Helmets optional?!

[LeTurbo]

We made a BMX course in the neighbourhood, before anyone knew what a BMX was. Rode our back-pedal-brake Raleighs around that. No helmets. Or in the street at 5pm. No helmets. In the Delta, in the days when it was a disused sewerage farm. No helmets. Bliksemmed down Conrad Drive, or Jan Smuts. No Helmets.

 

Still do (except I got sensible and moved to CT). Bicycles are for riding on, not falling off. Learn to do it properly and you'll be fine.

 

But then I sometimes don't use seat belts either - because the car's 1963 and doesn't require them. My Dad just used to put his arm out to hold us back when he had to slam on anchors. All worked OK. Here I am!

[Dazshell]

Seems to be a bit of a trend in Durban too. Especially on the new promenade and on the road from Virginia to Umhlanga. I'm pretty sure it is all the "New Year's Resolution" people wnating to get fit on 2014. They'll all be gone next week!

[Tomik]

It's called choice. None of our business really.

[G00SE]

What still grates me the most are parents who send their kids to school on bikes in peak traffic with no lids, and the schools that allow kids to pitch up without lids. Adults without helmets i couldn't care less about they have been depriving this planet of oxygen and food sources long enough.

 

Again it all boils down to natural selection.

These children will probably grow up to be as dumb as their parents, we should leave them be and let nature take its course...

[Dirtbreath]

I reckon kids should wear helmets climbing jungle gyms.

[G00SE]

We made a BMX course in the neighbourhood, before anyone knew what a BMX was. Rode our back-pedal-brake Raleighs around that. No helmets. Or in the street at 5pm. No helmets. In the Delta, in the days when it was a disused sewerage farm. No helmets. Bliksemmed down Conrad Drive, or Jan Smuts. No Helmets.

 

I remember those days. A lot of us grew up tearing around the neighborhood with no helmet. I dont think they even made bicycle helmets when I was growing up.

There were also days where doctors used to endorse cigarette brands...

 

Point is, when you gain knowledge, you should use that knowledge to make sure you and your family are safe.

Even if stats show that a large percentage of bicycle accidents don't involve your head (nofearnofun excluded ), if I know a helmet could save my life in that one crash that does, then I think its worthwhile.

 

Still do (except I got sensible and moved to CT). Bicycles are for riding on, not falling off. Learn to do it properly and you'll be fine.

 

But then I sometimes don't use seat belts either - because the car's 1963 and doesn't require them. My Dad just used to put his arm out to hold us back when he had to slam on anchors. All worked OK. Here I am!

 

Are you being serious? or just trying to stir the pot?

Nobody plans to fall, and if you haven't fallen either you are not pushing yourself to become a better rider, or you only ride up and down your driveway - even then you will probably eventually fall.

 

I would have liked to see how well your dads arm worked when you were slamming into another car, and not just hard braking.

 

But hey, like I said, I dont give a s**t what other people do as long as I can keep the people close to me safe.

[Dirtbreath]

I reckon kids should wear helmets climbing jungle gyms.

[gtr1]

The biggest number of deaths on our roads are pedestrians....not cyclists. Maybe they should all wear helmets.

 

I wear a helmet....my choice, but I raced in the 70's and 80's without helmets or a strip of leather. We crashed, still here to tell the tale. I also don't remember there being more deaths and head injuries than today.

 

I still love riding without a helmet.

 

End of the day it is personal choice.

 

Does everyone critisizing the non use of helmets wear seatbelts and force their kids to wear seatbelts in the back of cars...........and do they all wear condoms ?

 

All personal choice.

[G00SE]

Does everyone critisizing the non use of helmets wear seatbelts and force their kids to wear seatbelts in the back of cars...........and do they all wear condoms ?

 

All personal choice.

 

Yes and yes, my kids dont go anywhere without their seatbelts... and no (monogamous relationship = bareback fun )

 

edit: But yes, absolutely a personal choice.

Edited January 21, 2014 by goose1111

[SwissVan]

I just love this "never go away debate"

 

Really sorry I don't have any fresh news to help it survive another few pages

 

Best I get back to work

Edited January 21, 2014 by SwissVan

[gtr1]

 

 

Yes and yes, my kids dont go anywhere without their seatbelts... and no (monogamous relationship = bareback fun )

 

edit: But yes, absolutely a personal choice.

 

Cool. Just highlighting how many people jump on the bandwagon about helmets, but then don't care about other safety aspects. Seatbelts, jumping stop streets in cars and on bikes, condoms ( don't always know your partner is as safe as you......)

 

I've ridden with guys who have a huge issue over no helmet, but then jump every red robot, ride multiple abreast on busy roads, sit trucks etc. etc.

[Cellar]

My Dad just used to put his arm out to hold us back when he had to slam on anchors. All worked OK. Here I am!

 

Stole Frank Costanza's move, did he?

[Cellar]

The biggest number of deaths on our roads are pedestrians....not cyclists. Maybe they should all wear helmets.

 

No, the operators of motor vehicles should learn to drive properly, exercise some restraint, and learn some respect for their fellow road users.

Edited January 21, 2014 by Cellar

[Cellar]

 

Does everyone critisizing the non use of helmets wear seatbelts and force their kids to wear seatbelts in the back of cars...........and do they all wear condoms ?

 

 

I don't care if you wear a helmet or not. And I always wear a seatbelt, and my kids always wear seatbelts in the back of the car. And my fiancé is on the pill.

[BigDL]

We made a BMX course in the neighbourhood, before anyone knew what a BMX was. Rode our back-pedal-brake Raleighs around that. No helmets. Or in the street at 5pm. No helmets. In the Delta, in the days when it was a disused sewerage farm. No helmets. Bliksemmed down Conrad Drive, or Jan Smuts. No Helmets.

 

Still do (except I got sensible and moved to CT). Bicycles are for riding on, not falling off. Learn to do it properly and you'll be fine.

 

But then I sometimes don't use seat belts either - because the car's 1963 and doesn't require them. My Dad just used to put his arm out to hold us back when he had to slam on anchors. All worked OK. Here I am!

 

That's as rational as the argument that says, because my mother smoked in the car when I was small and I turned out ok, then it's fine for me to smoke in the car with my children there.

[BigDL]

The biggest number of deaths on our roads are pedestrians....not cyclists. Maybe they should all wear helmets.

 

I wear a helmet....my choice, but I raced in the 70's and 80's without helmets or a strip of leather. We crashed, still here to tell the tale. I also don't remember there being more deaths and head injuries than today.

 

I still love riding without a helmet.

 

End of the day it is personal choice.

 

Does everyone critisizing the non use of helmets wear seatbelts and force their kids to wear seatbelts in the back of cars...........and do they all wear condoms ?

 

All personal choice.

 

It's your personal choice if you wear a helmet or a seatbelt, but endangering your kids lives by not putting them in a seatbelt in the back of the car should not be your choice. As individuals, kids have the right to be safer in a car and we as parents don't have the right to choose whether to put their lives at risk by not enforcing seatbelt laws. Ask any paramedic who has attended the scene of an accident where the kids head has smashed into the head of the person in the front seat due to no seatbelt use in the back about the benefits of child restraints.