Helmets Work!!!!!

[heebeegeetee]

IroningMan said:

'Walking' feels safe, 'cycling' doesn't. Hmm. I think it may be a mistake to regard walking, cycling and, for that matter, driving, as homogeneous activities.

If your 'walking' involves habitually climbing slopes of 45 degrees or more among loose rocks, or crossing the road without looking for traffic, then maybe your risk of head injury per billion km is some way removed from the average cited by the statistics and some form of protective headgear is advisable?

No-one is questioning that. Sadly it seems in the UK people simply aren't interested in separating the people who were possibly always wearing helmets anyway, from those whose cycling is supposedly as normal an activity as walking.

Unfortunately it might be that ordinary, utility cycling is the UK will not be perceived as the safe activity as it actually is, but rather as a dangerous activity 'because mountainbike'.

And whats worse about that imo is that those with a 'because roadtax' mentality will claim a 'because not wearing helmet' get-out after flattening a cyclist with their car or lorry (though won't do the same having flattened a pedestrian).

[Hugo a Gogo]

IroningMan said:

I've come off my bike four times in the past twelve months.

yes, if you do the sort of 'dangerous' cycling where you fall of that often, you should probably wear a helmet

I, on the other hand, have fallen off once in the last 15 years, and didn't hit my head.
so I'm not bothering

[anonymous-user]

heebeegeetee said:

The problem is that this ^^^ figure is highly mis-representative. It shows the percentage of head injuries by cause, without dividing that figure by the number of people involved in that cause.

Everybody walks somewhere at some point in the day. Only a few (relatively speaking) cycle somewhere. Then you get to the issue of what demographic is responsible for the injuries. ie i'm going to suggest that a large number of the "walking" head injuries will come from either the very young or the very old demographic (demographics where falling is much more common)


The simple fact is that the faster you move relative to something else, the higher the chance of hitting that other object with enough force to hurt yourself. Added to which, for most people, when they fall they will manage to get a hand, or leg out to take the brunt of the impact. However, even a minor fall from a bike can result in a head impact because people tend to forget to let go of the handlebars! (sounds mad, but watch vids of people falling off bikes, it's amazing how many just freeze and just headbut the floor!)

[StarmistBlue400]

Max_Torque said:

The problem is that this ^^^ figure is highly mis-representative. It shows the percentage of head injuries by cause, without dividing that figure by the number of people involved in that cause.

Everybody walks somewhere at some point in the day. Only a few (relatively speaking) cycle somewhere. Then you get to the issue of what demographic is responsible for the injuries. ie i'm going to suggest that a large number of the "walking" head injuries will come from either the very young or the very old demographic (demographics where falling is much more common)


The simple fact is that the faster you move relative to something else, the higher the chance of hitting that other object with enough force to hurt yourself. Added to which, for most people, when they fall they will manage to get a hand, or leg out to take the brunt of the impact. However, even a minor fall from a bike can result in a head impact because people tend to forget to let go of the handlebars! (sounds mad, but watch vids of people falling off bikes, it's amazing how many just freeze and just headbut the floor!)

This is so true. a few years back I hit a pot hole that was full of water climbing at around 8mph. Went straight over the handle bars and landed on my head then shoulder because I didn't let go of the bike. Maybe I wanted to protect the bike more than my head.

As it happens the helmet cracked and I have no doubt it saved me from a fractured skull and a massive injury. Still get neck and shoulder problems as a result. fking council

[Hugo a Gogo]

Max_Torque said:

The problem is that this ^^^ figure is highly mis-representative. It shows the percentage of head injuries by cause, without dividing that figure by the number of people involved in that cause.

Everybody walks somewhere at some point in the day. Only a few (relatively speaking) cycle somewhere. Then you get to the issue of what demographic is responsible for the injuries. ie i'm going to suggest that a large number of the "walking" head injuries will come from either the very young or the very old demographic (demographics where falling is much more common)


The simple fact is that the faster you move relative to something else, the higher the chance of hitting that other object with enough force to hurt yourself. Added to which, for most people, when they fall they will manage to get a hand, or leg out to take the brunt of the impact. However, even a minor fall from a bike can result in a head impact because people tend to forget to let go of the handlebars! (sounds mad, but watch vids of people falling off bikes, it's amazing how many just freeze and just headbut the floor!)

most people hit their heads on the ground, then the forward speed doesn't make any difference (honest!), just the height (unless you get to the sort of high speed, like moto GP riders, where you may roll and bounce and windmill a lot, banging your head repeatedly - in which case, slow down ffs)

[anonymous-user]

Ride like a nutter in the woods etc - helmet
Ride like a normal person to the shops / station - no helmet
50+ years of non-sport cycling. No helmet. I'm still here.
I do more dangerous things than riding a bike to the coop with no helmet ...