Helmets are your friend
Options
Replies
-
I have been less than perfect about wearing my helmet during short rides into town. Thank you all for pointing out how important this can be. I will do better.2
-
Just ordered my RoadID. Thanks for the link.0
-
I have been less than perfect about wearing my helmet during short rides into town. Thank you all for pointing out how important this can be. I will do better.
Helmets are like condoms; you don't need one for every ride, you just need to know which kind of ride it's going to be before you start.0 -
denversillygoose wrote: »PS- The bike is okay
Hope someone paused his Garmin...
Fwiw I agree about helmets, I once got a wall and broke my shoulder in three places. Skull was intact other than some concussion.1 -
In Australia it is compulsory to wear a helmet, not sure how strictly it is enforced, but it is only occasionally that you see someone without an helmet.2
-
I always wear RoadID, even when I'm not out running / hiking / whatever. But, I also have medical issues that are important. I wear a necklace, though, and I'm not sure EMT's always check for that because it is under my shirt.0
-
My brother's a very careful biker, but he's still been hit twice by cars. His helmet saved him both times. I think the modern helmets actually look rather snazzy and futuristic compared to what I had as a kid.
Sidenote: you have to buckle the helmet strap for it to be effective, or else it'll fly off your head when you get hit. This might seem obvious, but I see a lot of people biking with the straps hanging loose!4 -
BlueSkyShoal wrote: »My brother's a very careful biker, but he's still been hit twice by cars. His helmet saved him both times. I think the modern helmets actually look rather snazzy and futuristic compared to what I had as a kid.
Sidenote: you have to buckle the helmet strap for it to be effective, or else it'll fly off your head when you get hit. This might seem obvious, but I see a lot of people biking with the straps hanging loose!
Also wearing it on the back of your head is pretty ineffective. I see this all the time, especially on kids.0 -
Reading this entire thread, I get the idea that wearing helmets isn't what we really need here. Instead, we need cars to stop hitting us.8
-
That would be awesome. And while we're working on that, we have helmets.2
-
That would be awesome. And while we're working on that, we have helmets.
The observation I'd make is that any time I've been hit by a cage my head has been the least of my worries. That said any car impacts have been sideswipes, I've never been tail ended or t-boned, which are both very different.0 -
A couple months ago I witnessed a bike ride out right in front of a motorcycle. Bicycle rider wasn't wearing a helmet and went to the hospital in critical condition. Motorcycle rider said he never usually wears a helmet but was that night. I bet he wears it from now on now.0
-
nothing sexier than someone in a bike helmet. seriously. its a total turn off for me when i see people riding around without them.3
-
denversillygoose wrote: »I for one, look like a total dingus in a helmet.
nothing says dingus like permanent brain damage though . . . especially when it might have been preventable.
i was annoyed a few years ago when i took a possibly-broken thumb to the er after a bike spill, and got asked by every. single. person. manning the medical conveyer belt if i'd been wearing my helmet. i got a little testy by about person six, but my non-damaged head understand their reasons for flogging the topic to death.
1 -
Remember, a much more common cause of head injuries is simply falling, and we (and children!) are far more likely to receive a head injury INSIDE a car than out of it.
So the message is clear - if you value wearing a helmet on your bike, you should be wearing a helmet everywhere!1 -
tcatcarson wrote: »Remember, a much more common cause of head injuries is simply falling, and we (and children!) are far more likely to receive a head injury INSIDE a car than out of it.
So the message is clear - if you value wearing a helmet on your bike, you should be wearing a helmet everywhere!
As ever, it's not that clear cut. Personally I'm hostile to mandatory helmets, despite using one myself. I choose, and my riding behaviour is influenced accordingly.
The big bike helmet debate: 'You don’t make it safe by forcing cyclists to dress for urban warfare' | Life and style | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/mar/21/bike-helmet-cyclists-safe-urban-warfare-wheels2 -
This is why I don't bike on the road. I mountain bike on trails. You can still get injured, but at least when you collide with another bike, it's more of a fair fight. I've heard so many nightmare stories of cars driving stupidly around bikes and getting people killed. I don't run next to roads, either. Along with all the creepers hooting and hollering, I've had a few close calls with distracted drivers almost hitting me.
ETA: I agree with the poster who said that helmets were like seat belts, and it feels like something is wrong when you aren't wearing one! Everybody I see is wearing them where I live.1 -
I don't wear a helmet, did it once when in NZ where it is cumpulsory - Completely put me off cycling because of the headaches. Plus I know a fair few head injury surgeons are not convinced. both for the type of injury as wel as protection - Research suggests that if a cyclist wears a helmet cars will move closer to a cyclist in normal circumstances and thus increase the danger to the cyclists.
I am of the opinion that the poblem is not the cyclists but the stupid drivers that need educating. Feel that the helmet punishes those that take the healthy route.
That said I am in the Netherlands where we have a generally very good cycling infrastrucure in many cases (though not always - where I live there are no cycling lanes in the inner city) and where a driver is always guilty in an car/cycle collission (also with pedestrians) as they have a duty of care towards the more vulnerable in traffic. Only if there is proof that the cyclist or pedestrian is wrong (skipping a red light) will they be let off the hook. That simple change in law saved more lives than any helmet ever can0 -
MeanderingMammal wrote: »
As ever, it's not that clear cut. Personally I'm hostile to mandatory helmets, despite using one myself. I choose, and my riding behaviour is influenced accordingly.
The big bike helmet debate: 'You don’t make it safe by forcing cyclists to dress for urban warfare' | Life and style | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/mar/21/bike-helmet-cyclists-safe-urban-warfare-wheels
I was just about to link to that article! I particularly like
Yes, a helmet might make you safer if you get knocked off. However, it might also, even marginally, increase the chance that this happens in the first place.
and
The lessons seem clear and worrying. For one thing, no matter which outfit was worn, a small percentage of drivers still overtook dangerously near, at a distance of 50cm or less. More than this, it seemed drivers were perfectly able to distinguish between different types of rider, and to read and absorb any message displayed. But rather than adjusting their driving to the perceived experience of the cyclist, it was only when faced with a threat to their own welfare – a police rider filming their actions – that many allowed a cyclist more space on the road. Most alarming still, some seemed to treat the mild attempt at deception of “polite” as a reason to almost punish the cyclist.
We need to address the root causes of cycle fatalities, and that is that cyclists are endangered by sharing space with motorised vehicles.3 -
Where I live (Australia) helmets for both motorcyclists and cyclists - even recreational, kids etc - are required by law. This has been the case as long as I can remember and I'm 35.
There is also a new local law which means cars need to allow 1m distance when passing a cyclist. She since the introduction of this law you can see, even as a driver, other cars giving space to bikes.
2
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.9K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.8K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.7K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 400 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.8K Motivation and Support
- 7.9K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.4K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 987 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.4K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions