johnnyz383 said:
I have fallen, broken bones had bad drivers hit me, etc but because i was wearing a helmet, i did not once get any kind of head injury.....
Lots of folks who don't wear protective hats have had the same experience. Our reflexes and instincts are very effective in protecting our heads.
your crazy not to be wearing one on an ebike or homemade bike.
Maybe your own e-bikes and homebuilt bikes are a menace to you, but not everyone's are. In any case, you're about three times more likely in North America to be killed by a car while walking than while riding a bicycle, per amount of exposure. Most people don't wear a helmet to walk (even in wet, icy, or steep conditions), so they should probably keep a certain perspective about it when they cycle. Or else they should helmet up to walk outdoors, shower, or climb stairs.
Bicycle helmets are not really about managing risk. They are more about creating perceived risk that isn't there, for the profits of helmet sellers and the egos of recreational cyclists alike. In fact, it's people wearing helmets to ride bicycles that has promoted the perception of cycling as a dangerous activity. It's really quite safe (even though it doesn't always feel that way), and people in places like Holland and Denmark know that because they actually ride a lot. You have to look around a while before you'll see someone wearing a helmet there, and when you do, it's usually part of a costume involving stretchy clothes and the logos of racing teams they don't belong to.
In the USA, most people don't cycle-- partly because they regard it as unusually risky. This is a self-fulfilling fantasy to some degree, both because it radically reduces the number of cyclists on the road, and because it lets drivers off the hook for their responsibility to mitigate the risks that they impose upon everybody else.
One of the best things you can do in North America to promote cycling safety is the same thing they do in the places where cycling is safer-- ride for transportation, in normal clothes and without protective gear, at a comfortable level of effort. The more normal people we have riding normally, the more others will see it as a viable option. Then we'll not only establish a greater presence on the road and in the minds of motorists, but we'll get more cycling infrastructure to make riding safer and more pleasant. It's happening right now in Austin and it can happen where you are, too.
E-bikes can definitely help with the "normal clothes" and "comfortable level of effort" elements, even if the way they look often works against the "normal people" angle.
face on him, when he popped that door I missed by 6 inches. Dumbass. So tempting to circle back, and give that fool a little lecture.
