Helmets optional?!

[Joe Low]

I've been waiting to post this link for ages, and it makes for fascinating reading:

http://www.aviewfrom...ch-cyclist.html

 

The conclusion:

 

 

 

As GaryvdM points out - the health benefits greatly outway the risk of a serious head injury - using the WHO/Europe Health Economic Assessment Tool (http://heatwalkingcycling.org/), have a look at the benefits of cycling:

 

 

 

That's just for 5% of the population. Imagine if they increased that to 10%, or in the case of the Dutch - 28%.

 

Obviously, this is for gentle commuting to and from the shops, school, library etc, not bombing down some scary single track at a 24hr event.

 

I dont think that its "Obviously, .... for gentle commuting to and from the shops, school, library etc......" the dutch have a huge & varied cycling scene.

 

If they were in an event as you describe, i expect you would see a lot of helmets.

[ReCycle-D]

[Rata Del Spruit]

Here's the final say on whether to wear a helmut or not...

{Pic taken from this weekend, when I ran out of talent at Oak Valley 24hr...}

Now imagaine what my head would have looked like if i did not have a nut protector on???

'Nuff said....

 

Here's the final say on why you should wear a full face helmet instead of a basic lid. Now imagine what his head would have looked like if he didn't have a full face protector on? Convenience and comfort is not an excuse for inadequate safety:

 

http://i.imgur.com/dl4mqFe.jpg

 

/devilsadvocate

Edited February 5, 2014 by Rata Del Spruit

[Velouria]

I dont think that its "Obviously, .... for gentle commuting to and from the shops, school, library etc......" the dutch have a huge & varied cycling scene.

 

If they were in an event as you describe, i expect you would see a lot of helmets.

"On the contrary, in the Netherlands, with the safest cycling of any country, less than 1% of adult cyclists wear helmets, and even among children, only 3–5% wear helmets (Dutch Bicycling Council, 2006; Netherlands Ministry of Transport, 2006)."

[GaryvdM]

I dont think that its "Obviously, .... for gentle commuting to and from the shops, school, library etc......" the dutch have a huge & varied cycling scene.

 

If they were in an event as you describe, i expect you would see a lot of helmets.

 

Indeed

 

Although the Netherlands is probably the safest country in the world for cycling, helmet wearing among Dutch cyclists is rare. It has been estimated that only about 0.5 percent of cyclists in the Netherlands are helmeted.

 

However, according to Dutch Government data (Rijkswaterstaat, 2008), 13.3 percent of cyclists admitted to hospital were wearing helmets when they were injured. Why does wearing a helmet appear to increase the risk of being injured so substantially?

 

The answer is probably related to another statistic. Of the injured cyclists wearing helmets, 50 percent were riding mountain bikes and 46 percent were riding racing bikes (Rijkswaterstaat, 2008). In other words, most helmeted cyclists in the Netherlands are engaged in a competitive activity, with very few making utility trips on the traditional style of Dutch bicycle.

http://www.cyclehelmets.org/1261.html

[Joe Low]

"On the contrary, in the Netherlands, with the safest cycling of any country, less than 1% of adult cyclists wear helmets, and even among children, only 3–5% wear helmets (Dutch Bicycling Council, 2006; Netherlands Ministry of Transport, 2006)."

 

Ok so we're agreed, its not just for "gentle commuting...." etc.

[Karooryder]

Exactly. I don't care so much for the Assos brigade that doesn't wear helmets out of preference or ignorance...Every day I drive past a whole lot of commuters on their cash-converters bikes, lunch tied to their seat posts in Checkers bags. No helmet and probably no money for one either. In my books they are no less part of the cycling community...yet I don't see any photos of these guys posted here...and very little mention of them either. I'm sure this is where we can really make a difference beyond pages upon pages of helmet talk.

 

Please check out:

 

https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/135933-%e2%80%8echangeonething-howzit-helmet-pretoria/

[openmind]

Here's the final say on why you should wear a full face helmet instead of a basic lid. Now imagine what his head would have looked like if he didn't have a full face protector on? Convenience and comfort is not an excuse for inadequate safety:

 

http://i.imgur.com/dl4mqFe.jpg

 

/devilsadvocate

 

Oh come on .. if he stayed in bed he would have been even safer still. Life is risky and helmets do not make you suddenly invincible.

[datapolo]

I have rock climbed at extreme grades, skiied off piste, snow-boarded off-piste, played polo almost every day for a 6 year period, cycled on and off road and all without banging my head and largely without a helmet. In all these activities I have fallen and fallen hard and in all of them I took significant risks and was fully aware of the consequences - but I am still here and the biggest threat to my existence is not a head injury but obesity developed whilst sitting safely in an office.

[BigDL]

I have rock climbed at extreme grades, skiied off piste, snow-boarded off-piste, played polo almost every day for a 6 year period, cycled on and off road and all without banging my head and largely without a helmet. In all these activities I have fallen and fallen hard and in all of them I took significant risks and was fully aware of the consequences - but I am still here and the biggest threat to my existence is not a head injury but obesity developed whilst sitting safely in an office.

 

My mother has smoked for 40 years and has never had lung cancer. So going by that logic, it is safe for everyone to smoke.

[datapolo]

'My mother has smoked for 40 years and has never had lung cancer. So going by that logic, it is safe for everyone to smoke.'

 

Presumably she knew the risks and took them just as I did....

 

"It should not be forgotten that if you want to avoid brain injuries, the focus should be very much on encouraging a lifestyle which minimises the risk of stroke and heart disease. More brain injury is caused by these than all traumatic injuries combined.

The only proven effect of cycle helmets is to reduce cycling rates, which has been shown to increase the chances of stroke and heart disease - and therefore brain injury." Taken from another poster on http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/2010/08/brain-injuries-and-dutch-cyclist.html

 

It seems fine to call people who don't wear helmets idiots but when studies tend to indicate that the general good is better served without helmet laws then one really has to question who the real idiots are...

[Cassie]

I just want to make my position clear. If you are doing competitive sport, you probably should wearing. But just because the only time you touch your bike is for competitive sport, does not mean that is the same for everyone else. It really grates me when people see someone who is ploding along in a leisurely ride in the park or down the strip, or popping down to the shops without a helmet, and calls them stupid. All you that you are achieving, is discouraging them from cycling.

 

I have to agree! I for one do not wear my helmut when I cycle down to my gym session...it's 2.5km's mostly along a bike path...I enjoy the momentary freedom this gives me!! IF I fall and bang my nut...well, It's my own doing and I won't come crying over here!!

FOR EVERYTHING ELSE (off road, especially), WHICH ARE FAR MORE SERIOUS...you won't catch me without a helmut!!

[Cassie]

Safety is a personal thing. Everybody has their own risk-reward ratio.

 

The only risk-reward ratio you can control is your own and perhaps your family. Worry about that and let everyone else live their life based on their own rules.

 

I'll never understand this need to get involved/judge other people's lives.

 

Anyone who gets offended by people not wearing helmets/not greeting them/not using their particular brand of whatever really needs to concentrate more on their own world and less on others.

 

And there you have it Hubbers...the Oracle has spoken!!

 

Eldron...where do you get all this rational wisdom??

[DIPSLICK]

 

 

I have to agree! I for one do not wear my helmut when I cycle down to my gym session...it's 2.5km's mostly along a bike path...I enjoy the momentary freedom this gives me!! IF I fall and bang my nut...well, It's my own doing and I won't come crying over here!!

FOR EVERYTHING ELSE (off road, especially), WHICH ARE FAR MORE SERIOUS...you won't catch me without a helmut!!

I hear you on the momentary freedom part, but statically people are more likely to be involved in serious accidents within 5km of there homes because of complacency with surrounds

Just saying

[Eldron]

And there you have it Hubbers...the Oracle has spoken!!

 

Eldron...where do you get all this rational wisdom??

 

Everyone here has exactly the same wisdom/logic/common sense - most just choose to ignore it.

 

Common sense makes for really short and boring debates

[Cassie]

I hear you on the momentary freedom part, but statically people are more likely to be involved in serious accidents within 5km of there homes because of complacency with surrounds

Just saying

 

yeah, i hear you...i guess it's all about risks..and when one is willing to take them...

When i'm without a lid, i'm acutely aware of my vulnrability (I almost feel naked??)..

 

most people do it (i.e. take risks) every day...not even knowing it! That is scary!!