helmets, because science
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- This topic has 46 replies, 23 voices, and was last updated 10 years ago by
mattotoole.
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April 28, 2015 at 12:25 pm #1028930
peterw_diy
ParticipantI don’t think it’s what the press asks about – it’s a standard checkbox question on police accident reporting forms. Journos want facts and the police forms spoon feed them that info.
Here’s a NY form Google finds: http://dmv.ny.gov/forms/mv104c.pdf
No questions about debris on roadway (condition is either “paved” or “unpaved”). But they sure do look to see if there’s a brain bucket.
April 29, 2015 at 7:39 pm #1029024Geoff
ParticipantYears ago one of my boys hit a curb hard. He was about 5 at the time. He pitched over the handlebars onto a concrete pad. If not for the helmet, and the fact he was wearing it correctly, the concrete would have sandpapered off his nose. You will understand that I still look back at that with horror at what might have been, and I have strong opinions on helmets.
April 29, 2015 at 7:42 pm #1029025mstone
Participant@Geoff 114723 wrote:
Years ago one of my boys hit a curb hard. He was about 5 at the time. He pitched over the handlebars onto a concrete pad. If not for the helmet, and the fact he was wearing it correctly, the concrete would have sandpapered off his nose. You will understand that I still look back at that with horror at what might have been, and I have strong opinions on helmets.
A regular bike helmet isn’t designed to prevent facial lacerations. If that’s a concern, you should be wearing a full face helmet. Otherwise, that falls into the category of “got lucky”.
Helmet anecdotes tend also to rely very heavily on certainty regarding events which didn’t happen.
April 29, 2015 at 7:49 pm #1029027PotomacCyclist
ParticipantI’d say that helmets are advisable for people on faster bikes (road and triathlon bikes) and for children, who may not have good coordination and bike handling skills. For other cases and situations, I think helmets are useful most of the time, but other elements play just as large a role in overall safety in those cases. For example, in the other thread, I described why I believe CaBi bikes are so safe, safer than other bikes. I don’t think it’s as important for an adult on a CaBi bike to wear a helmet as it is for that same adult to wear a helmet on a road bike.
On the other hand, teenaged boys can sometimes be risk-takers. I think it’s best for them to be wearing helmets. (Maybe even indoors too, LOL.)
April 29, 2015 at 7:53 pm #1029029
jrenautParticipantHaving the choice to wear a helmet is wonderful. Being required by law to wear one means fewer people ride bikes and we are all less safe.
April 29, 2015 at 8:01 pm #1029030
GreenbeltParticipantMore lives would be saved if car drivers and passengers wore helmets. And pedestrians.
April 29, 2015 at 8:06 pm #1029031rcannon100
ParticipantApril 29, 2015 at 8:34 pm #1029034Phatboing
Participant@Greenbelt 114729 wrote:
More lives would be saved if car drivers and passengers wore helmets. And pedestrians.
I don’t see how wearing a pedestrian is productive, but maybe it’s my lack of imagination.
April 29, 2015 at 8:37 pm #1029035ParticipantShould car drivers be required to wear pedestrians? That might actually help.
April 29, 2015 at 8:44 pm #1029036KelOnWheels
Participant@PotomacCyclist 114734 wrote:
Should car drivers be required to wear pedestrians? That might actually help.
Some of them try to wear pedestrians on their cars. That usually doesn’t go well.
April 29, 2015 at 8:50 pm #1029038ParticipantBut if they are wearing a pedestrian, they might be inclined to drive much more slowly. Slow cars means less risk for everyone.
FYI – From earlier in the thread, “advisable” is not the same as “mandatory” and it wasn’t intended to read as the same thing.
April 29, 2015 at 10:33 pm #1029039
StardusterParticipant“Wearing a pedestrian” is definitely not good for the pedestrian…
On helmets, from someone who has battle-tested them a couple of times, and is in his write-enough mind to right about it: *Highly* advisable and recommended, though the only place we can *mandate* it is for our children. A concussion is its own special Twilight Zone- but not a fun place to be. And the damage is *culmulative*. Some HOF NFL players have died, way too young, largely due to that cumulative brain damage. IndyCar driver & Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti had to retire for that reason. His doctors wanted him to remain a live hero, not a dead one. Lastly, a head injury can risk impairing a child’s entire future life.
No guarantees, just reduced probability of injury. Improving the odds.
April 29, 2015 at 10:34 pm #1029040Participant@PotomacCyclist 114734 wrote:
Should car drivers be required to wear pedestrians? That might actually help.
I’m picturing this like those cow horns and wondering how that would help.
April 29, 2015 at 10:38 pm #1029042StardusterParticipantP.S. Someone needs to do a *better-run* study. “Something for everyone” doesn’t cut it.
April 30, 2015 at 2:47 am #1029050Participant@mstone 114739 wrote:
I’m picturing this like those cow horns and wondering how that would help.
Well, obviously it was a semi-joke, because the idea of a driver “wearing” a pedestrian is nonsensical.
But I was also hinting, maybe too subtly, that if a driver was that encumbered, he/she would finally realize that driving distracted is not advisable for anyone. People think they can drive safely while texting because it doesn’t encumber them physically. We know it’s dangerous and most people understand that it is dangerous in theory. But in practice, it’s not a physically imposing act. The driver is holding a small and light smartphone.
But if they had a person sitting on them, that might be more of a clue that distracted driving is dangerous. Or if it was the driver’s own child, he/she might be even more careful and not drive at all.
The concept is not that precise or logical. It was an off-hand remark. Nothing more, but the other stuff was sitting in the back of my mind when I posted it.
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