Controversial cycling safety statement

[The Saint]

I would think much like MX you would be bound by indemnity as well as disclaimers or rulings by the land owner - i think you may also find that there are probably different circumstances or laws which may be applied if you were cycling on government property as opposed to private property.

[Willehond]

It's also law to have a white reflector on the front of your bike, a red one on the rear and a "warning device" (read: bell) on your bike, but you never get any of the self-appointed bicycle police shouting BELL or REFLECTOR at you!!!

 

Next time someone shouts WHERE'S YOUR HELMET, I'm going to shout WHERE'S YOUR BELL? back at them!!!

 

The law is the law right? We can't pick the bits we like...

 

NATIONAL ROAD TRAFFIC ACT 93 OF 1996

Edited October 29, 2010 by Willehond

[Danger Dassie]

It is only desined to take so much impact, its not like a motorbike helmet is it? Im not saying wearing a helmet is not going so save your life, and as Ive said I wear a helmet when I train & race. Not saying it also doesnt do a job its not supposed to do either - Maybe re read what Ive said then comment

 

Never said that did I, obviously it's not like a motorbike helmet. Which is also no guarantee. You made the remark about the bus, which is what I responded to.

 

As I said, I have no problem with someone choosing to not wear a helmet. What I have an issue with are some of the failed arguments/reasoning behind it. Like referring to extreme sports.

As one of mates says "I don't like it, it's uncomfortable and annoying. I know the risk it is kinda irresponsible but if I come pipe, it's on my head"

 

Which I can dig, the oke mans up and is straight up about it, doesn't make any theoretical debates for it. Although that pun at the end painful in itself... urgh

[gtr1]

I also rode in those days gone by when you never wore a helmet, and a few strips of something in a race. I still like to ride without a helmet occasionally. Mainly when I'm by myself. In a bunch ride or race, I'll wear a helmet.

 

I also get peeved off by the strangers that shout out "WHERE"S YOUR HELMET" when passing on a ride.

 

My best is the bunch rides. The same guys who have lots to say about wearing helmets, will jump red robots and stop streets. Ride 3 4 or 5 abreast ignoring the traffic behind them, or even sit behind trucks to try drop their mates on the ride. But hey, at least they're wearing a helmet...so they must be safe !!!!

[Starry nights]

What about us all just wearing our helmets to be good examples to our kids - even if we don’t like it (same applies to seatbelts). May save your kid's (or someone else’s) life one day? Even a small knock on the head can kill – or have other long-term horrible effects - and helmets do help!

[Caerus]

What about us all just wearing our helmets to be good examples to our kids - even if we don’t like it (same applies to seatbelts). May save your kid's (or someone else’s) life one day? Even a small knock on the head can kill – or have other long-term horrible effects - and helmets do help!

 

 

Just a thought, were our parents not good examples to use then?

[Caerus]

Never said that did I, obviously it's not like a motorbike helmet. Which is also no guarantee. You made the remark about the bus, which is what I responded to.

 

As I said, I have no problem with someone choosing to not wear a helmet. What I have an issue with are some of the failed arguments/reasoning behind it. Like referring to extreme sports.

As one of mates says "I don't like it, it's uncomfortable and annoying. I know the risk it is kinda irresponsible but if I come pipe, it's on my head"

 

Which I can dig, the oke mans up and is straight up about it, doesn't make any theoretical debates for it. Although that pun at the end painful in itself... urgh

 

 

Why is that a failed reasoning? 99% of surfers, paddleskiers, bodyboarders, long boarders,jetskiers do not wear helmets. Surfers may wear them when surfing very big waves or over very shallow reefs, even then not at all. There is no one from the health & saftey police shouting out that they should be, neither is people telling anyone to wear a life jacket when they go out bodyboarding or wearing anti shark devices cause they may be attacked. Of course I can use it as a reasoning/arguement. Why is cycling or mtbing any different ?

 

All these people are just as likely if not more so, to suffer head trauma.

[Caerus]

This made for some interesting reading ; -

 

Is cycling risky enough to require helmets?There is no one agreed way of presenting risk. Proponents of mandatory helmet use may tend to quote figures for the (large) total number of head injuries or injuries of any kind; opponents may be more likely to produce estimates for the (low) risk of serious injury per cyclist. One pro-helmet website gives its "own pick of Basic Numbers from many sources": 773 bicyclists died on US roads in 2006, down just 11 from the year before. 92% (720) of them died in crashes with motor vehicles. About 540,000 bicyclists visit emergency rooms with injuries every year. Of those, about 67,000 have head injuries, and 27,000 have injuries serious enough to be hospitalized. Bicycle crashes and injuries are under-reported, since the majority are not serious enough for emergency room visits. 44,000 cyclists were reported injured in traffic crashes in 2006.^[28] In a campaign to make helmets compulsory for child cyclists, it has been stated that "in a three-year period from 2003, 17,786 children aged 14 and under were admitted to NHS hospitals in England because of injuries incurred while cycling"^[29]

 

Overall, cycling is beneficial to health – the benefits outweigh the risks by up to 20:1.^[30] To cycling activists, the major problem with helmet promotion is that in order to present the idea of a "problem" to match the solution they present, promoters tend to overstate the dangers of cycling.^[31][32] Cycling is no more dangerous than being a pedestrian.^[33][34] A UK opponent of compulsion has pointed out that it "still takes at least 8000 years of average cycling to produce one clinically severe head injury and 22,000 years for one death."^[35] Ordinary cycling is not demonstrably more dangerous than walking or driving, yet no country promotes helmets for either of these modes.^[36] "The inherent risks of road cycling are trivial... Six times as many pedestrians as cyclists are killed by motor traffic, yet travel surveys show annual mileage walked is only five times that cycled; a mile of walking must be more "dangerous" than a mile of cycling..." The proportion of cyclist injuries which are head injuries is essentially the same as the proportion for pedestrians at 30.0 % vs. 30.1 %.^[37]

 

 

[Starry nights]

Wonder how those data would look if they were from SA - just a thought?

 

The web is great - you can always find data to support whatever view you have - see this us helmet data

 

 

some intersting reading from this is:

 

Bicycle Helmet Effectiveness

 

* Bicycle helmets have been shown to reduce the risk of head injury by as much as 85 percent and the risk of brain injury by as much as 88 percent.Bicycle helmets have also been shown to offer substantial protection to the forehead and midface.

 

* It is estimated that 75 percent of bicycle-related fatalities among children could be prevented with a bicycle helmet.

 

* Universal use of bicycle helmets by children ages 4 to 15 could prevent between 135 and 155 deaths, between 39,000 and 45,000 head injuries, and between 18,000 and 55,000 scalp and face injuries annually.

 

* Child helmet ownership and use increases with the parent’s income and education level, yet decreases with the child’s age. Children are more likely to wear a bicycle helmet if riding with others (peers or adults) who are also wearing one.In a national survey of children ages 8 to 12, 53 percent reported that a parental rule for helmet use would persuade them to wear a helmet, and 49 percent would wear a helmet if a state or community law required it.

Edited October 29, 2010 by aonyx

[Starry nights]

http://www.almightydad.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/gja0072l.jpg

[Caerus]

Wonder how those data would look if they were from SA - just a thought?

 

The web is great - you can always find data to support whatever view you have - see this us helmet data

 

 

some intersting reading from this is:

 

Bicycle Helmet Effectiveness

 

* Bicycle helmets have been shown to reduce the risk of head injury by as much as 85 percent and the risk of brain injury by as much as 88 percent.Bicycle helmets have also been shown to offer substantial protection to the forehead and midface.

 

* It is estimated that 75 percent of bicycle-related fatalities among children could be prevented with a bicycle helmet.

 

* Universal use of bicycle helmets by children ages 4 to 15 could prevent between 135 and 155 deaths, between 39,000 and 45,000 head injuries, and between 18,000 and 55,000 scalp and face injuries annually.

 

* Child helmet ownership and use increases with the parent’s income and education level, yet decreases with the child’s age. Children are more likely to wear a bicycle helmet if riding with others (peers or adults) who are also wearing one.In a national survey of children ages 8 to 12, 53 percent reported that a parental rule for helmet use would persuade them to wear a helmet, and 49 percent would wear a helmet if a state or community law required it.

 

Im not going to even dispute any of those facts, I agree with them, The only thing Im trying to point out is that youre just as likely going to die tripping over on the pavement while walking. Still shouldnt have to take abuse from people cause I dont want to wear a helmet all the time when I ride, or the other guys that do the same shouldnt have to take abuse.

[Caerus]

http://www.almightydad.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/gja0072l.jpg

 

 

Funny that, you dont have to wear a motorbike helmet in most American states, yet the death toll/serious head injuries are not greater then the other states. If off for a ride now(with my helmet)

Edited October 30, 2010 by Caerus

[GrumpyOldGuy]

In my opinion, everyone is usually Gung-Ho about safety until they end up in a neurosurgical ward and face the next 30 years in a wheelchair, wearing a nappy and eating through a straw.

 

Its easy to be flippant and say "I take responsibility for XYZ" when you have full control of all your bodily functions, can walk, eat, talk and kiss your wife goodnight.

 

Losing that tends to change your view.!

[Starry nights]

Im not going to even dispute any of those facts, I agree with them, The only thing Im trying to point out is that youre just as likely going to die tripping over on the pavement while walking. Still shouldnt have to take abuse from people cause I dont want to wear a helmet all the time when I ride, or the other guys that do the same shouldnt have to take abuse.

 

I agree - all to his own really.

 

I do see a gap for a sports scietist to do a proper review if enough properly collected data out there, or a propoerly controlled study on helmits. For instance these data I found and showed although look geniun and probably well meant may be seriously flawed and from a scientific point of view cannot be trusted at all - they certainly dont give how the data were collected in an unbiased controlled way.

[The Guy in Pink]

I had a fall a week ago.....

 

 

despite the damage to the head, the helmet is totally unmarked.

[Starry nights]

Sorry - looks horribly sore - hope its heals fast.