helmets, because science

[mstone]

@rcannon100 114835 wrote:

What saved your life, in your case, was probably the safety glass that a windshield is make out of – not the helmet.

Bingo. Modern windshields are designed to minimize the force applied to a car occupant’s head when they hit the windshield. (Because in the old days they were plain tempered glass and you’d either smash your head in before bouncing off or sever your neck after breaking a hole in it.) Nowadays you’ll often see a windshield with a bubble where someone hit it–much easier on the occupant. Feds also mandate that everything in the front of the passenger compartment be padded, no more steel dashboard. We’ve made cars really, really safe for their occupants (maybe too much, since drivers seem to think they’re invincible and forget that they can still kill somebody else). Still haven’t mandated car helmets though, because they know people wouldn’t put up with it.

[Crickey7]

I wear a helmet, and I think it’s a good idea. That said, I, too, was in an accident where my helmet-clad head impacted pavement and shattered. It saved my life. Or so I thought until a few years ago, when I had another accident where I hit my head to the pavement with even greater force, and the helmet provided zero protection (I hit the front of my head, where the helmet’s design is inadequate). It hurt a lot. While I’m sure it did me no good, it also didn’t leave any short or long term impact beyond stitches. There is no doubt that the helmet would have shattered if it had covered the impact site, and that I would have attributed my continued existence in this mortal form to the helmet, but it would not have been true.

[Steve O]

I didn’t wear a helmet on my commute to work today, and I thank dcv for riding along with me and not even mentioning it. He was wearing one, and I didn’t mention it either. FTW!

[wheelswings]

Here are four reasons I wear a helmet:
–The helmet may provide a small amount of protection, if I crash in exactly the right way.
–On rare occasion, my helmet has offered partial shielding from bird poop.
–When I’m carrying it around, my helmet leads to interesting conversations with strangers. This gives me an opportunity for person-to-person bicycle evangelism, and at the same time I get a greater sense of community, as strangers become not-so-strange.
–Most importantly, I wear my helmet for the sake of my girls. I have confidence that better, more concussion-proof helmets will be developed in the coming years – and that the Swedish Hövding airbag for cyclists will become more economical here in the US. When that day comes, helmets WILL make a difference. So I want my children to grow up in the habit of wearing helmets — thus I need to wear one myself.
There’s a lot of incentive to create better helmet technology. Whoever invents concussion-proof helmets will likely rake in the profits ‘cause of the huge demand in football and other sports…especially with all the new studies linking early brain trauma to Alzheimer’s risk.

[dkel]

That loud crack I heard as I whizzed under a low-hanging tree branch yesterday made me glad that I wear a helmet all the time.

[Steve O]

@wheels&wings 114848 wrote:

–When I’m carrying it around, my helmet leads to interesting conversations with strangers. This gives me an opportunity for person-to-person bicycle evangelism, and at the same time I get a greater sense of community, as strangers become not-so-strange.

This.

@wheels&wings 114848 wrote:

. . .and that the Swedish Hövding airbag for cyclists will become more economical here in the US.

When these drop below $200, I’m there. That’s because I have figured the value of my brain, and it’s exactly $200.

[scoot]

Heading home on my second-ever bicycle commute, I felt something hit me in the head while passing under a tree. Next thing I knew I heard buzzing inside my helmet and got stung by at least one bee. Perhaps the helmet absorbed some of the impact even though it found a vent, but I’m pretty sure I would not have been stung without the helmet.

Regardless, I almost always wear a helmet. When I don’t, it’s usually when I’m riding CaBi. Those bikes are incredibly sturdy and slow, and seem like a much lower crash risk than mine.

[dasgeh]

I wear a helmet because:
— it keeps my head warm(er):
— it has a great brim that keeps sun, glare and water out of my eyes:
— I feel naked without one;
— I don’t want my kids to throw it back in my face that they saw me without a helmet, and I have to get them wear helmets; and
@wheels&wings 114848 wrote:

–When I’m carrying it around, my helmet leads to interesting conversations with strangers. This gives me an opportunity for person-to-person bicycle evangelism, and at the same time I get a greater sense of community, as strangers become not-so-strange.

But again, I totally get that there’s another side to it, and it’s not worth judging others.

[hozn]

@Steve O 114858 wrote:

When these drop below $200, I’m there. That’s because I have figured the value of my brain, and it’s exactly $200.

Given that this airbag helmet deployed while the guy from Swedish embassy was simply holding it during his presentation (about the helmet) at last bikehacknight, I don’t think I would even buy one if it was $20.

[baiskeli]

@Steve O 114858 wrote:

When these drop below $200, I’m there. That’s because I have figured the value of my brain, and it’s exactly $200.

Did you account for inflation?

[Steve O]

Speaking of helmets, I just received my second CaBi helmet yesterday. I renewed early at the (now expired) $75 rate. The $16 helmet is such a great bargain, I bought a second as a backup or guest helmet. It’s your basic bread-n-butter helmet, but at that price, why not stock up?

[Steve O]

@baiskeli 114920 wrote:

Did you account for inflation?

Um, you are asking that question of someone with a $200 brain?

[Phatboing]

@Steve O 114935 wrote:

Speaking of helmets, I just received my second CaBi helmet yesterday. I renewed early at the (now expired) $75 rate. The $16 helmet is such a great bargain, I bought a second as a backup or guest helmet. It’s your basic bread-n-butter helmet, but at that price, why not stock up?

Do you randomly grow new heads?

[Steve O]

@Phatboing 114946 wrote:

Do you randomly grow new heads?

At $200 bucks each, I need as many as I can get.

[baiskeli]

@Steve O 114936 wrote:

Um, you are asking that question of someone with a $200 brain?

Depends on whether the price has inflated or your brain has inflated.

[Author]

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