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

The ones that die on the roads aged 13 don't.

Personally I wish it was socially acceptable to wear a helmet when withdrawing money from a cashpoint late at night (semi serious), but you'd be arrested for being a nut-job. Likewise I might consider wearing a crash helmet whilst driving, but it'd be a bit nuts unless I was going to get a roll-cage as well, I'd get stopped by the police all the time, and if I was involved in a crash they'd probably do me for my restricted peripheral vision.

If I was not terrified of heights I'd definitely wear a helmet for rock-climbing. MTBing and BMXing helmets definitely make sense.

If I ran and walked as quickly as I cycle I'd wear a helmet then too. Are your stats compensated for speed?

Your stats - I AM NOT SAYING YOU SHOULD WEAR A HELMET OR THAT THEY SHOULD BE COMPULSORY... but until you can show me stats overall, per mile of travel; til you can show me how serious injury is defined (how many people have there lives fucked up by a tennis injury - it certainly happens to cyclists, not that a helmet would have helped in all cases, and no-one really knows what percentage of cases it would have helped)... sorry your post is fucking anti-helmet shit.

How do pedestrians get head injuries by the way? How many are to very elderly people who fall - people too old to ride a bike, but if who tried would fall and crash at 5mph after 100 m or less, and fuck their heads right up much quicker on a bike than they would on foot? Are you comparing like for like?

Sorry, you post is total shit.

Giles

I suppose that I am a helmet wearer who sits on the fence with regards the evidence. I fully accept that bike helmets probably don't do much / any good in the most serious of accidents and that there is no evidence that they do good overall.

But -

(1) The evidence is by its very nature very difficult to collate and compare. What is serious? Is the average pedestrian and the average cyclist the same age? In the average pedestrian more drunk than the average cylist?

(2) When people like Giles trot out anti helmet shit that completely flies in the face of anecdotal evidence it is hard to take it seriously. Tennis. I played for a couple for years at school and a couple of years in a club as a kid. I can't remember a single minor injury to myself or anyone else, let alone a serious one. How often do tennis players suffer serious head injuries or broken bones? How often do pro tennis players die in competition compared to pro road cyclists?

I have personally witnessed one LFGSS member end up in hospital due to a head injury whilst cycling (this is out of about 5-10 forum rides I have been on, and I would be astonished if a toy helmet would not have had a marginal benefit, let alone a good quality one.)

Do you not question the evidence / methodology when it is so far removed from the anecdotal? (This is not the same as saying that anecdotal evidence is reliable, and it is certainly no good compared to decent evidence, but I just don't believe the studies into the dangers of cycling are particularly reliable.)

It's a sunny Sunday; go out for a ride. Wear a helmet if you like, we don't care and it probably won't do you any harm.