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

I sure do. I'd be a hypocrite if I forced my child to wear a helmet and I didn't.

I don't ride often and as a kid I never wore one, but now that I am older with a little one of my own I do wear one. Main reason is if my little one rides I make sure she wears one and I must lead by example by wearing one too. Also I got alot more people who count on me now and would not want to put my family in hardship by one little detail that can change a funny bike fall story into a serious traumatic experience.

What an awful experience...I hope she's ok too...I have to admit, when we ride our bikes, my husband and I don't wear one. Before we moved to Florida, he had a road bike and wore one. We have hybrids now and don't ride fast, there's sidewalks & bike lanes, and blah, blah, blah. I know we should be wearing them but we don't. I would advise you to wear one even when I don't. Don't do what other people do..do what you think is right for you and your family. The fact that you have a child along with you...changes things. You really need to be a good example for him and wear one.

I didn't wear a helmet as a kid.... As an adult, I ALWAYS wear one. Trail, roads, around the block..... always.
You can still get injured or killed wearing one.... but I think it's worth wearing it regardless.

I commute on a bike, and I wear a helmet every day. Granted, I live in a big Central European city that isn't the most bike-friendly, but my helmet has saved me twice- probably not my life, but at least saved me from injury. On one occasion I got doored by a parked car and wound up skidding across the ground. I was wearing long sleeves, which got totally shredded, and my helmet kept me from shredding up my face. On another occasion, I was hit by a car that swerved across the bike path, knocked over another car, and landed flat on my back. My helmet cracked in half! I felt pretty smug bringing those two pieces into work the next day to show to all the haters.

That being said, on the rare occasion I bike in a park or on the island, where cars aren't allowed and I'm going slowly, I'll sometimes take off my helmet. It's certainly a nicer, freer feeling!

On a funnier note, helmet-usage here definitely "pegs you" into a certain group. If you're wearing a helmet and spandex, you're a crazy biker, and if you're wearing a helmet and normal clothes, you're an expat from a western country!

Yes, always. It's the law in my city (you'll get a fine if you ride without a helmet) but even if it wasn't the law, I would still wear my helmet.

We bike usually on biking/walking trails that are relatively flat no cliffs, no traffic, barely any pedestrians etc. so no I don't. But if were to ever ride on a busy road, which I doubt I ever will (we are fortunate to have several biking/walking trails in the area) I would...but I guess I should but I probably won't

Not on my bike and no riding helmet on my horse, either.

Always. I started wearing one in 1991 or so when they first became popular around here. I had just bought a bike & thought "i don't need a helmet", rode it across town in the rain, crashed into a curb & nearly took a header of a light pole. I walked the bike home, got a helmet the next day. While mountainbiking, i've lost track of the # of times i've bashed my head off a low hanging branch, thankful that the helmet took the hit instead of my skull.

I have friends who don't. I've argued it with them & their reasons are always fairly ridiculous i.e. it'll mess up my hair, i didn't use one as a kid, etc. Hey, why don't we all stop wearing seatbelts while we're at it.

When i go to Toronto i'm amazed at all the doofus hipsters who cycle around the crazy streets with nothing on their heads.

I always wear a helmet even if it is a short ride through my community to the grocery store or a friends house. Just some interesting reading for you. http://www.bhsi.org/stats.html

I hit my head so hard on a low branch a few weeks ago that it left me dazed, I dread to think what would have happened without my helmet

omg why wouldn't you wear a helmet!?

It's illegal not to wear one here (Australia). I hate them but it's a necessary evil - broken bones heal but broken brains don't.

I wear one every single time that I get on a bike, even if I'm just testing out newly pumped up tires. This spring a bird built a nest in my helmet (it's on a peb board out in the garage) and I didn't ride at all until the babies finally left. I did clean the helmet with bleach water.

Didn't wear one on my Harley when I lived in a state w/o a helmet law. Moved to a state w/ a helmet law so had no choice. I got a "BC Beanie". For me it gave me a real false sense of security. I was much more aware of every little thing around me w/o the helmet - I felt SO much more vulnerable - and let's face it, awareness and DEFENSE is your only defense when you're on a bike!!! There are no "fender benders" on a bike! So I prefer no helmet.

If I don't wear one on a Harley, I surely am not going to wear one on a bicycle. (And for the same reasons.)

And since I'm a responsible citizen I have very clearly spelled out "living will"/advanced directive/dnr papers filed with my attorney. I'm vegan but I don't want to be a vegetable! :noway:

BTW, I was in a motorcycle accident (passenger, mind you! I never had any type of accident once I got my own bike.) where we took a curve too fast and went flying off the road at about 55 mph. The bike hit a boulder and I was literally catapulted off of it. The way I landed, had I been wearing a full helmet, my neck would have been snapped. As it was, I walked away with some ribs torn from the sternum and whiplash. So that's my anecdotal evidence AGAINST helmets. And just because it MUST be said: if you don't wear proper clothing and boots, why bother with the helmet?! Ever see these fools wearing shorts and flip flops with a big ol' full face helmet on? WTF?!