Helmets Part 1,489,348 - To Wear Or Not To Wear

[FMB42]

I, with very few exceptions, always wore a helmet during my 2 decades of "everyday" motorcycle riding. Helmet usage has also been a very regular part of my MT and road bike riding. These days I just don't seem to feel "comfortable" unless I'm wearing a helmet.

However, I think that helmets can, in some cases, give an exaggerated sense of protection to those that wear them. This "phenomenon" was also said to be apparent when air bags and anti-lock brakes were first introduced in the automotive industry some decades ago.

Having said all this, helmets should only be mandatory for riders under the age of 18 IMO.

 

[docnjoj]

When I was flipped off my old trike I must have hit my head since the helmet outer shell was shattered. I had 6 broken ribs but no head or neck injury. I always wear a helmet.
otherDoc

 

[katou]

Evolution built us so that when we are born, we are equipped to survive collision with most blunt objects up to running speed.

If you go faster than that, you might need something more than what you were born with.

I go faster on my bike than my max sprint speed almost all the time. So, I wear a helmet.

YMMV,

Katou

 

[Uncle Ron]

If we look to the Dutch, we'll see they don't have helmet laws. In large cities like Copenhagen, almost half the city commutes by bike. Yet the rate of head trauma for cyclists is less than that of America. Why? Because they ride safe cruiser bikes. Not only do these slow bikes have big cushy tires, but an upright seating position that makes it hard to fall off. A road bike, with it's skinny tires, high center of gravity, and flat back posture is dangerous compared to these bikes. Also the cycling infrastructure and education in that country is superb.
Notice no one is wearing helmets? But also notice how they are separated from traffic, and they travel very slowly.

Now, helmet laws would hurt the cyclists in these situations. Yes. But for ebikers and people riding bikes for sport, a helmet really should be a no brainer.
It gets annoying when people discuss helmet laws with out context. Yes they keep people from commuting by bike, but don't use that argument to justify riding a DIY bicycle at 30mph with out a helmet.

On a personal note, a friend of mine has a narcolepsy from a fall off a road bike. I wish people would stop suggesting vintage road bikes as a good choice for commuters. They're unsafe on cracked, pot holed roads. Especially when loaded with school books or groceries. I wish I could've told her to throw some slicks on a old mountain bike.

auraslip,

Good points here and the "no brainer" is just that. To add one point to your argument, there is no big city in America remotely like Copenhagen or other European and Asian cities where bikes of whatever sort are such a huge part of the culture. That means that drivers of automobiles in America aren't used to dealing with packs of bikes on the road, nor do we have as many ways of separating the bikes from the cars as others do. Thus we are at greater risk in our culture than theirs and added head protection is more of a must. To some degree you can protect yourself from your own stupidity, but you are at the mercy of the stupidity of others.

 

[John in CR]

Worshipers at the Altar of Helmet, aka fear spreaders, always drag out the same tired arguments, and always without regard to the simple fact that wearing a helmet increases the odds of getting into an accident. By now they should be able to trumpet meaningful statistics that clearly demonstrate an increase public safety, but they can't. They don't exist because it isn't true.

Those of us who argue for freedom of choice wrt helmets freely concede that there are cycling activities for which helmet use should be encouraged, but that doesn't include 100% of cycling. We are capable of deciding when is appropriate for ourselves.

What really got me in the OP's video is that just the push for wearing helmets, even without mandating them, is detrimental to the public good by reducing ridership. That alone should be enough for the helmet pushers to zip their lips on the subject once and for all. If you really want to increase ebike safety, push for a longer wheelbase and lower COG, and brake lights and turn signals, things that have a real effect without hurting the cause.

Maybe all this talk about cycling being so dangerous stateside is just the result of the sale of fear to sell products. I feel quite safe riding on worse roads, with less cycling infrastructure, at much higher speeds than most ebikers, with no helmet over 90% of the time. I think the difference is mostly just perception resulting from the fear they've been sold as a means of control.

 

[x88x]

IDK about the "fear spreading" or them increasing the likelihood of an accident, and tbh I couldn't care less. Neither affects my decisions, and I think everyone should have the right to make their own decision. I don't wear a helmet on my bicycle, but I fully intend to on the ebike I'm planning, and I don't use my motorcycle without a helmet, protective jacket, and gloves. My general rule of thumb is that if I'm traveling at a higher speed than I can propel myself on a level surface, I want a helmet. In Maryland, helmets are required for bicycle riders under 18 and any motorcycle riders. I'd rather be a little more likely to have an accident and a lot less likely to have permanent damage as a result of it. Bodily damage always trumps property damage, imo.

 

[blueb0ttle2]

I cycle (and e-cycle) with a helmet because I'm a safety freak. Remember that kid that squeeled on you for bringing matches to school? That would be me.
I have mixed feelings on the subject of helmets, though. I think that guy had many good points, and I would argue that wearing a helmet beyond the age of 18 should be a choice. It also really depends how cycle-friendly your community is. The main risk to cyclists, as far as I can tell, is motorists. And if you are in the Southern US like I am, the truck and SUV rule supreme, and woe unto those who question them
My town isn't that bad since its a university town, but I nearly get hit on a regular basis. As for the Netherlands or Denmark, cycling is so common that I don't see why they need to worry about the matter. Motorists are more aware of the cyclists' existence, so cyclists don't have to be so worried about soccer-moms on their cell-phones driving small tanks like I do.
Also, its important for cyclists to hold their end of the bargain and be safety conscious too. All to many students in my university zig-zag and dart around like nobody's there, and so motorists get the impression that cyclists are all irresponsible, (although most motorists I see are no better IMHO). So I am courteous, I signal, and I smile at people when they yield to me like they should. Everybody's happy, until that Frat Rat in an Alpha Romeo nearly flattens me.

 

[auraslip]

the push for wearing helmets, even without mandating them, is detrimental to the public good by reducing ridership. That alone should be enough for the helmet pushers to zip their lips on the subject once and for all.

I agree %100, but we ride experimental home built bikes. Bicycles aren't made for sustain speeds of 30mph loaded with 50 lbs of gear.

If you want to talk statistics; there is already a few here who were undoubtedly saved by helmets. How many of those accidents were caused by wearing helmets? 0. How many lives saved? Dogmans, LFPs, Docnjojs, Jermery Harris, and that's just the posts the topic review will let me see right now.

Shit, I fell off my bike going NO miles per hour when I was drunk. Face first into a plastic trash can. It knocked me out and cut me up. I had scars and head aches for weeks. I shudder thinking; what if it was concrete? I'd of probably froze to death ; unconscious in the cold. What a horrible way to die.

That being said I will never tell casual *bicycle riders* that they should wear a helmet.

 

[Jeremy Harris]

If you want to talk statistics; there is already a few here who were undoubtedly saved by helmets. How many of those accidents were caused by wearing helmets? 0. How many lives saved? Dogmans, LFPs, Docnjojs, Jermery Harris, and that's just the posts the topic review will let me see right now.

I'd only qualify that by saying that of the two serious motorcycle accidents I've had, in one my helmet didn't touch a thing (I just got a broken arm and masses of cuts and grazes from only wearing a T shirt and having no gloves) and the other was a 60mph plus impact with a road sign, having hit a car a glancing blow first (my fault). It was the latter where the helmet got smashed up, I'm pretty sure it hit the top of the 'Stop' sign on the opposite side of the junction I ran (while drunk...............).

That being said I will never tell casual *bicycle riders* that they should wear a helmet.

That's my view too. Educate people so they understand all the risks, not just the risks of injury from not wearing a helmet, but also the risks they take by wearing one (the lessening of the feeling of vulnerability by wearing protective gear poses risks to the rider, for example, plus some designs reduce the ability to hear traffic coming), provide solid information on the effectiveness or otherwise of safety equipment and then let people make their own choices as to whether they use it or not.

Years ago I was asked to advise a friend who was planning a long flight over the Atlantic in an ultralight. He couldn't carry a dinghy, so I gave him advice on survival kit, immersion suits, lifejackets and suitable underclothing. He tried all this kit out, then decided not to wear any of it. His reasoning was simple. The kit would increase the time he stayed alive in cold water for a few hours, probably not long enough for him to be rescued, so all it'd do was give him more time to contemplate death. The kit was also a bit cumbersome and he concluded that it was likely to increase the chance of an accident by increasingly his fatigue level and decreasing his mobility. He made a choice that the safety fanatics couldn't get their heads around, but to my mind it was perfectly rational. BTW, he also put out a "do not rescue me" notice before he set off, I believe, as he didn't want to endanger anyone else who might try and rescue him in a pretty hostile environment.

Jeremy

 

[Lessss]

Advocacy & Safety - Walking more dangerous than cycling

http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-167912.html

"Pedalcyclists accounted for 13 percent of all nonmotorist traffic
fatalities in 2004. Pedestrians accounted for 84 percent, and the remaining
2 percent were skateboard riders, roller skaters, etc."

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/ncsa/TSF2004/809912.pdf

There is also some evidence that motorists drive closer to helmet-wearing cyclist, which is an unintended, and unfortunate, consequence of bicycle helmets.

Around 33,000 people die in car crashes in the U.S. each year.
About 1 in 41 is a bicyclist.

 

[jonescg]

He made a choice that the safety fanatics couldn't get their heads around, but to my mind it was perfectly rational. BTW, he also put out a "do not rescue me" notice before he set off, I believe, as he didn't want to endanger anyone else who might try and rescue him in a pretty hostile environment.

Jeremy

That's really cool! Did he make it OK?

 

[adrian_sm]

Does this mean that bicycle helmets make you safe? No, in fact the guy in the film is right, it doesn't.

Now, before all the howls of anguish start up, I will say right out that anything that protects your head from damage is a good idea. I am not anti-helmet use, if that's what people choose to do. What I would like to try and bring in to the discussion is a bit of balance. Right at the start of that video the guy mentioned fear and risk. These are really, really important factors.

.....

In modern life this "personal acceptable level of risk" shows in different ways to when we were living in less civilised times, when the environment, attack from predators, or other humans, was an everyday threat. A good example is driving a car. Most of us will have an open road cruising speed that we feel comfortable with. What we're subconsciously doing is driving at a speed where we're happy to accept the risk of losing control, collision or whatever. Some of us will drive faster than others, because we have a fair variation in that "personal acceptable level of risk" from one individual to another. .......

OK, so what's this got to do with wearing a bike helmet? The answer is a rather bizarre phenomenon called risk compensation. In its basic form this tends to make us want to maintain the "personal acceptable level of risk" at a personal set point for the activity we're engaged in. One odd side effect of this is that if you make the perception of risk lower, you change behaviour to increase risk-taking and bring the "personal acceptable level of risk" back to its set point. ......... As we've gone on to add more and more safety systems to cars, pedestrian and other road user injuries have continued to climb.

I totally agree with this principle. But my conclusions are quite different. This actually convinces me to wear a helmet, as the major concern I have riding on the roads is not the level of danger I intentionally put myself into, but the level of danger others are putting me in by their driving style. I wear a helmet to protect me from risks that are not mainly in my control, i.e. these drivers with the increased risk-taking behaviour.

Most urban cyclists around the world travel at speeds little different to a jogger, so logic suggests that if we are going to mandate the wearing of helmets it should just be for cyclists, but for joggers and runners too.

Where I live, and the type of riding I do you are on the roads with cars. So the level of risk is very different to a jogger on the footpath.
So your statement may be suitable for those that mainly ride on dedicate bike lanes, seperated from larger vehcile traffic. But as a broad statement I find this quite concerning.

Everyone just be realistic about the danger of the environment you are riding in, and be aware that the danger that you need to protect yourself from may not be your self inflicted over powered ebike speeds or riding style, but the distracted driver of a 2 tonne vehicle you can't avoid.

Stay safe, for your family and loved ones if not for yourself.

- Adrian

 

[Jeremy Harris]

He made a choice that the safety fanatics couldn't get their heads around, but to my mind it was perfectly rational. BTW, he also put out a "do not rescue me" notice before he set off, I believe, as he didn't want to endanger anyone else who might try and rescue him in a pretty hostile environment.

Jeremy

That's really cool! Did he make it OK?

No, as it happens the authorities did all they could to stop him, driving him to try and take off from a very remote strip well away from prying eyes (or state control....). It has to be said that some of the state intervention was due to the chaps own stubbornness, IMHO, particularly when it came to complying with their paperwork demands. He crashed on take off (but wasn't badly hurt), probably due to the very heavy fuel load he was carrying (something like 400 litres IIRC) and the less than perfect weather.

 

[Jeremy Harris]

Most urban cyclists around the world travel at speeds little different to a jogger, so logic suggests that if we are going to mandate the wearing of helmets it shouldn't just be for cyclists, but for joggers and runners too.

Where I live, and the type of riding I do you are on the roads with cars. So the level of risk is very different to a jogger on the footpath.
So your statement may be suitable for those that mainly ride on dedicate bike lanes, seperated from larger vehcile traffic. But as a broad statement I find this quite concerning.

I don't disagree with you, but suggest that free and well-informed choice should prevail. In many of the most populous cities in the world bicycles dominate over other forms of transport. Even some Western cities have such a well established bike culture that the risks to riders are fairly low.

It's easy to assume that everywhere is like some of the car-dominated environments in some (mainly Western) cities, but the reality is that cycling is a far more diverse activity across the globe. I can ride for miles around the area where I live, on normal roads, and not be at serious risk from cars. Traffic generally has to travel fairly slowly on the lanes in my area, and there are probably as many pedestrians, horse riders and cyclists around as there are cars most of the time. Consequently I view the risk of not wearing a helmet as pretty low, based on my modest speed and the low probability of an accident. If I were regularly cycling in somewhere like the centre of London I'd probably choose to wear a helmet, as my risk assessment would change and swing the balance in favour of one. Out in the country I want to be able to hear clearly and actually want to feel slightly vulnerable, as it'll help me ride more safely.

There was a typo in my quote, BTW, it should have read "shouldn't just be for cyclists". I've corrected it above. FWIW, I hit a jogger with my old Prius a few years ago and nearly killed him. The accident was entirely his fault, as I was driving in the outside lane of a dual carriageway when he ran out straight in front of me. It has a bearing to this debate, as the jogger in question was listening to an iPod at the time. He chose to run alongside a busy dual carriageway (divided highway/freeway in US speak) and then cross the road without looking properly. His hearing was impaired by wearing headphones and the relatively quiet Prius didn't help, but the result was a near-death experience for him, a severe shock for me and around £7,000 ($10,500) damage to my car (it was nearly written off, as the front of the roof panel at the top edge of the windscreen was bent down to my shoulder level inside the car). In his case, the isolation from his environment that listening to the iPod gave him was enough to seriously reduce his situational awareness and probably lull him into thinking he was safer than he really was. The same thing happens to some degree when wearing protective clothing, or even when strapping into a full harness in a car.

Jeremy

 

[dogman dan]

Where's my helmet? The one I crushed two years ago? I just chucked it. Now I'd photograph it etc etc. At the time I was just a casual reader of ES, and became addicted to the forum during the summer I spent recovering from that crash. The helmet began life about 5/8 " thick, and after the crash had a dent in the side that was shaped like a street curb. The smashed in side was now about 1/4 thick, and located exactly on my temple. I never even got a headache from an impact that typically ends in a DOA.

I have no illusions that the bike helmet would do me much good if an SUV smacks me down. Maybe I get lucky like the jogger, maybe not. Rule 1 is no car EVER passes me from behind that I didn't eyeball. With low enough traffic on the route I choose, it's possible. For others, impossible.

But I've proven time and time again that I will crash. I try to do a boring slow ride on the commute so I can relax instead of being tense for two hours a day but stuff happens when you least expect it. On the fun bikes though, I ride like the devil and expect at least one laydown a day on the dirt bikes. Try to keep over the bars a LOT less. 8) Any less would be riding like a pussy. I'm really good at crashing, and rarely ever shed skin let alone knock my head. But I like to have that helmet and gloves on for sure.

 

[Dingo2024]

is this another reason why most choose to build an ebike and not an e motorcycle.......so at least we can choose to / not to wear a helmet (also insurance, license legislation etc...)?..it most certainly was for me

although I do wear a helmet everytime I ride my ebike :wink:

Ian

 

[auraslip]

but also the risks they take by wearing one (the lessening of the feeling of vulnerability by wearing protective gear poses risks to the rider, for example, plus some designs reduce the ability to hear traffic coming)

I just got my first full face motorcycle helmet yesterday. This sums it up exactly. I feel like I'm playing a video game. Definitely feel safer, which is a bad thing imho.

One thing I was surprised by was my top speed seemed to increase slightly.....I guess a helmet is more areo than my face and all that hair. Maybe I'm just imagining that though...

 

[MadRhino]

I guess a helmet is more areo than my face and all that hair. Maybe I'm just imagining that though...

You forgot to mention your ears
Flaps are well known to brake in air flow.

 

[MitchJi]

Hi,

Some of his reasons are irrelevant but he makes some good points:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/12/why-we-should-not-wear-bike-helmets.php

Mikael-Copenhagenize-Why We Should NOT Wear Bike Helmets

Mikael Colville-Anderson is as entertaining in video as he is at Copenhagenize.com. He explains in this TED talk why he thinks bicycle helmets promote a culture of fear, that pedestrians and drivers have far higher rates of head injuries but nobody tells them to wear helmets, and that cycle helmets are a conspiracy by the auto makers to scare people off bikes and into cars.

[youtube]8AwLg32ZMqA[/youtube]

Shorter (edited version):
[youtube]jS9UhHf7GsQ[/youtube]

Mikael notes that we really have carried the bubble-wrapping of our kids too far, to the point that you can even outfit them with Thudguards, to protect your kids "in a world of hard surfaces." Here he has a point. He also makes some controversial claims, such as that there is "a 14% greater chance of getting into an accident when you are wearing a helmet." (The bicycle helmet safety institute disagrees).

I have personally been the target of Mikael's ire for a post I wrote about bike activist Matthew Modine not wearing a helmet. After the Matthew Modine takedown I spent some time looking at much of the research that Elly Blue alludes to in her Grist post on the Helmet Wars and have come to the conclusion that Mikael was mostly right.
http://www.grist.org/article/2010-1...ing-account-of-the-great-bicycle-helmet-campa

If we want people to use their bikes in cities then it has to be second nature, part of life. People who ride bikes are healthier than people who don't, there is safety in numbers for cyclists, so anything that discourages them is counterproductive, and nobody is going to cycle if they feel they have to dress up like a Christmas tree to be safe. (see Do Bicycle Helmet Laws Do More Harm Than Good?)
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/04/bike-helmets-helmet-laws.php

Cyclists are killed primarily by cars and trucks, yet the common North American attitude, as espoused by Toronto's new mayor, is that they bring it upon themselves by being on the road. The helmet wars are a diversion from the real problem: Lousy bike infrastructure putting cyclists in the same space as lousy drivers who get away with murder.

50,000 Americans are shot every year, yet you don't see campaigns to put the entire population into bulletproof vests. You don't blame the victim. Why are cyclists any different?

 

[Miles]

http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=340744#p340744 :wink:

 

[Thud]

Thudgards.......that made me laugh!

 

[Gordo]

The logic, if there is any, totally escapes me? Yes, cars and trucks kill cyclists. Yes, cars and bikes are in the same space. The end result is it only takes a little knock on the noggin to be killed or TFU. I am here after a 40 mph head on collision with a car. This is because of a very good helmet. How can I agree with not wearing a helmet and being dead? No matter how healthy my well exercised body is, dead is dead. Healthy live person seems a better deal than being a dead body?
What am I missing?

 

[Ypedal]

i think the point is that without a helmet you migth not be willing to risk going 40mph and would keep the speeds to what you feel is safe, in the process decrease the likelyhood of an accident..

Painted turds imo... I ride fast.. and i wear my helmet ! :wink:

 

[spinningmagnets]

Wearing a helmet isn't "blaming the victim" in my humble opinion. The 50,000 people you mention who are shot every year, are usually someone who had a gun purposefully pointed at them and the trigger pulled. Very few cars purposefully aim to hit a bike.

The majority of cars who hit a cyclist are looking for a car, and their brains simply don't register a bike until its too late. Either that or they're texting or on their cell-phone while driving. I agree about the lack of proper bike infrastructure. If I couldnt find my helmet, I'd definitely take a less-driven road out of caution. The drivers around here are nuts.

If there were a comprehensive trail system covering my entire city, I would not be hugely concerned about if I forgot my helmet when I'm on a bike path. I probably still should be, but I'm not. For me, my helmet all about the cars.

 

[John in CR]

I see that the helmet preacher are out again. Colville-Anderson's argument wins on merit by the simple fact that mandated helmet use and even just campaigns pushing helmet use discourage bike ridership, and that decreases public health and safety overall.

To add fuel to the fire, there are no statistics proving that bike helmets do in fact make cyclists safer overall. There's a simple reason for that...They don't. That's not to say that in the event of a crash that a bike helmet doesn't improve your odds, because it's quite logical that they would, but it ignores that helmets must increase the chance of a crash. This too is logical, because feeling safer leads to less safe operation.

The bottom line is that someone is making money off of this safety equipment. If they had statistics that indisputably proved it made the public safer, of course they would use them as a great form of advertising. Do you honestly believe the data is inadequate and they can't dig up the numbers, or that they haven't tried to find them? There's too much money at stake, so it's only logical that they tried to find them, but the numbers don't exist. Sure there are activities where it would be stupid not to wear a helmet, because the crash incidence is high, but they are the exception not the rule.

If people want to wear helmets, fine, I wear one too sometimes, which is when I feel one is warranted. If people don't want to wear helmets, that's fine too, I usually don't wear one. Those who want to tell others what to do, I say a big F U. To those who feel a helmet saved their life, I suggest a pause to consider the possibility in their specific instance that maybe feeling more exposed without a helmet on, that they would have been riding differently or paying closer attention, and avoided the accident all together.

If you still insist on preaching at the altar of helmet, then why don't you preach that people put a helmet on before getting out of bed? Walking around the house or outside on the sidewalk result in far more deadly accidents than biking? Isn't your goal to save the most lives?