docnjoj
1 GW
neptronix said:
I assume all drivers are unconcious when they are behind the wheel!
otherDoc
Helmets Part 1,489,348 - To Wear Or Not To Wear
- Thread starter knoxie
- Start date
I assume all drivers are unconcious when they are behind the wheel!
otherDoc
theRealFury
10 kW
Its funny i should read this by chance today. I have been riding bikes for 15 years and i have NEVER worn a helmet before. Never had an accident (and the only time i ever came off my bike was when i was stood still but had my trouser leg caught in the front chain run. 
Last week i baught some new batteries for my e'bike and yesterday realised that the batteries would make my ebike capable of 30+MPH. I sat and thought to myself, perhaps its time to think about an helmet as if anything did ever happen at 30+MPH, id be sure to need one when i landed. I dont even really know why i have never wanted to wear one which is funny, perhaps its as i hate wearing hats or anything else on my head for that matter. Well, you know what they say, the best time to change is before its too late. I think after reading this ill go pick one up from the bike shop at the weekend. I dont think i fancy the thought of big stone holes in my scalp :S
Last week i baught some new batteries for my e'bike and yesterday realised that the batteries would make my ebike capable of 30+MPH. I sat and thought to myself, perhaps its time to think about an helmet as if anything did ever happen at 30+MPH, id be sure to need one when i landed. I dont even really know why i have never wanted to wear one which is funny, perhaps its as i hate wearing hats or anything else on my head for that matter. Well, you know what they say, the best time to change is before its too late. I think after reading this ill go pick one up from the bike shop at the weekend. I dont think i fancy the thought of big stone holes in my scalp :S
Tincan
10 W
theRealFury said:Its funny i should read this by chance today. I have been riding bikes for 15 years and i have NEVER worn a helmet before. Never had an accident (and the only time i ever came off my bike was when i was stood still but had my trouser leg caught in the front chain run.
Last week i baught some new batteries for my e'bike and yesterday realised that the batteries would make my ebike capable of 30+MPH. I sat and thought to myself, perhaps its time to think about an helmet as if anything did ever happen at 30+MPH, id be sure to need one when i landed. I dont even really know why i have never wanted to wear one which is funny, perhaps its as i hate wearing hats or anything else on my head for that matter. Well, you know what they say, the best time to change is before its too late. I think after reading this ill go pick one up from the bike shop at the weekend. I dont think i fancy the thought of big stone holes in my scalp :S
Smart move, what I didn't add in there was, shit can happen.
A couple of months ago i was riding my electric scooter. I had just finished installing a nice bright HID headlight.
I turned on the HID and was in awe at the brightness!
What I was not expecting was the 20,000v from the HID balast confusing the motor controller into thinking i was on full throttle.
My brakes didnt stand a hope in hell of pulling it up at full song and i had a choice. Keep going, i was coming up to an intersection at a red light or try and take the left hand turn at 50k/h (and climbing fast).
I chose the corner.
The bike didn't stand a hope of taking it at that speed and as i turned, i layed the bike down and i, along with the bike continued head first into a concrete barrier.
I made the decision when i went Lipo and the lyen controller that a normal bike helmet will not suffice, so i always wore a full face motorbike helmet.
It save my life that day.
PS - to those that say "should have just turned it off", in the 4 / 5 seconds i did not even think about going for the keys, busy thinking of ways out and where the traffic was so i didn't get killed!
yopappamon
10 kW
I just registered a new max speed on my bike computer, 37.6 mph. I'm considering body armor too.
dogman dan
1 PW
Good idea above 30 mph to start wearing better helmets, and even armor. But even just the regular bike hemets are sure better than nada when you do go down. Ok, now others can start that, I never crash crap. Me, I know how I ride. I crash plenty, but mostly in dirt or nice soft rocks.
Man, that was quite an elbow. Amazing how damaging a slow fall can be if you hit just wrong. Icecube just had a bad one, and my double collarbone crash was only at 15 mph.
Man, that was quite an elbow. Amazing how damaging a slow fall can be if you hit just wrong. Icecube just had a bad one, and my double collarbone crash was only at 15 mph.
oldpiper
1 kW
yopappamon said:
At 37 mph, you might consider an old Beetle shell for your body armor. 8)
Cameron
Lock
100 MW
Another reason to wear a helmet:
Full article in the link...
Lock
Full article in the link...
Lock
Sheriff Jon
100 W
I always wear a Helmet (while riding a bike or a scooter) whether it is the law or not. I figure the contents of my head are worth protecting. And it just so happens that your head makes a great place to store your Helmet while riding :wink:
Gordo
100 kW
http://www.brainsofchina.com/Brains%20of%20China.htm
Kin
10 kW
So our rain drainage in parts of the town are made of a bunch of square horizontal grates [These are like man-hole covers, covering a sewage point. I believe they're so big because it rains a lot in new england and you want to be able to cope with a rapid inrush]
________________
________________
________________
________________
You drive "UP" over these horizontal lines. Water goes between the lines. Lines are thicker than represented.
Except a number of them were put back on by death-wishers, as so:
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I have some bicycle racer friends and go on rides with them occasionally. It's the no.2 important thing to avoid (besides cars) because you never expect them but if you hit one the race tire could easily enough go through and vault you at 24mph into the ground while wearing super thin polyyester.
________________
________________
________________
________________
You drive "UP" over these horizontal lines. Water goes between the lines. Lines are thicker than represented.
Except a number of them were put back on by death-wishers, as so:
||||||||
||||||||
||||||||
||||||||
I have some bicycle racer friends and go on rides with them occasionally. It's the no.2 important thing to avoid (besides cars) because you never expect them but if you hit one the race tire could easily enough go through and vault you at 24mph into the ground while wearing super thin polyyester.
Quick read about bike sharing and the perception and opinions regarding the cycling/helmet use debate.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/s...-helmets.html?pagewanted=2&ref=general&src=me
excerpt -
" But bicycling advocates say that the problem with pushing helmets isn’t practicality but that helmets make a basically safe activity seem really dangerous.
“The real benefits of bike-sharing in terms of health, transport and emissions derive from getting ordinary people to use it,” said Ceri Woolsgrove, safety officer at the European Cyclists’ Federation. “And if you say this is wonderful, but you have to wear armor, they won’t. These are normal human beings, not urban warriors.” "
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/s...-helmets.html?pagewanted=2&ref=general&src=me
excerpt -
" But bicycling advocates say that the problem with pushing helmets isn’t practicality but that helmets make a basically safe activity seem really dangerous.
“The real benefits of bike-sharing in terms of health, transport and emissions derive from getting ordinary people to use it,” said Ceri Woolsgrove, safety officer at the European Cyclists’ Federation. “And if you say this is wonderful, but you have to wear armor, they won’t. These are normal human beings, not urban warriors.” "
MattyCiii
100 kW
Great article, thanks for posting.
dogman dan
1 PW
Though you always see me explaining why I like to wear a helemt, it should never be pushed on anybody. It's a purely personal choice, not much different between looking at the weather and choosing a winter parka or a sweatshirt. You might choose the sweatshirt if your exposure will be short, but might like the parka better if you will be in the weather for hours that day.
I just like to ride closer to the edge between staying up and going down, and know I'll be more comfortable crashing wearing a helmet.
I don't think a helmet will save my life if I allow a car to cream me, so I retain full awareness to be sure I don't let that happen.
I'm not so sure I agree that bike riding needs to seem safer. I think a bike, moped, or even motorcycle better damn well be aware that those cars are hell bent on killing them. They are you know, so you better ride like you are in the crosshairs of a gun at all times. Driving in a car, you should be just as wary and aware btw.
I can't support the idea more to make biking safer with good bike lanes or trails rather than just say "wear a helmet and take your chances". I wouldn't ride as much as I have here in my town without the good bike routes and trails. Some of the local bike lanes are a joke though. A white stripe won't make me stupid enough to ride down Solano street. I ride a paralell street a block a way for sure.
I just like to ride closer to the edge between staying up and going down, and know I'll be more comfortable crashing wearing a helmet.
I don't think a helmet will save my life if I allow a car to cream me, so I retain full awareness to be sure I don't let that happen.
I'm not so sure I agree that bike riding needs to seem safer. I think a bike, moped, or even motorcycle better damn well be aware that those cars are hell bent on killing them. They are you know, so you better ride like you are in the crosshairs of a gun at all times. Driving in a car, you should be just as wary and aware btw.
I can't support the idea more to make biking safer with good bike lanes or trails rather than just say "wear a helmet and take your chances". I wouldn't ride as much as I have here in my town without the good bike routes and trails. Some of the local bike lanes are a joke though. A white stripe won't make me stupid enough to ride down Solano street. I ride a paralell street a block a way for sure.
arkmundi
10 MW
One can argue that laws are really social contracts we make with one another to preserve our collective sanity. In Massachusetts we now have mandatory health insurance, collective responsibility for everyone's health really. So yea, helmets. They are proven safety for bike riders. If someone riding a bike here without a helment gets seriously injured, we all pay for that.
I'm thinking body armor. With new light-weight composite methods, there's a growing market for custom made wearable armor. So why stop at head protection? Why not extend that over the vital ceter of the body?
I'm thinking body armor. With new light-weight composite methods, there's a growing market for custom made wearable armor. So why stop at head protection? Why not extend that over the vital ceter of the body?
10 kW
saw this on a Facebook posting a few days ago.
My comment was that I personally feel it is a rider's choice. If I routinely do over 25 mph I feel like I want a helmet. If I were putzing along on a Greenway at 10 mph with the kids, not so much.
I understand the "social contract" argument, but I feel like higher premiums are a price I am willing to pay for freedom to choose. I really don't like being hemmed in on all sides by personal safety laws or revenue generation laws. My favorite example (which actually occurs every year) is going fishing.
To go fishing with my son, I need two fishing licenses, boat registration, trailer license, car registration, proof of insurance, and a valid driver's license. Any one of these things takes a trivial amount of time, however, all of these official documents expire at different times of the year. Nearly every year, one or more of these are expired and I have to officially break the law to go fishing. Now you might correctly argue that if I walk to the nearest creek, I can fish with only a fishing license, but to me, that is not the point. I see the rationale for each of the documents but I also know that practically speaking, there is a reasonable chance I don't have all the papers I need at any given time of the year.
So for me, I'd prefer to pay higher premiums on insurance for the choice of wearing or not wearing a helmet or for wearing or not wearing a seatbelt. Implicitly, I understand that I am also making YOU pay higher premiums, but on the other hand, I don't feel I have the right to stop you from stuffing yourself full of burgers and fries until you are one fry short of a heart attack.
By the way, I always wear a helmet. Mostly because my wife would be very unhappy as a single mom with two kids in high school.
My comment was that I personally feel it is a rider's choice. If I routinely do over 25 mph I feel like I want a helmet. If I were putzing along on a Greenway at 10 mph with the kids, not so much.
I understand the "social contract" argument, but I feel like higher premiums are a price I am willing to pay for freedom to choose. I really don't like being hemmed in on all sides by personal safety laws or revenue generation laws. My favorite example (which actually occurs every year) is going fishing.
To go fishing with my son, I need two fishing licenses, boat registration, trailer license, car registration, proof of insurance, and a valid driver's license. Any one of these things takes a trivial amount of time, however, all of these official documents expire at different times of the year. Nearly every year, one or more of these are expired and I have to officially break the law to go fishing. Now you might correctly argue that if I walk to the nearest creek, I can fish with only a fishing license, but to me, that is not the point. I see the rationale for each of the documents but I also know that practically speaking, there is a reasonable chance I don't have all the papers I need at any given time of the year.
So for me, I'd prefer to pay higher premiums on insurance for the choice of wearing or not wearing a helmet or for wearing or not wearing a seatbelt. Implicitly, I understand that I am also making YOU pay higher premiums, but on the other hand, I don't feel I have the right to stop you from stuffing yourself full of burgers and fries until you are one fry short of a heart attack.
By the way, I always wear a helmet. Mostly because my wife would be very unhappy as a single mom with two kids in high school.
Electroglide
100 mW
pdf said:
In a private health care society like the USA, that really only means that clients using your particular vendor for health insurance will be paying higher fees provided they have a large base of clients that ride without helmets and get into life threatening accidents frequently. In reality, if you were to be in a severe accident, likely your policy would be cancelled or not renewed once you were deem to be a profit loss for the health insurance corporation that was paying for your health care, and it would not impact the others too much. In other countries with public health care systems, I think that the individual has to consider the cost as it applies to everyone, rather then a subset of the population. You sometimes have to give up certain small personal liberties to enjoy a collective benefit for society.
cal3thousand
10 MW
OK! Let's ditch the helmets and not address the real reason that people wear helmets. Biking, in and of itself, is not a dangerous activity. Cars (and the often absent minded drivers that may be in any random one) mixed with anything, including other cars, is where the danger lies.
In California, you only need to get 80% of the written test right and still get your license. That basically means you only need to understand 4 out of 5 laws to be licensed to drive. What about the other 20%? who cares? I want a test where you need to score 95%
In California, you only need to get 80% of the written test right and still get your license. That basically means you only need to understand 4 out of 5 laws to be licensed to drive. What about the other 20%? who cares? I want a test where you need to score 95%
wheelbender6
100 W
When I clip into my SPD pedals, I wear a helmet. With flat pedals, I leave the helmet at home if I am not using electric or gas assist.
dogman dan
1 PW
The catch 22 is that for most people, they aren't riding in a way that would make a helmet needed. I do ride that way, but they don't, as you say putzing along on a greenway. But wearing a helmet is not going to make a car hitting you ok. A helmet law won't make getting hit by a car OK!
What's needed for bike transportation to really get popular here is good safe routes to ride. They've really tried hard here in my town to create that, but even just crossing a street on a crosswalk is so dangerous it's stupid. A car would try to hit me every single day thinking they had the right of way to turn right over the crosswalk, while the crosswalk light is green. The lights should be set to not allow any cars to move while the crosswalk is in use. Now I have learned to get off the bike trail, and take a lane in the street to get across that stoplight, then I get back on the bike trail. That particular intersection is a choke point for car traffic trying to use an underpass to cross under the interstate. Always a long line of frustrated cars waitng there for thier turn to go. Only a bike trail overpass there will make that 50 feet of bike trail safe. But changing the lights timing would help some.
My point is, few will put up with crap like that, a car trying to hit them every single day, to ride a bike to work. Only the dirt poor, and kooks like me will do it. It's not a problem that bike riding seems more dangerous than it is, the problem is, it really IS dangerous unless you have the awareness of a wolf every second you ride. The danger is the same, for bike, moped, or even motorcycles. They don't see you, or think you have to wait for them.
What's needed for bike transportation to really get popular here is good safe routes to ride. They've really tried hard here in my town to create that, but even just crossing a street on a crosswalk is so dangerous it's stupid. A car would try to hit me every single day thinking they had the right of way to turn right over the crosswalk, while the crosswalk light is green. The lights should be set to not allow any cars to move while the crosswalk is in use. Now I have learned to get off the bike trail, and take a lane in the street to get across that stoplight, then I get back on the bike trail. That particular intersection is a choke point for car traffic trying to use an underpass to cross under the interstate. Always a long line of frustrated cars waitng there for thier turn to go. Only a bike trail overpass there will make that 50 feet of bike trail safe. But changing the lights timing would help some.
My point is, few will put up with crap like that, a car trying to hit them every single day, to ride a bike to work. Only the dirt poor, and kooks like me will do it. It's not a problem that bike riding seems more dangerous than it is, the problem is, it really IS dangerous unless you have the awareness of a wolf every second you ride. The danger is the same, for bike, moped, or even motorcycles. They don't see you, or think you have to wait for them.
Completely agree. Though, there are inherit differences depending on your location though, and specifically how cycling (whether very casually and slow in speed or with intent to get somewhere quickly) fits within the environment of the streets where you ride. Trying to travel on a bike through a highway underpass with on and off ramps and a bunch of pissed off drivers mad because of sitting in traffic for an hour is a perfect example of a very unfriendly environment for a cyclist. The opposite environment spectrum being a nice and quiet country town or college town whose drivers respect and share the road with cyclists.
In the article, they mention the fact that many in Scandinavian countries locals don't bother with a helmet and see it as an unnecessary accessory. This might be true in Sweden but Swedish cyclists don't have to deal with NYC cab drivers. Also, many Swedish drivers are themselves cyclists or are neighbors with one and respect riders when they interact on the roadway. Unfortunately, not everyone gets to cycle in Finland and Sweden.
Do helmets make your head sweat and mess up your sweet doo that you worked on all morning? Yes. Should wearing helmets be mandatory? No. But at the end of a unlucky day, wearing a helmet can be the difference between picking your bruised and beat up body off the ground and having someone feed you baby food for the rest of your life.
Even nice quiet country towns in a region of a US that prides itself on cycling and cycling safety can be a bit hateful towards biking-
http://youtu.be/xFM5QiAd3QA
http://youtu.be/xFM5QiAd3QA
The fingers
10 TW
He'll probably get a slap on the wrist. 
greenmountainski
100 mW
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2012
- Messages
- 42
My commute everyday consists of a 45 MPH, 12 mile total commute, plus some, everyday. I DO NOT WEAR A HELMET.
WHY?
because there is nobody on the road when I go to work.
What happens when I wear a helmet?
I. Get. Cocky.......
WHY?
because there is nobody on the road when I go to work.
What happens when I wear a helmet?
I. Get. Cocky.......
Ykick
1 GW
I got a tactical helmet video cam from an ES member in trade. Been using it everyday for a week or so stuck on the side of my helmet and can't miss it. I gotta say that drivers and also pedestrians seem to be a little more careful when they see me. I suppose the fact you got their stupid asses on video if/when they do something dangerous makes for a bit more respect?
It was crazy during UN Council recently. Gridlock out the yen-yang!
It was crazy during UN Council recently. Gridlock out the yen-yang!
biohazardman
100 kW
Well, having crashed pretty good at near 25 mph I am a definitely believer in helmet use. I would have had another head injury for sure don't need more of those. Agency and personal choice rate at the top of my list but where much is given much is expected. To think that you own yourself and that it matters not whether you are injured or dead to those around you is very selfish thought. Got a spouse, children, family, friends or others that depend on you financially, physically or emotionally? You hurt them when you are injured/killed. That does not mean you stop doing everything you love but it does mean you think about what you are doing and take the safety measures you can to see that you continue to be of service to those that count on you which are often far more than you realize.
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