why we shouldn't cycle with helmets

[IronMac]

If you want to reduce the amount of head injuries on our roads then car drivers should wear helmets and their passengers as they make up for the largest number and %.

Actually, seat belts are mandatory. Drivers still drive.

Airbags are now de rigeur and their cost is in the price of the car. Drivers still drive.

Crumple zones are becoming more common and their cost is in the price of the car. Drivers still drive.

Putting a small piece of plastic on your head and you won't ride? C'mon.

Now for my anecdote of how a helmet saved my life. Imagine a gorgeous, sunny morning. Blue sky all around. Early morning mist burned away as the sun rose higher in the sky. Me on my bike...concrete boardwalk still wet from that mist. Me slowing down to a crawl of 2 kms/hr...standing on the pedals to admire the scenery.

Front wheel slipped to the side on the wet concrete...me going straight down...shoulder and helmeted head going on the concrete. As I was going down I really thought that I was heading to the A&E.

Pock pock!!! Lay there stunned for a minute but picked myself up eventually. Ta-da!!!

[il padrone]

Seat belts, airbags, and crumple zones are much less personally confronting than a helmet, which impinges upon a person's facial appearance and ability to have presentable hair, wear a hat, or other adornments.

[Edit for content -- Dan.]

[bikerwaser]

Ironmac wrote: "Putting a small piece of plastic on your head and you won't ride? C'mon."


I think you need to watch the video again and check the stats on Australia when they introduced the law. cycling fell by 40%.

Again, as the video states (which is common knowledge) that heart disease is the biggest killer in this country. Less people cycling means more inactivity which is more heart disease.

Again, as the video states, places like the Netherlands and Denmark have less cycling fatalities but don't wear helmets proving that helmets are not the answer.

Even Chris Boardman is pro choice on this issue.

[il padrone]

Ironmac wrote: "Putting a small piece of plastic on your head and you won't ride? C'mon."


I think you need to watch the video again and check the stats on Australia when they introduced the law. cycling fell by 40%.

Amongst teenagers at the school that I taught at in 1990, the cycling numbers dropped from about 200+ to just 19, in 3 months. I counted these numbers and was stunned. Student cyclists remained at about 20-40 for at least 4-5 years, and only ever came back to about 80-100. Many other schools suffered similar declines. Mostly they just removed the bike sheds or converted them into some other purpose.

Today I teach at a school with 1500 students, and about 4 of them ride bikes to school

[leftpoole]

Today I teach at a school with 1500 students, and about 4 of them ride bikes to school


Hello,
What area is the School in?
What type of area do the pupils come from?
Maybe it is because the pupils are not encouraged to cycle, or maybe it is because it is a deprived area?
Or maybe you are not in an area that is safe for pupils of the age group at your School to cycle? Maybe Central City and 5 year olds?
There will be a reason.
If no real reason, I might suggest that it is the interest of yourself to encourage pupils to cycle?
Loads of ? marks on this one I think.
Getting back to cycle helmets, if you get me started the Forum will self destruct!
I ride with a helmet because I once fell off without and hurt my head.
I came off only one other time whilst wearing a helmet. I was certainly helped by the fact my head had protection because I did hit my head. I can still hear the noise and sound of the helmet impact!
Sensible people realise that just because as kids they did not wear helmet does not mean they should stick to the same ideas. Most likely helmets were not in existance years back? Another ? mark!
Best regards tio all who enjoy reading writing and riding safely,
John

[il padrone]

Today I teach at a school with 1500 students, and about 4 of them ride bikes to school


Hello,
What area is the School in?
What type of area do the pupils come from?
Maybe it is because the pupils are not encouraged to cycle, or maybe it is because it is a deprived area?
Or maybe you are not in an area that is safe for pupils of the age group at your School to cycle? Maybe Central City and 5 year olds?

A suburban metropolitan school. An affluent, upper middle class area. Students are not encouraged to ride because of helmet laws and namby-pamby, bubble-wrapping, helicopter parents - the sort who walk their 16 year old to school (yes, I have seen this happen with some families). Local safety is quite OK, both on the street from crime, and on the roads from traffic. The only real traffic hazard is the large mob of SUV/BMW-driving parents trying to drop their kids off at the school gate. The school is a secondary school, so no 5 year olds.

There will be a reason.
If no real reason, I might suggest that it is the interest of yourself to encourage pupils to cycle?
Loads of ? marks on this one I think.

There is a reason. Too much affluence and too much 'crass meeja'-driven fear of 'the others'. I'm not going to ride against the tide and try to convince those who have no desire to be convinced. BTW, over 50% of our kids come from a Chinese background.... affluent Chinese. Not a group known for resorting to hop back on the bike their poor grandparents used to ride in the village.

Getting back to cycle helmets, if you get me started the Forum will self destruct!
I ride with a helmet because I once fell off without and hurt my head.
I came off only one other time whilst wearing a helmet. I was certainly helped by the fact my head had protection because I did hit my head. I can still hear the noise and sound of the helmet impact!

All good ideas for you - a choice. Your prerogative. Please do not try to force your choice on everyone else. That is all we are asking for here in Australia. Our sam-fool governments bought into the malingering ideas of the safety-nuts and the surgeons (not known for their interest in cycling themselves).

Sensible people realise that just because as kids they did not wear helmet does not mean they should stick to the same ideas. Most likely helmets were not in existance years back?

This is just a tad insulting. 

[Danneaux]

Hi All!

As before, I am going to lock "the helmet topic" for awhile, before feelings get personally hurt and the Forum does, indeed self-destruct as have so many others where discussion of the the topic got out of hand.

It seems helmet use -- voluntary or legislated -- raises such visceral feelings, it inevitably becomes deeply divisive, akin to "cars vs. bikes" in other venues. It doesn't take much for it to become the defining issue that poisons the larger atmosphere.

I am yet reluctant to do like the moderators of other Fora and ban such discussions outright, but things have not advanced positively since the last go-'round. All angles have been pretty well represented and covered. I am therefore going to lock the topic indefinitely and see how things do. Thankfully, the discourse has been pretty well contained; if it spreads further with similar results, then I shall indeed have to follow the lead of other administrators and make an outright ban. It is not about political correctness, but about maintaining the tone and tenor of a pleasant and supportive community where discussions can safely take place without rancor and hurt feelings expressed online and in emails to me.

If you feel strongly about the issue -- and wish to constructively affect the behavior of others -- then become a shining example of either camp, or actualize politically and try to effect change on a larger scale.  Discord on a bicycle manufacturers' support forum won't accomplish much except further polarization.

Seize the day, enjoy life, and go ride a bike; there's a lot of fun to be had from atop a saddle and two wheels.

Best,

Dan.
Thorn Cycling Forums Administrator