wears a helmet because
she does stunts.
Leave it to the age-old helmet debate to smash the record for most replies in the Portland Bike Forums.
Irked by the, “soooooo many people every day riding without a care in the world when their brains could be splattered across the pavement at any time!,” a member named “ephany” decided to start a thread titled, “Why don’t you wear a helmet?”
So far there are 83 replies and more keep trickling in every day.
Here’s a sampling,
from “wsbob”:
“…cyclists chances of coming out of a fall or crash in better condition while wearing a helmet seem likely to be far better than without one…”
from “tfahrner”:
“…I don’t wear a helmet often because I don’t believe that non-sport-oriented bicycling on quiet routes about town is sufficiently dangerous to warrant such precautionary measures. I am particularly averse to instilling or reinforcing in the minds of others the ideas that (a) bicycling thus conceived is dangerous enough to require body armor and (b) any dangers that exist in public space are the responsibility of the potential victims to compensate for…”
from “aaron”:
“..if there is going to be a helmet law, then the helmets should be made better and car drivers and passengers should also be required to wear them too…”
Check out the the full thread for more.
This isn’t the last we’ve heard of this debate. Our neighbors in Vancouver (WA) are gearing up for a battle royale and they’ve got momentum to pass a helmet law for kids.
[By the way, if you haven’t checked out the Forums lately, you should. Activity is way up and we’ve got well over 400 active members posting information and sharing advice on all sorts of stuff.]
Thanks for reading.
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To tfarner,
In response to your post:
\”can you present evidence that a higher helmet-wearing rate is correlated with a lower head-injury rate among cyclists? i can present evidence of a strong inverse correlation, incidentally.\”
Could you please present the evidence of the strong inverse correlation? I find this extremely interesting and would love to read it (especially who conducted the study).
Thanks in advance!
I don\’t think soceity should force you to wear a helmet. Just don\’t ask for soceity to support your medical bills associated with injuries sustained due to the lack of a helmet.
Personal experiences:
1 – Hit broadside by a car running a stop sign on SE Lincoln. Knocked down and slid across the street. Helmeted head hit curb and broke helmet. No other head damage.
2 – Crossing Morrison Bridge at night and unfamiliar with a temporary sign hung 6 feet over sidewalk. Did not see sign and top of helmet struck bottom of sign. The top of the helmet was sliced off by the sign. Head ok. Whiplash only, and PTSD from almost careening over the side and into the river.
In both cases I am certain a helmet saved me from more serious injury, possible brain damage, maybe even death.
On the other hand:
Just last week it was hot. Wearing a helmet caused me to sweat more than not wearing it would have. Had to wipe some sweat from my brow before it went into my eye causing severe pain, convulsions, and a certain death by crossing into the path of a speeding tri-met bus. Not wearing a helmet would have permitted the sweat to air dry and not put me at high risk of a horrible death.
Europeans don\’t wear helmets, and they are superior. Next you\’ll be wearing full body armour, seppies.
I\’ve been hit several times while riding my bike. Never had a helmet on. Never had any head injuries. I think it\’s a bit overboard on the whole precautionary measure wearing a helmet on a bike around NW/SE pdx (the only areas I really need to cycle in). If I was in the Tour De France (ha) and racing down steep hills then yeah, helmet makes sense. In the relatively mellow streets of Portland (even downtown here is very mellow) helmets just make very little sense.
Andrew: I believe tfarner is referring to the European study where drivers, when passing a cyclist, gave quite a bit more room to the cyclist not wearing a helmet. I guess the mentality of the common driver was \”oh he\’s wearing a helmet, he\’s protected, I don\’t need to give him -that- much room… *wreck*\”
And whether it\’s taboo to admit or not… helmets look ridiculous and are very uncomfortable in summer.
yeah, but you forget.
europeans also know how to drive properly, obey the traffic laws, and generally not run everybody over! yes, it\’s true.
\”yeah, but you forget.
europeans also know how to drive properly, obey the traffic laws, and generally not run everybody over! yes, it\’s true.\”
Dude, have you been to Europe?! The two weeks I had to stay in Paris were worse than NYC. So many run down streets, cars decide to make up their own lanes, all those roundabouts where chaos ensues. I\’m sure riding in Latvia or some small European village is cake, but most European cities have some aggressive driving. Amsterdam was ok. London was the worst.
This topic has also been discussed on usenet.
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.bicycles.tech/msg/108fb35736a0c134
Great going Jonathan. Now you\’ve got the debate going on here!
I\’ve been hit by cars, sure, but never in such a manner that my head has struck an object.
The falls that prompted me to wear a helmet had little to do with traffic, but rather poorly maintained roads, hard-to-see-obstacles and other static hazards.
People don\’t have accidents only when wearing full spandex and traveling at 35mph, nor do they have accidents only when interacting with traffic. A potentially fatal accident can happen at any time given the correct circumstances. A helmet is a pretty strong deterrent.
Your head is moving. The concrete is not. Figure it out.
\”I don\’t think society should force you to wear a helmet. Just don\’t ask for society to support your medical bills associated with injuries sustained due to the lack of a helmet.\”
I had to quote #3 again because it\’s exactly what I believe. I don\’t want us to become Seattle where it\’s legally required for everyone to wear a helmet. On my occasional \”real\” road rides I always wear a helmet. When I ride my MTB 3 blocks to the 7-11 I don\’t even consider wearing a helmet.
Furthermore, I don\’t think states should have motorcycle helmet laws. I *always* wear my helmet on my motorcycle (even in 120+ heat of Phoenix) regardless of the laws in the particular state I am in, but I shouldn\’t be required to. All these safety laws lead to more silly legislation (i.e. fixies riders being ticketed because fixies aren\’t safe in the laws eyes). It\’s also a waste of taxpayer money creating/enforcing these laws. Sooooo much worse stuff the government needs to be worrying/spending money on.
Despite the apparent traffic choas, the Parisian drivers still look out for cyclists (and scooter and motorcyclists) way better than drivers in any American city. I had no problems in Paris w/o a helmet, and I never felt unsafe.
A few years ago I was making fun of people that wear bike helmets and was overheard by a co-worker who told me the doctors said his dad would still be alive if he had been wearing his helmet.
So since then, as penance I guess, I\’ve worn my helmet…and it\’s one extra little piece of insurance that may prevent my children from saying their dad would still be around if he wore his helmet.
Ya, I don\’t wear a helmet. It is my personal choice and I don\’t want to hear any smarmy remarks from you pissy wear a helmet types.
I believe in obeying laws, so lobby to get an adult helmet law passed. Then I will wear a helmet.
Until then, talk to the hand.
Here\’s hoping that all the non-helmet wearers out there never need one and that none of you is acting as a role model for youngsters.
playing the guilt card, smooooth!
I believe in obeying laws, so lobby to get an adult helmet law passed. Then I will wear a helmet.
There\’s no need to impose artificial penalties for not wearing a helmet. The real-live-risks are big enough, and a mature individual should be able to make that choice. The studies are crammed down your throat enough when you\’re young. I liken it to prophylactics: either wear one or don\’t, and, either side you\’re on, get over it. And most especially, don\’t come crying to me when your choice bites you in the ass on account of either a lack-thereof or over-reliance on the device for your well-being and peace-of-mind.
(P.S.: I am not a [L/l]ibertarian.)
I wear a helmet, but I hate the idea of a helmet law… You want to take your skull into your own hands, fine by me.
I never considered wearing a helmet until I heard someone talking about his roommate: she had wrecked on a bike, without a helmet. It was the phrase, \”she\’s finally getting to where she can speak normally again,\” that did it for me.
The vast majority of the time I wear a helmet. Sometimes I don\’t, for various personal preference reasons. Why should we have a law requiring me to wear a helmet every time I get on my bicycle on a road? I can assess my risks pretty good on my own and act accordingly. Really, do we need another law for cops to use to harrass cyclists?
Why do I wear a helmet? Because I care about my pretty face, of course!
I tell my friends that I want them to stay pretty too, and it has converted a few of them.
My head my choice. I wear a helmet most of the time, especially on my track bike and on my tallbike. I wear a helmet off-road too, and have smacked my head on branches several times so it is rather useful. I definitely wear it at Zoobomb. I don\’t wear it to ride the two blocks to Thriftway to get beer though. I prefer the choice. Sometimes, you just don\’t feel like wearing a helmet.
I have to ask Mr. Libertarian if he thinks that you should be responsible for paying for your injuries if you are hit by an uninsured motorist, and the accident is their fault. Also how come we are the only 1st world nation that does not have national health care? Do you work for an insurance company Libertarian?
For the one time you need it, helmets are great. Otherwise, they are somewhat a pain. But I wear one for the ones I love and who love me. It should be a choice, although I beleive the law for kids to wear them is good and necessary.
I\’d rather have my brains splattered all over the street then wear a helmet. I think the pink and red will look nice on someone\’s car hood too. I also try to wear really baggy pants so they get caught in the chain. I figure by not having any brakes on my bike I\’ll increase my chances of getting smacked by that car someday. woo hoo!!!
There\’s an interesting article in a Rivendell Reader from a few issues back (# 30? 31? cant remember). It talks about helpmet use and the phenomenon of risk. Studies done in Britain show that riders who wear helmets are also more likely to take risks while riding that they would NOT take when helmetless.
So it\’s clearly a trade-off. Wear the helmet and take more chances because you feel more, um, \”protected\”? Or go helmetless and take fewer risks because your bare head is that much more vulnerable to the dangers of the road?
Being a fairly timid rider myself, I wear a helmet and don\’t notice any significant rise in my risk-taking on the road.
Yes lets find some research to support this requirement vs. the emotional knee jerk reaction that is occuring:
– compare TBI rates in OR v. WA (in Europe\’s bike friendly countries the rates are lower than in US)
– also include in this analysis the effect of on obesity rates (and shorter lifespans) that this barrier to youth bicycling would create
– per implimentation success: contact local bike shops and other places where helmets are sold in Vancouver to see about their ability to fit helmets (there is only one full time bike shop left in Vancouver out on192 Av almost in Camas, and Joes too; I doubt the hardware stores that sell kids helmets will fit them to correctly)
– have PSU do comparitive research on driver behavior around riders with helmets (and other lycra gear) vs. normal clothes, and by sex too. (there is some initial research showing UK drivers treating helmet free and women riders better = more passing room)
– any correlation: less kids riding on the streets = faster traffic?
I personally would feel more comfortable if the CCC (etc.) were still in Vancouver to actively help impliment this pending law for our low income youth.
TBI = traumatic brain injury
I can\’t help but weigh in. Through my reasearch, (in round numbers) 80% of bike deaths are head injuries and 80% of those would have been prevented by using a helmet. If you have no family, do what you want, but if someone counts on you, that should be enough for you to want to arrive alive.
As a cyclist you have a responsibility to help keep the image of cycling as a safe alternatvie to car use. Everytime there\’s a bike accident/injury or death we lose potential new cyclists. Little Trevor in Vancouver who was recently hit by a car, is now, mentally challenged. Not counting the hundred of thousands of dollars spent on his hospital care, it was a preventable tradgedy.
It\’s easier to comb your hair after removing your helmet than wipe the droll off your face, for life.
Shift has provided 950 helmets in the past year, to people whom I assume over half were first time hellmet users. I may not be able to convince you to wear a helmet, but I\’ve been able to convert a alot of new people. Nearly every biker I know has had a potential life threatening accident prevented with the use of a helmet. I landed on my head on the 205 bike path, thank you Mr. Helmet.
I have a friend to dissed seat belts, he subsuquently went through the windshield. It\’s not whether you will need a helmet, it\’s just a matter of when.
My aunt is the head nurse at a long-term care facility for head-injured adults in Southern Maine. When I explained to her that I don\’t own a car and am an avid cyclist, she pressed me about wearing a helmet. She said that 90 percent of the people she takes care, including a former operatic tenor from NYC, are people injured in cycling accidents. It doesn\’t matter who injured them (and most of them time, it was bike/car accidents). The fact of the matter is, these people are no longer who they once were. \”Assisted living\” should go a long way to explaining it, as should the indignity of adult diapers. Not one of these people rides a bike anymore, with or without a helmet.
Needless to say, my helmet is always on my head.
Anyone who\’s seen the movie Idiocracy must know that it is necessary to give adults the choice of using helmets for the sake of our democracy . It\’s social Darwinism.
Tbose of you who do not wish to wear a helmet while bike riding should be credited for being superhuman and all-knowing enough to be able to predict and avoid the errors of pedestrians, other bicyclists and more important, cars that might strike you.
I was helmetless on the mountain winter of 2006 and received a mild concussion. Rode down in an ambo. I have no memory of what happened. Clearly struck my head in a mild way. My short term memory is shot. That day is an empty spot. My wife, parents and family to this day deal with the effects of my injury. it has impacted my ability to do my job.
Stop. And think about that for a few minutes before you go further.
You are stupid beyond words, to ride a bike without a helmet.
If you truly believe in it, then go to Salem (and DC) and lobby for a law that disallows you and your family any public benefits whatsoever when you become a vegetable. of course, the law will fail because it would be inhumane and bad public policy.
Good public policy is a law that requires you to wear a helmet, in order that you might be protected from your own stupidity (in most instances, the product of youthful inexperience and bravado I suspect) and in order that my wallet might be protected from your stupidity and bravado.
There\’s simply no excuse.
Spanky
if you are a helmet lover, here\’s a great way to show it!
we\’re looking for a couple more folks to help us fit helmets at the share the road event happening during the liv warfield concert on weds july 25th at dawson park (the cool little park with the gazebo you pass on your bike riding vancouver & williams). no previous experience is required, as all helmet fitters will be trained by legacy\’s trauma nurses in how to fit properly. the helmets will be sold for five dollars at the booth.
if you\’ve never fitted helmets before, it\’s an awesome way to give something back to the bike community. it\’s fun, somewhat frantic, and the gratitude people show you for taking time out to do it is priceless. free food and drink will be provided for all volunteers!
what: helmet volunteers needed at share the road event
when: wednesday evening, july 25th
time: 5:30 – 7:30pm
where: dawson park, N Williams at Stanton St (near Legacy Emanuel hospital)
do get in touch if you\’d like to help, and many thanks!
kirsty
Kirsty Hall
Safe Communities Bicycle & Pedestrian Safety
City of Portland Office of Transportation
503-823-6981
kirsty.hall@trans.ci.portland.or.us
\”I have to ask Mr. Libertarian if he thinks that you should be responsible for paying for your injuries if you are hit by an uninsured motorist, and the accident is their fault. Also how come we are the only 1st world nation that does not have national health care? Do you work for an insurance company Libertarian?\”
Dear Mr. Skidmark,
To answer your questions:
The driver is responsible for liability and restitution and not the insurance company. They are still liable. Since so many people in our soceity are un-insured we might have to go the way of california and self insure. I wonder what the helmet discount would be for the insurance, as much as your seatbelt discount?
Regarding national health care. Be careful what you ask for. I have a lot of friends in Canada and spend a fair amount of time there. Since there is a 6 month waiting list for a MRI, Indian reservations have opened clinics to provide this service so people don\’t have to fly down to the States to get the procedure.
A little personal experience. My father was diagnosed with kidney cancer as the result of an MRI he received a day after complaining of urinary pain. He recevied surgery 3 weeks later and is doing well. If he was in Canada, he probably would have died waiting. By the way, the county supported hospital he recevied treatment at in Alameda has a sliding income scale for treatment cost. Europe is not always better.
Finally, I am a State employee working in the environmental protection field and am a union member. This does not prevent me from looking at issues from an open and rational position.
Thank you for your interest
Your head and brains…your choice. Just keep the wheelchair out of the bike lanes.
Whether or not the driver leaves you more room if you have a helmet on doesn\’t matter. It also doesn\’t matter if you take more risks while wearing a helmet.
What matters is looking at all the bicycle deaths and what percentage of them were wearing helmets, in proportion to how many cyclists wear helmets in general. If 50% of the people wear helmets while riding and 50% don\’t, but 90% of deaths while on a bicycle are incurred by people not wearing helmets, then that\’s all the proof you need.
While I respect the right for people to chose, I also respect and love my family & friends enough to want to spare them of the results of my poor decisions. If putting a helmet on means that they don\’t have to go to my funeral or take care of a drooling vegetable for the rest of my life, then that\’s a small price to pay.
It\’s just not worth it to not wear one. That\’s what it comes down to for me.
I wear a helmet. The $30 I spent for it is a hell of a lot cheaper than what a head injury would cost in medical bills that my insurance wouldn\’t cover. Takes me less than 30 seconds to click on.
I came here to read comments about helmets and now I feel compelled to discuss a National Health Care system. As a Canadian citizen who has lived in the States for almost 10 years I can say hands down the Canadian system is far superior.
It costs the country less and people get better care because there is much less bureacracy. Ever try dealing with a HMO and figuring out what they cover and why? Libertarians always point out waiting lines, but never mention that far more people suffer or die because they have no insurance or their insurance is unwilling to cover the treatment they need to get better.
OK on helmets, I wear one. The risk of getting in an accident are low, but the consequences are too great for me with a wife and 2 kids. I\’m also trying to set an example for my duaghter to ride safely and insisting she wear a helmet is a great way to do that.
Mr. Libertarian: How would changing how we pay for health care increase the wait for an MRI? We have more MRI machines here and that\’s why we don\’t wait as long as in Canada.
Why should we continue to let health insurance companies skim 20% off our health care dollars just so they can harass us with paperwork and deny our claims?
Oh, and wearing helmets should be a choice for adults.
Don\’t wear a helmet? What have you got to lose?
I was hit (t-boned) by a car last November. The car was only going maybe 15mph, but I was knocked about 10ft, and my helmet was cracked clean through in 3 places. Had I not been wearing that helmet, I would likely not be typing this message.
I was not \”sports riding\” or riding at any significant speed.
If you are hit by a car that is going very fast (as my brother was), you will likely be killed (as he was), helmet or no. Contrary to one of the comments Jonathan reposted, it\’s the slow speed, accidental falling off incidents where the helmet will most definitely save your life, or at the very least prevent permanent or extended damage.
In my experience, most (not all) non-helmet wearers are either just plain over-confident in their own abilities (irrelevant given they are surrounded by many very large rolling pieces of metal), or are just plain vain about their appearances.
Wear a helmet people.
Ron
Not really seeing the debate here.
You are either stupid. Or not.
I don\’t wear a helmet because my life isn\’t that valuable. I figure once I get hit by a car and crack my skull open I\’ll be taking up less natural resources. Call it my small contribution to help control global warming.
How can anyone debate that?
Also, this article from about two months ago shows a good reason to wear a helmet…
http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2007/05/13/wi/3wi0513.txt
Cyclist\’s helmeted head got run over by a truck turning in front of him; cyclist survives, helmet doesn\’t.
A friend\’s father (a long time bike commuter and retired professor) was riding on the Velodrome in Austin a few years ago and fell. No helmet, head injury, personality change, long rehab, and he eventually committed suicide.
The day after he fell, I promised my wife I\’d never ride without a helmet, and I\’ve kept the promise. I hope the helmet never proves necessary but….
One more: A fellow I used to work with crashed helmetless. The brain injury left him with about 15 minutes of short term memory. I had to re-introduce myself every time I saw him. He literally forgot he had just eaten anything and so ate some more, doing this until he must have been well over 400 pounds. The resultant diabetes killed him.
Would a helmet have prevented this? I don\’t know, but it sure would have been worth trying.
#42…read the article reached by the link included. Now there\’s a bit of luck. Hmmm…I don\’t think bicycle helmets are designed to protect against that kind of situation.
One more: My dad once had a job on an ambulance crew. On a Christmas morning they got called out to where a car hit a kid on his new bike. (No helmet – this was before that was required.) The kid\’s head was splattered like a smashed watermelon. Being the new guy, my dad had the job off sweeping up the brains. (He quit the job after that.) Would a helmet have helped? Who knows? Clearly there were multiple safety issues involved, but I bet the parents would have liked to have included a helmet from Santa, too.
PDXRunner (Post #41)says \”I figure once I get hit by a car and crack my skull open I\’ll be taking up less natural resources. Call it my small contribution to help control global warming. How can anyone debate that?\”
– All those life systems support machines you will be on take a lot of energy to run.
Ditto Cecil,
Anyone who\’s ever been to the ER knows that a lot of stuff gets thrown away in the process of dealing with an injury.
Re; the main discussion. Why is this an either or discussion, as if once you put a helmet on, you can\’t take it off?
I wear my helmet the vast majority of the time, but heck, when I cruise to my friends\’ house blocks away, I leave it behind. Sure, something could still happen. But life\’s a calculated risk; you try to put the odds in your favor most of the time. Heck I\’m sure I would be safer if I wore a helmet when I walk anywhere or when I drive my car. But those are long odds and I\’m not living for the worst case scenario.
But yeah, I guess I have to echo Ron F\’s comment upthread. My latest wreck where I broke four ribs (ouch) happened at my local park. A total freak accident at a fairly low speed (15-20 mph). How in the world I did not hit my helmetless head I do not know.
Yes, you\’re better off wearing a helmet. You\’re also better off not eating a big fat blue cheese and bacon burger. But everyonce in a while, I\’m grilling one up.
Not wearing a helmet is a pleasure that I indulge every once in a while. Hang me from the highest tree.
of course you can come up with a thousand stories of people smacking their heads and a helmet would have saved them, but knock it off.
I don\’t tell you to stop drinking and eating things that will give you heart disease and make you fat.
Lets ban processed food with sugars and fat.
I don\’t tell you to stop drinking booze because it will burn out your liver.
Bring back prohibition.
You cannot force people to do what you think is better for them.
STOP preaching!! You have the right to do what you want and so do I. How is what you do any different than the right trying to legislate morality?
You are on a crusade to make people wear a helmet because it will save them. Just like people preaching that GOD will save you.
Why not force people to wear sunglasses to protect from the sun? why not make people use earplugs at loud concerts? Why stop with bike helmets? what about walking, snowboarding, showering, cross country skiing, swinging, merry-go-rounding, ice skating, etc…….you could go on and on finding activities that would be \”safer\” while wearing a helmet.
I would imaging that most people on this board would belive that we have the right to make our own choices in this country.
Keep your hands off my body.
Ian (#49), I think you are taking the general sense of caring for others that is being expressed here a little harshly.
I am not intending to preach to you, and even though my brother was killed on his bike (he was wearing a helmet), and I\’ve been hit, etc, I would not at this point lobby for legislation forcing adults to wear helmets (children are another matter, however – it should definitely be required).
I would assert, however, that everyone has someone who cares about him or her, whether they know it or not. No one likes to visit a loved one in a hospital or morgue, and a helmet can help prevent that.
Yes, life is risky. Even if you were to put on full body armor in addition to a helmet, riding a bike on the streets is plenty risky. For me, there is no sense in adding more risk.
Wear a helmet or don\’t. I won\’t say I don\’t care, because I do. But it is your choice, and I am not intending to preach to you, and I certainly won\’t work to legislate this requirement on you (assuming you are > than 18yrs of age).
I have been thankful on multiple occasions that I was wearing mine.
Cheers,
Ron