This public health professional says nay to helmets.

[angminas]

Yea the article is stupid.

I do feel that it should be a choice, and not a law however. Just like every other 'for your safety' law which is really just a way to make money.

As soon as you can make it so people not wearing helmets doesn't hurt others, I'm with you.

 

[JoeBleed]

honestly, i think bike helmets should be much more like full-face motorcycle helmets. one, they'd look cooler IMO, and two, they'd provide some cushion to the rest of the head.

Yea, i'd have to mostly agree with this. I've never understood how those 1/3 or 1/2 helmets do anything for bicyclist head protection. They do really look like they'd be more likely cause injury in a fall. in the picture at the top of the article, it does look like they may make 3/4 helmets for cyclist at least. I've ridden bicycles off an on for a very long time. I've never worn a helmet. I've also been very lucky in not hitting my head in any of the many falls i had. I rode on the street more than i do off road now too. I still don't like the idea of wearing a helmet on a bicycle. I don't ride that fast or aggressive either. If they ever pass a law that says i have to wear a helmet while riding a bicycle, i'd probably not ride anymore. Unless they do make some variant of 3/4 or full helmet for bikes that's a bit lighter than motorcycle helmets.

Now on a motorcycle, i really don't care if they make it legal to ride without a helmet, i'm still ridding with a full helmet. I clean off too many bugs in the short time i've ridden a motorcycle to be ok with anything less (even with a windscreen on the bike). I got lucky on my motorcycle too, i recently dropped it trying not to hit a deer that ran out from a corn field and managed to not hit my head. I'm not sure how, but i guess i was just lucky. Was really lucky as i wasn't wearing ridding pants, only jeans, and ended up with not a single scratch on my leg that hit the ground. tore the jeans up though. did get a spot of road rash on my elbow as the pad in my jacket shifted and my jacked got eaten up. All in all i came out good. parts for the bike to be drivable again are under $200.

Yea i know, dropping the bike doesn't sound lucky, but i've seen what happens to people when they hit the deer. A goat in once instance. I'd much rather low side the bike.

 

[JoeBleed]

Stopping cyclists who blew through stop signs was one of my favorite things to do.

Thank you! how about the ones ridding on the wrong side of the road AND blowing through stop signs/lights?

I got looked at odd when i'm sitting at a stop light with traffic in the small town i live in...

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Ha

There is no difference between not wearing a helmet and dieing from a brain injury and wearing a helmet and not dieing from a brain injury. This guy is a genious.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Thank you! how about the ones ridding on the wrong side of the road AND blowing through stop signs/lights?

I got looked at odd when i'm sitting at a stop light with traffic in the small town i live in...

You all do know that right of way laws or on a per state basis.

Not sure about cyclists but pedestrians in Connecticut have the right of way at cross walks. Where I work, many people just step in the road without looking. And get this. The drivers know the right of way laws and stop for them.

EDIT: Ya, I just read up on bike law in CT. Soends like you are equal to a pedestrian. Meaning you can step into a cross walk at any time and drivers are expected to stop.

 

[jlee]

You all do know that right of way laws or on a per state basis.

Not sure about cyclists but pedestrians in Connecticut have the right of way at cross walks. Where I work, many people just step in the road without looking. And get this. The drivers know the right of way laws and stop for them.

EDIT: Ya, I just read up on bike law in CT. Soends like you are equal to a pedestrian. Meaning you can step into a cross walk at any time and drivers are expected to stop.

Generally speaking, bicyclists are under pedestrian laws if they are walking their bikes and under vehicle laws if they are riding them. YMMV.

 

[Fayd]

Funny. I thought gravity was what kept my ass in the seat.

My sister had a 1-car accident going too fast around a free-way onramp and spun out, slammed into a wall, and catapulted her body headfirst into the windscreen. she lived... only couple days hospital stay, concussion, and a totaled car.

analysis after the fact showed that the steering wheel had been bent by the force of her holding on to it trying to stay in the seat through that maneuver.

had she been wearing her seatbelt, she would likely have been using the steering wheel as a steering wheel, and not as an anchor.

so yeah, seatbelts keep your ass in the seat.

 

[edro]

http://www.bikinginmpls.com/about/

Hey, I’m Lindsey. I’m an avid cyclist, writer, and asker of questions.

lol, so you are basically a moron.
Thanks for your terrible article.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Yea, i'd have to mostly agree with this. I've never understood how those 1/3 or 1/2 helmets do anything for bicyclist head protection. They do really look like they'd be more likely cause injury in a fall. in the picture at the top of the article, it does look like they may make 3/4 helmets for cyclist at least. I've ridden bicycles off an on for a very long time. I've never worn a helmet. I've also been very lucky in not hitting my head in any of the many falls i had. I rode on the street more than i do off road now too. I still don't like the idea of wearing a helmet on a bicycle. I don't ride that fast or aggressive either. If they ever pass a law that says i have to wear a helmet while riding a bicycle, i'd probably not ride anymore. Unless they do make some variant of 3/4 or full helmet for bikes that's a bit lighter than motorcycle helmets.

Now on a motorcycle, i really don't care if they make it legal to ride without a helmet, i'm still ridding with a full helmet. I clean off too many bugs in the short time i've ridden a motorcycle to be ok with anything less (even with a windscreen on the bike). I got lucky on my motorcycle too, i recently dropped it trying not to hit a deer that ran out from a corn field and managed to not hit my head. I'm not sure how, but i guess i was just lucky. Was really lucky as i wasn't wearing ridding pants, only jeans, and ended up with not a single scratch on my leg that hit the ground. tore the jeans up though. did get a spot of road rash on my elbow as the pad in my jacket shifted and my jacked got eaten up. All in all i came out good. parts for the bike to be drivable again are under $200.

Yea i know, dropping the bike doesn't sound lucky, but i've seen what happens to people when they hit the deer. A goat in once instance. I'd much rather low side the bike.

The good ones are designed to go around the back of your skull and stick out in from like a hat a bit. The point of them is to save you if you get thrown from your bike. It protects you from cracking your sull and that's about it. Facial injuries can occur if you get hit by a car.

For mountain biking it is fine. People that do downhill where full BMX helmets. For road biking, probably knowing general safety rules will save you. A drunk driver is going to kill you no matter what.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

People will so often put up photos on social media of obliterated helmets and say, “Holy crap, look at my helmet! It saved my life!” But helmets are not supposed to shatter. When a helmet protects your head from a serious injury, the styrofoam inside will be compressed and stay that way. Most of the pictures I’ve seen are of helmets that have broken apart. It’s likely that the helmet did not protect someone from a severe injury.

lol, this logic.

"Bullet proof vests are not supposed to be penetrated. When a bullet proof vest protects your chest from serious injury, the kevlar inside will absorb the impact and stay that way. I've seen pictures of a bullet proof vest being heavily penetrated by a .50-cal rifle. It's likely that the bulletproof vest did not protect someone from severe injury."

 

[ViviTheMage]

I wear my helmet when I mountain bike 100% of the time...i've had too many non serious run ins that would just straight up hurt, albeit not KILL. I wear it sometimes/rarely when I street bike though.

If I am on my motorcycle, I ALWAYS wear a helmet.

 

[K7SN]

You all do know that right of way laws or on a per state basis.

Not sure about cyclists but pedestrians in Connecticut have the right of way at cross walks. Where I work, many people just step in the road without looking. And get this. The drivers know the right of way laws and stop for them.

EDIT: Ya, I just read up on bike law in CT. Soends like you are equal to a pedestrian. Meaning you can step into a cross walk at any time and drivers are expected to stop.

Here in the west, specifically Nevada, pedestrians and people pushing or riding a bicycle, pushing an unlicensed dirt bike or a baby carriage have right-of-way in crosswalks. Those that jaywalk can be and are cited. They don't have as much rights as a range cow because while drivers are expected to brake or take evasive action; what a jury decides is reasonable attempt to avoid contact; if the pedestrian is found to be responsible, like darting out from behind a parked van and being turned into a projectile that dents the trunk of the car in front. The pedestrian or his heirs are liable for the damage to both the vehicle that made contact and the vehicle damage by the human cannonball.

A range cow on a posted road, we have 1,000s of miles of posted open range, roads is not responsible for damaging the front end of a Ferrari even if the driver was driving the speed limit because posting the road as open range means you have to be vigilant. A mountain biker coming off a step hill and unable to stop before entering the road has less rights than a mangy castrated bovine, properly called a steer, has right-of-way and the owner of the steer is entitled to compensation at about $150 a 100 pounds so that steer depending on age adds another $1,200 to $1,500 dollars to the Ferrari drivers lose.

The only way for person on foot can have any rights outside a crosswalk is to be leading a driving or pulling animal; Oxen, plow horse, pack burro or mule. Those animals and driven or ridden beasts of burden have right-of-way and a man riding a horse at walk (about 4 mph) is not considered impeding traffic but is expected to be in the slow lane and go with the flow of traffic; stop at traffic lights and not get on a freeway where a minimum speed (45 MPH). fortunately most cowboys pasture their mounts and get in new pickup and drive the truck, not ride a horse, to town.

As posted laws are different from state to state; I've been stopped for almost an hour when they closed the only road through a national park in Utah to allow cowboys to trail a couple hundred cows through the park to pasture on the other side. They leave a trail of cow pies and when one does get to go, one drives carefully or washes their vehicle at the first 'whiz wash' (A common rural way to use a warm water and soap sprayer to get whatever of a car or truck.

That said here in Nevada; ridden bicycles must obey all traffic laws, have a flashing tail light and headlamp if ridden at night, can be cited for speeding or running a stop sign and pay the same fines. If they also have a car and a drivers license the can accumulate points, which if they have several offenses, means traffic school or losing your license. If there is a bike lane, they must use it and we have plenty of urban bike lanes or actual paths 10 foot of the car right-of-way. Motorcyclists must wear helmets, but scooters, bicyclists and skate boards have a choice, the prudent wear helmets and the rest do not. Having to wear a helmet on a motorcycle craps the style of those California Hells Angel types that ride in packs and wish to venture to the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe. Imagine a line of Harleys with their jacketed riders waiting on the side of the road while a Highway Patrolman writes one citation at a time.

All, laws are different. I who always wear a helmet when riding on the street or racing in Baja California, think adult motorcyclists with two year experience should have a choice to wear on not wear a helmets as long as they have organ donor on their licenses. flame on, it is my opinion if you die because you don't wear a helmet; the citizens have a right to recover some of the expense of n your death (Ambulance, Hospital, etc.) by harvesting you organs.

laws are different by state, sometimes county or municipality. One municipality may allow roller skating on city streets and the next may not, Like right-of-way, it can be the same with helmets

I sure wrote a lot of the quirks and variations of the law as you cross jurisdictional boundaries.

 

[skyking]

I disagree. There is a whole middle ground where you survive with a closed-head injury at the state's expense, for a long and miserable life. I'd rather people just wore helmets as they do seatbelts.

 

[kage69]

http://www.bikinginmpls.com/im-done-wearing-helmet/

Personally, I don't buy into this. Both my dad and I have had a helmet save our domes, and it wasn't due to us acting stupid. My dad had a blowout on his road bike at 30MPH and went head first into the pavement. I had a branch snag my bike while on a wooded path and threw me down to the rocky trail.

In both cases our bodies were beat up pretty good, and the helmets were smashed, but our brains weren't scrambled.

Thoughts?

I've encountered this mindset often in Maine, where there are no helmet laws. Ask bikers and they will immediately tell you it's because they think there is a risk of neck damage if you fall to the ground and you're wearing a helmet.

I think they are delusional and it's a crock of shit, used to justify an already established aversion to wearing helmets. In what world is a shattered/pulped skull more desirable than a damaged or broken neck? People can survive neck/vertebrae injuries, smashed brains pierced with shards of your own skull? Not so much.

Not talking about mountain bikes here, but I think if you're adventurous or dumb enough to ride a motorcycle, especially at noteworthy speeds, you should do everything you can to increase the odds of surviving the "accident" that life has in store for you. If the wind rustling through your hair is more important than basic safety, well fine, have fun and good luck avoiding becoming a statistic.

Friend of my little brother is no longer alive today because he hated helmets. Was doing less than 20mph around a parking lot and a car backed out into his path, sent him into a metal rail and he died from head trauma. If he had been wearing one he would have walked away with a scrapes and bruises instead.