Remember kids... always wear a helmet. (The almighty bikeradar helmet thread)

^this
and they do nothing to reduce the source of danger either

that is utter utter bollocks. People are turned off helmets because they look stupid and give you bad hair when you get to work, it has nothing to do with implied safety or otherwise.

I agree that this is a stupid thread though, either people will or they won't. At my most rational I can't see any good argument for NOT wearing a helmet - just on the off chance it will save you.. but I still ride without one most days when commuting.

Human beings are irrational and also entitled to asses their own risks - deciding whether or not to wear a foam hat accordingly.

Thread ends, credits roll.

F I N

well - that's kind of a given isn't it? :)

Although I actually think my helmet is quite cool, but I paid loadsa money for it so I'm probably just telling myself that so that I don't cry when I look at the receipt from Condor.

You missed that helmets are not cool, but apart from that I kinda agree.

The only reason helmets are seen as uncool is because they're simply a substitute for having a large sign stuck to your face that says "look at me I'm irrational"

^ you're a retard

That's because I fell off my bike and hit my head.

lol - nice comeback

YouTube - Remember "Police stops bicyclist - WTF???" - here's the full version

apologies if this is a pea i must confess to having read little of this thread recently.

Didn't look allll the way through post but:
http://road.cc/content/news/25931-swedish-company-unveils-airbag-cycle-helmet-video

has this been posted anywhere yet?

^ been on before, useless really.

I thought this was pretty cool
http://www.bikehub.co.uk/featured-articles/safe-cycling-for-kids-but-not-wrapped-in-cotton-wool/

especially the bit about cutting down trees in case children tried to climb them and were injured.

You missed that helmets are not cool, but apart from that I kinda agree.

I'm still waiting for people to brave wearing Casco Warp's (most definately cool) on their commutes so I can live out my Battle of the Planets fantasies guit free.

The way I see it, youre going up a road, suddenly a car pulls out infront of you without looking, you break, but the momentum plunges your front wheel into the side of the car and you flip over the bonnet.

Now, as you fly through the air, there's 2 possibilities; Possibility 1 is that you will land on your head, possibility 2 is that you manage to land on your back. Possibility 3 is that you are a ninja and will land back on your feet and catch the bike; this case we will ignore.

If you land on your head, your skull will absorb the impact, whilst your neck, the shock. Now think about what will happen to your skull. As you are thinking about it, remember the bicycle helmet is designed to splinter into many pieces as it absorbs the shock. In the end, would you rather have your skull splinter into pieces, or your helmet?

Last of all, the helmet will not absorb ALL of the impact, would be stupid to assume that, granted. It might not even save your life, granted. However, if the helmet can absorb even 50% of the impact, that could mean the difference between getting hit over the head with a sledgehammer or a wooden mallet. Sure, in either case youre going to be f**ked, but at least in the latter case youll be alive with most of your brain/head intact.

Ill go as far and admit, that not everyone is an idiot, you might have years of experience riding a bike. Sure, you might be a pro. But that still doesnt account for the idiot on the other end, the one thats going to turn left without indicating, or the moron VAN who doesnt want to wait in the traffic jam and turns into the alley just as you are undertaking him. Or the idiot who pulls out infront of you looking the opposite way of the traffic. Infact all of the scenarios above happened to me, multiple times, I still have a helmet with half the pain scratched off during my impact on the tarmac. It wasnt a big collision or anything, and I managed to swirve quite quickly, but it did save me a big chunk of my hair.

Believe it or not, but your body is capable of absorbing some tough impacts, in general. However your head; is a bit more important than say.. your limbs, I am sure you can survive and live a long life with say a broken limb, or worst case scenario a missing limb.. But you cant do the same without your head/brain. Unless you like spending your time in a hospital bed on life support, like a lot of other cyclists who thought the same way.

Perhaps it might be the fact that you like the idea of losing half your skin over the tarmac, or maybe you are so ugly that it will only make things better. Either case, I am not here to judge, but I mean why not?

9/11 just over 3000 people died in the attacks... The year following the incident, air travel was seen as dangerous, horrific etc all because of a single attack. People taking to the roads instead of flying soared. An evaluation was done to see exactly how many accidents occurred DUE to this incident. It was estimated that over 1.5k people died because they chose to drive instead of flying. Thats HALF of the initial list of casualties of the attack.

People dont realize this, but roads are one of the most dangerous places to be in. They didnt realize that even with the attacks, chances of a fatality of flying is approximately 100x less likely than if you were driving. As a cyclist, you are a vulnerable motorist, you don't have the security of a crumple zone or a cage, you are on your own.

Why not just fit yourself with airbags? You're not a vulnerable motorist, you're a cyclist.

Possibility 4 is that your reactions are quick enough not to fly through the air but to skid the bike sideways into the car. This has happened to me twice. Both times I smacked into a car sideways, both times a helmet would have made no difference.

I suspect there are further possibilities.

Your point about incorrect risk assessment is correct, but the roads would be safer if more people rode bikes instead of driving. Helmets put people off cycling and keep them in their cars.

.
Perhaps a more useful discussion would be ways of avoiding crashing rather than what to wear when you crash

This. My concern is with avoiding crashes in the first place, not things which make them less worse if they happen.

ummm ... .... ... bike helmets are designed to give 'protection' by compressing the foam, in low speed impacts. If your helmet splinters into pieces it has failed to absorb most of the impact. Putting your faith in crumbly plastic seems silly to me.

Infact all of the scenarios above happened to me, multiple times,

• says it all.
  

People who don't wear helmets take a little more care, go a bit slower, have more time to see and avoid the loonies out there and are much, much less likely to get smashed up. simples

Really can't be arsed to enter the debate but when I had my off last weekend I was glad that my helmet got dented and cracked. Helmet and skull are very different things but I would at least have been cut if I wasn't wearing one I think.

Ivan, this thread is by now admittedly getting a bit long, but all of your concerns have already been discussed--you'll find plenty of facts to assuage your worries upthread. That said, everybody recognises that this debate will probably go on forever.

Ivan, this thread is by now admittedly getting a bit long, but all of your concerns have already been discussed--you'll find plenty of facts to assuage your worries upthread. That said, everybody recognises that this debate will probably go on forever.

There is no real debate here, theres just 1 side stating the fact and using statistics to show that incident A will occur, the factor being time.

Then theres the other side; "were too cool to wear helmets"; "my hair gets messy if I wear a helmet"; my favorite quote: "helmets discourage people from riding bikes" - Where the fark did you get that assumption from? That is the most stupidest case of reverse psychology I have ever seen. Should airbags or seat belts discourage people from driving? This side is arrogant, ignorant and when the time comes, and they do lost a good portion of their face to the tarmac, they will no doubt learn the hardway.

For the gentleman, who explained the art of colliding into a car, yes skidding, nice, been there done that. I am not an idiot to collide head onto a car. There are other factors, for example the stupidity of the guy driving the car.

You would not believe how many times I would find myself in the situation where a car is about to pull out of the alleyway, the driver LOOKS AT ME, LOOKS the other way, waits until I am close to him and going at high speed; sees the opportunity in turning perpendicularly into my direction at the opposite lane and grabs it just as I am mere meters away from him.

The sad reality of the situation is; most drivers assume your breaking distance on the bike is measured in centimeters. Most drivers assume you are going at 10mph. Most of them never drove a bike in a London road before.

In the end of the day, as I have mentioned before there is no debate or argument. Theres responcible cyclists who are aware of the risks, and then there are the others who think they are too good, or they havent grown out of puberty and want to live life on the wild side. I respect both parties, but if you want to live dangerously dont go about making up stupid sh*t like "wearing a helmet discourages others from riding a bike" or "the helmet wont make any difference in a collision" and again, my most favorite; "a helmet only increases the danger during the collision".

Get a fucking grip. If it's so predictable that these drivers are always going to try and fuck you up with their stupidity, adjust your riding style to compensate for that fact.

Is this thread about children wearing helmets ? It says 'kids' in the title !?

Get a fucking grip. If it's so predictable that these drivers are always going to try and fuck you up with their stupidity, adjust your riding style to compensate for that fact.

The problem with accidents is that they are not predictable, people make mistakes. There you are riding along the road on a sunny day when a car collides into your bike from behind. The guy was tired, sleepy wasn't paying attention. Sound familiar? Well then enjoy having your face/scalp transplanted.

There is no real debate here, theres just 1 side stating the fact and using statistics to show that incident A will occur, the factor being time.

Then theres the other side; "were too cool to wear helmets"; "my hair gets messy if I wear a helmet"; my favorite quote: "helmets discourage people from riding bikes" - Where the fark did you get that assumption from? That is the most stupidest case of reverse psychology I have ever seen. Should airbags or seat belts discourage people from driving? This side is arrogant, ignorant and when the time comes, and they do lost a good portion of their face to the tarmac, they will no doubt learn the hardway.

For the gentleman, who explained the art of colliding into a car, yes skidding, nice, been there done that. I am not an idiot to collide head onto a car. There are other factors, for example the stupidity of the guy driving the car.

You would not believe how many times I would find myself in the situation where a car is about to pull out of the alleyway, the driver LOOKS AT ME, LOOKS the other way, waits until I am close to him and going at high speed; sees the opportunity in turning perpendicularly into my direction at the opposite lane and grabs it just as I am mere meters away from him.

The sad reality of the situation is; most drivers assume your breaking distance on the bike is measured in centimeters. Most drivers assume you are going at 10mph. Most of them never drove a bike in a London road before.

In the end of the day, as I have mentioned before there is no debate or argument. Theres responcible cyclists who are aware of the risks, and then there are the others who think they are too good, or they havent grown out of puberty and want to live life on the wild side. I respect both parties, but if you want to live dangerously dont go about making up stupid sh*t like "wearing a helmet discourages others from riding a bike" or "the helmet wont make any difference in a collision" and again, my most favorite; "a helmet only increases the danger during the collision".

^not this

Get a fucking grip. If it's so predictable that these drivers are always going to try and fuck you up with their stupidity, adjust your riding style to compensate for that fact.

^this