Beware Anti-helmet ninnies

[JorgeGortex]

http://www.vehicularcyclist.com/

Someone posted the above link on ArlNow.com in the thread about new Cabi locations. Funny that people can spin statistics any way they want…

Topic

[krazygl00]

@bobco85 30860 wrote:

When people ask me why I wear a helmet and tell me that they don’t because they think it’s unsafe, I tell them: “I wear my helmet because I know it’s cheaper for the [Arlington] County to just scrape my brains off the pavement than get an ambulance.”

I always say “I wear a helmet because solid food is yummy. Feeding tubes…not so much.”

[krazygl00]

@acc 30874 wrote:

Like most things in life, it’s not a black and white issue. It’s fifty shades of gray.

MUST. POST. SNARKY. COMMENT. WITHOUT. BEING. CREEPY!

Can’t do it.

[creadinger]

A couple of years ago I remember hearing about a study/survey that said drivers tend to be more cautious around cyclists who are not wearing helmets because there’s a perception that they’re not as experienced or may be less predictable compared to helmeted cyclists… I guess it makes sense, but I wish they’d all be careful all the time.

I wear my helmet for about 99.9% of my miles. Out on my big rides and commutes I’d feel pretty naked without it and it provides other benefits in addition to head protection – mine has a visor and keeps some of the sun off my face and it gives me a nice place to mount my mirror.

You don’t have to look far for cringe-worthy mental pictures of what even a minor crash is like and the sound of Marty McFly’s head hitting the asphalt after his grandfather hit him with the car in Back to the Future is a thud I do not want to hear up close. A helmet might not protect against everything, but it does enough that I don’t mind putting it on and my wife would make me if I did mind.

I don’t be-grudge people who don’t wear helmets, but my spine does get a tiny bit tingly when I see them.

[DaveK]

@creadinger 30947 wrote:

A couple of years ago I remember hearing about a study/survey that said drivers tend to be more cautious around cyclists who are not wearing helmets because there’s a perception that they’re not as experienced or may be less predictable compared to helmeted cyclists… I guess it makes sense, but I wish they’d all be careful all the time.

You might be thinking of this one – http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/somerset/5334208.stm

[creadinger]

@DaveK 30951 wrote:

You might be thinking of this one – http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/somerset/5334208.stm

Yep! That’s it. Interesting results to say the least but I still think the likelihood that I’ll be in a low speed crash either because of my clumsiness, or someone else’s negligence is high enough to warrant wearing a helmet so I don’t necessarily agree with his conclusions. But maybe it does call into question mandatory adult helmet laws.

I think kids are way too clumsy with zero self-awareness to get away without wearing a helmet.

[baiskeli]

@bobco85 30860 wrote:

She then retorted that humans were never meant to wear helmets in the first place, so it’s unnatural and somehow our bodies reject it because of that.

But they were also never meant to ride bikes.

[dasgeh]

@baiskeli 30959 wrote:

But they were also never meant to ride bikes.

Funny, my kid was born with her mohawked helmet and appropriate bike attire. I thought biking was the most natural thing in the world…

[baiskeli]

Bring up helmet safety, and you get a discussion about helmet laws. They aren’t the same thing.

As for the link cited, they’re idiotic statistical analysis basically consists of “what about all the people who fall on bikes but don’t get hurt from head injuries?” Well, what about them? Do they make the group that does get head injuries any smaller?

It’s all about whether the cost of a wearing a helmet is more than the risk of head injury. I don’t mind a cheap, light hunk of styrofoam on my head for that benefit.

[JorgeGortex]

@TwoWheelsDC 30839 wrote:

What do you mean “spin statistics”? Sounds like you are espousing a pro-helmet position, which is fine, but are you advocating for mandatory helmet laws? That’s also fine,

Well, first I’ll say I am glad I kicked a new topic into high gear! To answer your specific question, I just felt that the stance the site took was one that implied helmets are pointless. I don’t advocate helmet laws for anyone over 18. At that point, as generally defined in our country, you are an adult and are welcome to make your own decisions. I do espouse a pro-helmet stance since I think they can save lives or at least help prevent serious head injuries. I just attended a lecture for area HS coaches regarding concussions and came away with a much greater appreciation for their seriousness. Concussion is the polite way of saying brain injury. Its serious and head hitting pavement during a bike accident can potentially cause you months of issues and time away from the bike. Or worse. If a helmet helps to reduce that potential then I am all for it. If you are an adult and choose not to use one, so be it.

As to whether a helmet law affects the success of a bike share program… I could frankly care less. I want to see more people riding and using cars less… but if the current system fails I will still be trying to ride and encouraging others to do so as well. From the looks of it, CaBi is doing quite well, so that is just fine. Should people using them wear helmets? yes. If they get hurt when they don’t? Well, they will deal with the long term consequences.

Oh, and it is my belief that our “car-centric” streets are here to stay. At least in the time I have left on this planet which I hope is quite a bit. Hopefully the culture in our area will change with time so bikes are a respected and normal part of the roadways.

G.

[Mark Blacknell]

@JorgeGortex 30966 wrote:

As to whether a helmet law affects the success of a bike share program… I could frankly care less. I want to see more people riding and using cars less…

Hopefully you see the possible contradictions here . . .

[5555624]

@dasgeh 30960 wrote:

Funny, my kid was born with her mohawked helmet and appropriate bike attire.

No wonder you want an epidural….

[lordofthemark]

@JorgeGortex 30966 wrote:

From the looks of it, CaBi is doing quite well, so that is just fine. Should people using them wear helmets? yes. If they get hurt when they don’t? Well, they will deal with the long term consequences.

And by the same token, someone who refrains from riding because they often don’t have a helmet with them and gets diabetes or heart disease will also have to deal with the long term consequences. (I own and use a bike helmet, and cannot remember when I last rode without one, and am not yet a CaBi member, but I think the concern about focusing on the dangers of cycling to the point that we discourage it, is not entirely without merit)

[baiskeli]

@dasgeh 30960 wrote:

Funny, my kid was born with her mohawked helmet and appropriate bike attire. I thought biking was the most natural thing in the world…

Evolution in action!

[Amalitza]

Since football got mentioned, I think there’s an apt comparison there. I think it’s a really good idea for football players in organized, competitive leagues to wear helmets and pads, but a group of guys playing a casual pick-up game in the park can do so relatively safely without. Similarly, I am going to wear a helmet if I’m riding in heavy traffic or at 12-15-20mph, because I think there’s a real risk of wiping out and hitting my head on the asphalt at a speed my skull would not approve of. But I think that lollygagging up to the grocery store at 5-7mph doesn’t carry significantly higher risk than walking to the store (I might clumsily fall over slowly and sprain my wrist catching my fall, but I’m highly unlikely to wipe out with any kind of speed and crack my head open), and think I can do that relatively safely without helmet, so I don’t always bother—and I certainly don’t think it’s my place (personally, or as part of “society” enacting laws) to insist someone else does. The risk is not zero, but it’s comparable to being a pedestrian and I don’t feel the need to put on a helmet every time I cross the street on foot, so there’s that. I also admit that if I am riding somewhere I feel is relatively low risk and I’m not going to feel like carrying my helmet along inside once I’m there (ie, close to home errand running with multiple stops), I’ll wear my 10-year-old helmet and just leave it on the bike at my stops. I know, I know, the plastic has degraded and won’t offer the same level of protection as my new one, but it’s greater than zero and I won’t mind if it gets swiped off the bike while I’m in the post office.

All types of cycling are not the same, and don’t carry the same levels of risk. Helmets are good things, but it doesn’t automatically follow that they are always 100% of the time necessary.

I also think there’s a realistic argument that mandatory helmet laws discourage people from riding bikes (especially for short trips and errand-running), putting fewer bikes and more cars on the road, which is not likely to be a net safety improvement for several reasons. I suspect that’s something that’s fairly difficult to tease out with any kind of certainty one way or another, and real effects are probably influenced by other factors making it even more difficult and etc, but I think it’s a real consideration wrt helmet laws.

[jrenaut]

@acl 31022 wrote:

Since football got mentioned, I think there’s an apt comparison there. I think it’s a really good idea for football players in organized, competitive leagues to wear helmets and pads, but a group of guys playing a casual pick-up game in the park can do so relatively safely without.

Perhaps not. Photo taken after my nose stopped gushing blood.

Nose + elbow = no fun by thetejon, on Flickr

That was from an organized coed flag football game last Saturday.

Honestly, I’m joking here – I don’t think our league should wear helmets, despite the occasional bloody nose. But I couldn’t resist. My thoughts on bike helmets: I always wear one. My kids will always wear one as long as I have any say in the matter, and I think everyone else should wear one whenever they’re on a bike. I do NOT think they should be required by law for adults.

[Author]

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