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Why Do I See So Many Cyclist Without Helmets?


Andrew_Smith

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I don't feel any safer because I have a helmet on my head.

 

So mind your own business when you see a guy enjoying the breeze through his hair.

I fell 200 meters from my home in October on a steep corner in the wet and my helmet took a big knock, I would definitely have had a serious head injury without a helmet!

I don't agree with your statement carbon 29!

 

 

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When I was a lighty we used to moer off our bicycles all time sans helmet an survived with all teeth in tact. Pros never wore helmets either. But then we had lead in paint an no seat belts in rear of cars either.

 

Wonder what the actual stats are, or maybe a Hurt report or something. I am not convinced thie lil Rudy project piece of plastic I wear is all it's made out to be.

 

A lot of the anecdotal evidence on this thread is just that.

Edited by IceCreamMan
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When I was a lightie one of my brother's friends aged 10 or so was out on in the veld on his bike, fell one his head and was killed. Again anecdotal but logically speaking - head hitting pavement with helmet less painful than head hitting pavement without helmet.

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When I was a lightie one of my brother's friends aged 10 or so was out on in the veld on his bike, fell one his head and was killed. Again anecdotal but logically speaking - head hitting pavement with helmet less painful than head hitting pavement without helmet.

Keep in mind when we were younger you only had to worry about your own stupidity while out on your bike.. now you have to worry about crazy motorists as well as opportunists that can knock you off your bike when they feel like it.. also more vehicles out on the road these days than in our youth.
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Hey guys,

 

Today I went to pick up my bike from This Way Out and I was amazed how many cyclist I saw without helmets. Yeah, they are not in Tygerberg MTB Club or any other, but still... It is like riding a car without a safety belt. This one oke was driving on Fairtrees Rd (16:15) with medium traffic without a helmet. Best of all, he was driving an XTC Advanced 29er 2 LTD. Surely he can afford a helmet. There is also a dirt path which he could have followed instead of being on the road with cars flying by. 

 

I do not want to rant, but I am pretty stretch about wearing a helmet and will always be. No matter what the scenario. Heck, I even wear my helmet when visiting my friend in a residential area about 1km away.

 

No Helmet

No Ride

 

You know there was a study done in England.... regarding motorists and cyclists with / without helmuts....?

 

Conclusion was that motorists tended to pass closer to cyclists WITH helmets and further from cyclists WITHOUT helmuts

 

http://www.bath.ac.uk/news/articles/archive/overtaking110906.html

Edited by SwissVan
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Another cyclist wearing or not wearing a helmet has nothing to do with me. Or anyone else. It's a personal choice that does not affect me or any other cyclist. Or motorist.

 

There have been many conflicting studies on the benefits of wearing a helmet in the event of an accident which is why they are not required by law in many countries. There is even a study that found motorists drive closer to cyclists who wear helmets than they do to those who don't.

 

As Dennis Lillee said when Tony Greig first wore a helmet when going in to bat: "It gives me something to aim at."

 

Even in the pro peloton where helmets are now compulsory there have been as many deaths since they were made compulsory as in the preceding period.

 

I only wear a helmet because it is a legal requirement in SA and I don't want to give my life insurer any wriggle room in the event of my death while riding a bike.

 

I don't feel any safer because I have a helmet on my head.

 

So mind your own business when you see a guy enjoying the breeze through his hair.

Post Of The Day ????????????

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head hitting pavement with helmet less painful than head hitting pavement without helmet.

 

Very true... i still have the scars from a bike accident +/- 1997 at speed on my knee, elbow and shoulder.

My helmet cracked almost in half with just the straps holding it together.

If i close my eyes...i can still hear / feel my helmet scrapping on the ground...

 

Not a mark on my head

Edited by SwissVan
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Who really gives a faq if they do or don't wear a helmet, let them do as they see fit, it's their nut to crack. I ride without a helmet from time to time, amazing sense of freedom, no matter how well a helmet fits it still feels like pudding bowl is stuck on your head, it sucks. Granted with no helmet I generally take it easy and ride accordingly.

 

When I want to take chances I always wear a helmet but for the first 25yrs of my life I never wore a helmet and never did it cross my mind that I was a crazy risk taker, and I'm generally quite cautious. Helmets suck but they are a necessary evil :D

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It's a tempting position to take but on the other hand if we could all hold one another accountable for the small things my belief is that our behaviour improves.

 

Any group enforces norms of behaviour and so if we see someone breaking these norms I think there is in some way a responsibility to the collective to gently but firmly say something about it.

 

We live in a country, perhaps we might even say a period in global history, where what is "right" and "good" and "true" can no longer be taken as read. Without starting a political discussion, our leadership increasingly defends morally indefensible positions and not just locally but internationally this is the case. This filters through to the communities we live in and so we see small tings happening. It starts not to matter if I go though the traffic light on the red but before the cars on the other end of the intersection have pulled off. It's not a big deal if I roll through the intersection until I am completely blocking the pedestrian lane.

 

Without being too "twee" about it I think we have a responsibility to our communities to let people know when their behaviour breaks the social contract. And similarly to support pro-social behaviour - behaviour that supports the common good.

 

If I don't wear a helmet when I'm riding, or I ride on the M5 or I disobey the traffic laws I am in a small way damaging the social fabric, the connection between us all that says we can rely on the other person to behave in a reasonable and positive way. If I turn a blind eye to these behaviours I imply support for them.

 

2c worth.

I concur. Very valid.

I'm often left feeling out of sorts when my son moans at someone for not wearing a helmet or doing something stupid on a ride. I should be the one reprimanding/correcting the offender, but conversely I don't want to get into a boxing match in front of him if the person in the wrong chooses to defend his "honour" or ego

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Louis Theroux has a 1h documentary about brain injuries and how people and their fams live/try to live after. I'm your typical don't stress-er but it even had me super shocked. No helmet=no ride, no exception!!

Edited by ratherberidin'
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There actually push to make Stellenbosch a helmet free area as they believe more people will get up and go cycle without all the fuss (and helmet hair)

 

I for one would love that, hate getting dressed to go buy milk,  Just another thing to figure out how to lock up to prevent getting stolen.  

 

But, helmet goes on  as soon as I put cycling shoes on.

 

I grew up on a bicycle, hit my head few times, but actually have more scars on my head from jumping on the beds and falling off.

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