes. No concussion, thank goodness. I was going maybe 4mph. If I was going any faster, I'm sure I would have had at least a concussion, maybe worse.

So I now always wear a helmet. Always.

NikoM5

Never. I managed to get through my less than safety conscious youth without one. I have what you'd call a high sensitivity for dangerous situations which has kept me pretty much safe and incident free my whole life. I drive a powerful sports car yet have never been involved in a collision during my 21 years of driving, at fault or otherwise. I would make my child wear one until they were mature enough to make their own decision

Susanh43

Absolutely! Every time! We all wear them (as a family).

meghannrenee

EVERY time I ride. I've been commuting on a bike for a year and a half and wearing one has saved me twice.

I live in Boston, some of the trains are above ground and the tracks go right down the middle of the driving lanes. The first time it saved me I was going to make a left hand turn and my front wheel slipped into the track (didn't have enough of an angle) - head first over the bars in the middle of traffic. Out cold. Happened to be lucky enough to have a surgeon on his way home from Beth Israel in the car behind me - he stopped, pulled me out of the road and took my vitals. Told me if I hadn't been wearing a helmet with the way I hit the ground I would have sustained some pretty serious damage. The helmet was cracked.

2nd time I was hit by a car making a right hand turn - no turn signal (seriously people - learn how to use these things!!!). She didn't even look.

Helmets are important. Being too cool to wear them is stupid.

panicintheattic

Yes. Always. With Chicago traffic, I would NEVER go far without it. I've only crashed once (my own fault sort of, there was road construction and I went to go over a median and my tire ran along side it instead), got some nasty scars and luckily the woman in the car behind me saw otherwise I would have been run over, and probably owe a lot to the helmet on my head. But yes, too many ghost bikes everywhere and horror stories from friends. A friend of mine got hit by a turning car that was flooring it trying to make a light and went straight through the woman's windshield (luckily walked away with only a quick hospital visit and a gnarly scar the length of his whole forearm). Definitely know many others that have taken slightly less serious spills. I could justify not wearing a helmet if maybe you lived in the middle of nowhere, rode on the sidewalks, and traveled at 2mph. But that's about the only time.