CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!

Right, that's it, I'm not wearing a helmet anymore

(58 posts)
  • Started 11 years ago by Wilmington's Cow
  • Latest reply from Roibeard

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12

  1. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    Just been told at work that “If cyclists aren’t willing to take care of their own safety then why should I?” and “So if there’s no benefit to them why do people wear them?” (as in, if people wear them they must save lives - rather than thinking of thecounter that if people don't wear them...) and in response to me saying it’s not a legal requirement, “Well it should be!”

    I hate this sort of thing from people who know absolutely nothing about it.

    Oh, and the reason people don't wear helmets in Copenhagen and Amsterdam is because they cycle at a much more leisurely pace...

    Posted 11 years ago #

  2. chdot
    Admin

    "
    Oh, and the reason people don't wear helmets in Copenhagen and Amsterdam is because they cycle at a much more leisurely pace...

    "

    Is that your opinion or a reported comment?

    Posted 11 years ago #

  3. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    Reported comment.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  4. minus six
    Member

    If cyclists aren’t willing to take care of their own safety then why should I?

    We all know that the real thinking out there on the road is:

    If cyclists ARE taking care of their own safety, then I don't have to

    I beseech people to just say no to helmets and hi viz, unless the conditions demand it.

    For me, a helmet is only required in some wild off road scenario, and hi viz is only required in foggy low light conditions.

    Your mileage may vary, naturally.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  5. crowriver
    Member

    I got much the same tirade from the head teacher of our primary yesterday. This was in relation to children on bikes and scooters, not adults. Oh don't forget the hi-viz clothing.

    I think many non-cyclists/scooterists overestimate the dangers of said activities. They let their imaginations run away with them. I reckon they are subconsciously projecting their own fear that they might hit someone with their big lump of metal on wheels. I mean, not driving must be dangerous: we've no airbags, roll cages nor seat belts, after all.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  6. Cyclingmollie
    Member

    crowriver: "I reckon they are subconsciously projecting their own fear that they might hit someone"

    Odd that we never hear from the tens of thousands of drivers who've knowingly cut up cyclists. Unless they are putting a different spin on it: "I think the roads are too dangerous for cyclists (if everyone's driving is as bad as mine)" or thinks: "If I cycled like I drive I'd be hospitalised in days".

    Posted 11 years ago #

  7. mgj
    Member

    Actually, I thought the research showed some benefits for children in helmets (more likely to fall off, skulls not as fully formed/strong) but then i see some of the badly fitted and perched helmets on heads and think that its unlikely to do much to help in an off. Helmets for scooters though is just a nonsense

    Posted 11 years ago #

  8. Uberuce
    Member

    My helmet's gone back on my head recently, although the only bits I'm interested in are the chinstrap, light mounts and headband with clicky wheel.

    If there was an equally secure method of attaching lights to my head and a buff round my ears that didn't make me look utterly ridiculous(as the straps alone would) I'd use that instead.

    I had a conversation with a colleague when I stopped wearing my helmet this spring that went roughly:

    C: If you get killed it'll be your own fault.
    U: What, even if there's no head injury? Are you saying the lid makes a forcefield from head to toe?
    C: Okay, if there's no head injury that's not your fault.
    U: What if there's non-survivable injuries below the neck as well as a head injury?
    C: Fine, fine, that's not your fault either.
    U: So you'll just wait till you've read the coroner's report before you feel sorry for me?
    C: That's about it.

    I've not had subsequent grief about lidlessness since then.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  9. SRD
    Moderator

    @crowriver - my school run fun http://deceasedcanine.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/6-yo-on-bike-v-angry-mum.html

    (not helmets so slightly OT)

    Posted 11 years ago #

  10. rust
    Member

    In a slightly joking way I've previously suggested there would be a benefit in teaching judo, or least the how to fall properly parts of it, to children. I've always felt that would do far more to prevent injuries, to wrists, arms and heads, than helmets or other protective gear ever could.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  11. wingpig
    Member

    "...there would be a benefit in teaching judo, or least the how to fall properly parts of it, to children..."

    Already attempting to get mine to do a forward-roll-with-side-breakfall instead of a standard forward roll. I was taught to fall properly gently as a youngster and it was certainly useful when running around and being pushed out of trees. When I came off chin-first onto the Mound in 2004 I evidently didn't get enough limbs in front of my face but I noticed on my two skids-off-sideways-on-mud in the past few years that I'd managed to roll over my elbow rather than attempt to stop suddenly on it.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  12. EddieD
    Member

    We should all get 'bents - less distance to fall, less damage to the bonce...

    I've started leaving the lid behind on some rides, but for some (particularly when using the Croix as a cross bike) I still think it's a good idea, and besides, the I get the best view on my GoPro from there (when it works :( )

    Posted 11 years ago #

  13. twq
    Member

    @EddieD I've managed to jump off my bike a couple of times in evasive manoeuvres, and land on my feet with uncharacteristic cat-like agility. Can't see the same happening on a 'bent. That's probably what worries me the most about them, but I've yet to give one a shot.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  14. Min
    Member

    “If cyclists aren’t willing to take care of their own safety then why should I?”

    So does this person deliberately drive dangerously around cyclists to teach them a lesson or do they just drive dangerously round all cyclists believing that if they crush one who is wearing a helmet then they will be miraculously saved?

    Posted 11 years ago #

  15. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    Was pretty much what I asked. Thankfully it appears that isn't the case.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  16. EddieD
    Member

    With the bent I can normally get a foot down, and use them as outriggers.

    On the rare occasion I have come off, the bars act as a roll cage, and I tend to have nothing more than a minor bump on my shoulder, and it's always less painful than coming off an upright

    Six and two threes really though.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  17. Zenfrozt
    Member

    Heh ok, now I feel kinda bad because I do like wearing my helmet and I do genuinely feel safer in my hideous bright pink coat of doom.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  18. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    Nowt wrong with that at all. What gets my goat is people who haven't considered it at all, who don't ride, who simply assume they know what's best for all cyclists (and possibly founded on, as mentioned by some above, their own worries and fears).

    Posted 11 years ago #

  19. Min
    Member

    Ride your bike. Wear what you want. Never feel bad.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  20. skotl
    Member

    If I'm going to crack any part of my head off the pavement, I'd prefer 1.5" of polystyrene between me and the pavement.
    Seems simple enough?

    Posted 11 years ago #

  21. MeepMeep
    Member

    *goes to the farthest away corner of CCE to cry gently to herself whilst rocking back and forth*

    We need a ticker with "xx number of days since a h****t comment was made"

    Posted 11 years ago #

  22. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    "Ride your bike. Wear what you want. Never feel bad."

    This.

    The thread was about people with no link to cycling at all proclaiming what cyclists should and shouldn't wear. If anyone wants to debate the usefulness or otherwise of helmets please visit THE Helmet Thread in MeepMepp's link.

    This was intended as a very different beast.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  23. alanr
    Member

    It's true that you have less far to fall with a recumbent bike, but at least in my experience, until you learn how to ride one, you do it a lot more often. I've traded in my recumbent trike (which I loved) for a recumbent bike and I'm falling off about five times per hour just now. No damage at all any time. On my upright bike, I can do anything I like and I don't fall off. Of course, the last time I fell off it, I broke a rib. Re the "H" word, the real downside of them is the air resistance, but they do offer a convenient camera platform, and if I were to hit my head, they should help. Surely the problem with h****** is the unjustified fury they provoke in some people, rather than the things themselves?

    Posted 11 years ago #

  24. Uberuce
    Member

    Wombat. ie, I had gone into THE helmet thread territory.

    I will go back on topic and vouch for my bafflement that people can be so sure of matter velo, despite having less vehicular cycling experience in their entire lives than I've had this lunchtime.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  25. alanr
    Member

    Sorry, WC, you're right. People should stick to pontificating when they know something about it. Which is the problem, because they often don't, and then get infuriated if you don't agree with them.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  26. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    Spot on with this, "Surely the problem with h****** is the unjustified fury they provoke in some people, rather than the things themselves?"

    And no problem with a delve into whether recumbents are safer for the head or not! ;)

    Posted 11 years ago #

  27. alanr
    Member

    "Ride your bike. Wear what you want. Never feel bad."
    Yes, definitely.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  28. MeepMeep
    Member

    This was intended as a very different beast.

    WC: is this to say you're deliberately mankini-baiting Uberuce and ARobComp? This could potentially get more controversial than The Helmet Thread...

    Posted 11 years ago #

  29. Uberuce
    Member

    You need to get your mind out of the mankini, MeepMeep.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  30. MeepMeep
    Member

    Not difficult - there's hardly any room to get into a mankini!

    I'll be respectable and try my hardest to behave tonight.

    Posted 11 years ago #

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