why we shouldn't cycle with helmets

[Andre Jute]

"The ecstasy of the agony, for the chosen."

Wonderful! You'll put me out of business, Pavel...

I used to read Jobst Brandt's reports of crossing the Alps annually until he was pretty old... He really was chosen.

[jimmer]

Dear All,

I’m not sure that I can add anything substantively new in terms of data but some perhaps some perspectives that I haven’t heard aired.

Last weekend my seven year old daughter was merrily cycling, safely, on newly laid smooth tarmac around our 10m radius circular grove in the same direction as four of her similarly aged neighbours with no through traffic, under constant (and as will be seen, overweening) adult supervision. Two parents of the other children (the close is close knit and friendly with the adults comprising a group of friends rather than just neighbours) told her to put on a helmet. Their tone and the sense that she was being ‘told what to do’ upset her and she took some persuading to get back into the fray.

For reasons of neighbourly harmony and a blind acceptance of the safety benefits of helmets I persuaded her to wear one, but it set me thinking.

With the caveat that I felt some seething resentment that others had the temerity to tell my child what to do firmly in place, I took to analysing why we insist on helmets for children and whether it affords them the protection we believe it does.

In this case the arguments can be confined to accidents caused by falling from the cycle or collisions with other child cyclists as motor traffic is absent from the scenario.

Of course the insistence on wearing helmets is born of parents’ instincts to protect their children. At the risk of creating a greater sense of paranoid foreboding, could it not engender a false assurance that the child is safe?

For whose benefit is the child being made to wear a helmet? Ostensibly the child’s, but much of what we do as parents is in pursuit of our own interests and prejudices (a poem by Larkin springs to mind). The child in a helmet gives us the subconsciously warm feeling of being a strong protector of our progeny.

One of the parents telling her to get lidded is a GP and, given the assurance that medicine is now firmly evidence based, presumably someone familiar with making decisions based on all the available information that can be considered credible. I would be interested to know how much they understood of the helmet use data. That is, perhaps, a cheap ad hominem jibe barely worthy of someone with my levels of intellectual integrity, but I’d imagine that were we to discuss the matter they would deploy evidence to justify their assertions.

During pretty much every discussion on this matter, instances where a helmet is claimed to have prevented injury are cited as having convinced someone to wear one. I wouldn’t deny that such personal experience is powerful testimony but does it trump that of my childhood spent cycling through busy streets and over countryside without sustaining a head injury?

I’d be disappointed were my child to cycle less, put off by the need to wear a helmet or due to my not having the energy for another battle of wills (I’m not too proud to admit defeat by a recalcitrant seven year old’s onslaught of attrition). If she grows to view cycling not as a transport of delight but one of inherently great danger than walking or driving I’d be horrified.

To move away from the particular circumstances of a quiet grove in one of Birmingham’s sleepier suburbs, I wonder if the UCI road rules influence the behaviours of the wider public. Are helmets are obligatory for the various tours? If so why? Has a rationale for any such rule been given? I presume it is for safety and perhaps is justified given the greater speeds attained by the participants. So the argument possibly goes, if elite riders need noggin boxes then how much more do we, who can barely flick a V let alone dish it out, need cranial cradling?

Whether I’ll ever muster sufficient confidence to ditch our lids and feel the breeze freely caressing my bald patch remains to be seen but I feel less assured of my daughter and I being safe under a helmet than I did.

Yours, James

[Donerol]

I believe helmet wearing should be a matter of personal choice, and am totally against any kind of legal compulsion.

More anecdata:

I started wearing a helmet about 25 years ago, but only in town. I've always understood that helmets could provide some protection against low-speed falls, but reckoned they wouldn't help much if a car hit me at 60mph+ on a country road. During those 25 years I came off a few times, on ice, oil, and once when a taxi came out of a side street without stopping. I picked up some bruises but never hit my head.  Meanwhile, one friend was killed, and another one and a cousin suffered serious head injuries falling down stairs at home.

Last year we had an unusually hot summer here, so I stopped wearing the helmet. I noticed that cars gave me more room and generally drove more considerately around me!  Maybe it helps that I am a grey-haired 60-something -- a real person, who might be somebody's much-loved granny/mother/wife....

Don't forget the element of risk compensation, both on the part of motorists ('I don't need to pull out/slow down as s/he's wearing a helmet') and cyclists. From a book of hill climbs:

"....a helmet won't diminish the thrills of hillclimbing and it may even help you focus less on the danger of descending. Protect that precious cargo with a well-fitted helmet!"
[McKendrick, Hillclimbs on Scottish Lowland Roads]

I remember a poster on another forum saying that he regularly got up to 55mph on descents, but wouldn't dare do that without a helmet      ! The same poster had earlier praised his helmet for saving him from serious injury -- he had been riding on a gusty day, sitting up no hands eating a sandwich, when a side wind blew him over.....

Some people are more prone to falling awkwardly than others - my brother-in-law fractured his skull just falling over his own feet as a teenager. As I said at the beginning, it should be a matter of personal choice and governed by personal circumstances. Just remember that a helmet is not a magic hat, and cycle shops have a vested interest in making sales.

I don't mind if other people want to wear a helmet but personally I feel safer without one.

[alfie1952]

There will always be debates for and against the wearing of cycling helmets. But from personal experience, when I came down that kiddies slide on my RST doing a loop di loop and then  landing how I did, I do believe a helmet would not have stopped the injuries I received. The physiotherapy is going wrell and thanks for all your kind wishes.
A damaged RST  will be advertised for sale soon, good headset and bottom bracket.

Alfie

[jimmer]

Dear Alfie,

Good work replicating the classic Krusty tiny bike loop da loop trick so beloved of Fat Tony.

You made two basic errors. Firstly never use a big bike and then always land on the granulated tyres scattered around active play facilitation installations to make kids bounce not break.

If I have time after showing Danny McAskill how to land the right way up after a triple pike off of a speeding train I'll post a video tutorial.

Yours, James

[alfie1952]

Hi Jimmer

It' s good to have a professional on the forum, and I'm looking forward to your  tutorial video. I would be grateful if the audio track was clear and precise as my eyesight is still slightly fuzzy. Please give Danny my best wishes.

Alfie

[David Simpson]

Hi Jimmer,

I am interested in buying your (soon-to-be) damaged bike, after you have finished teaching Alfie. Please give me a call when you get out of the hospital.

Best wishes on your (future) speedy recovery,
Dave

[alfie1952]

David

I remember the advice you gave me, and I reckon you are a very knowledgeable guy.  All the things you told me have been noted and will be put into practice at my next attempt. Looking forward to it............sort of

Alfie

[David Simpson]

Alfie,

All of my knowledge is theoretical at this point. If it works for you, please let me know. If it doesn't work, please keep it to yourself. (I have my professional reputation to think about.)

- Dave

[alfie1952]

 David,

Your name and this forum will definitely not be mentioned if by any chance the second attempt is as futile as the first. But if I am successful  you and all the members of this forum who have given me encouragement can share in my glory.

Alfie

[JimK]

If there is a video, it must have happened, right?

http://v.theonion.com/avclubmedia/videos/videometa/4640/zen_mp4.mp4

[jimmer]

You'll understand now why the bike is not in a saleable condition Dave. Cough, cough. Back to the OP, notice the retention  of  cranial  integrity despite the lack of any head gear.

[Pavel]

slightly OT, but I actually knew a girl, a co-worker, in about 1997, who I had a long chat with one shift. She was talking how her boyfriend was soon to pop the question.  I only remember the conversation, probably, because she did not show up at work the next day.  The day after that I found out that she had gone shopping to the local Food Lion (grocery store) and slipped as she was walking out.  Apparently she was dead before the ambulance got there.  What a freak thing. She was in her late 20's and planning her life, grumbling about her problems (he would not give her back rubs often enough) and then such a thing happens.  

It left me further of the opinion that life is pretty random, and so one might as well not worry too much and meet fate head on. ( pun intended )  My dad used to say that everyone dies once, but the easily frightened die a thousand times. I have to admit that every once in a while cars scare me, out there on the road while I cycle.  I prefer to ignore the reality of the danger, to whatever degree it does or does not exist. That helps me enjoy this sport of cycling.  

But I would never legislate away a persons right to wear a helmet, no matter my personal preferences. That would not be right. People deserve to enjoy cycling in which ever way makes them comfortable. Don't ya think? 

[JimK]

How much to sacrifice present pleasure in order to increase the probability of future pleasure? That is a very nice question!

My work keeps me off my bicycle, or anyway limits my rides to what I can squeeze around work requirements. I get some compensation of course for the fuss and bother of it. In the past it was almost impossible to get health insurance around here unless through one's employer - it depended pretty much on the county where one lives. E.g. closer to New York City there were much better options, but of course the rent is lower and the riding much nicer out here in the sticks! Now, though, with the new Affordable Care Act in effect... well, I guess my options have expanded a lot!

All in all, the future looks more secure the more money I have in the bank, so that argues for work work work. On the other hand, the more I work, the less I ride.

Yeah, how many folks have I known who passed away at ages younger than I am now?! Life is a gamble, for sure!

Here's a blog post I wrote some years back: http://interdependentscience.blogspot.com/2012/05/risk.html - this is just one very simple sort of risk, and already it is so complicated!

[bikerwaser]

There is a good case for making cyclists wear motorcycle leathers as well, I'm sure, but basically if one is that aware of ones possible mortality, maybe it's time to join the safe side and drive a car.  Oh ... wait a minute?? Don't cars kill more people than anything else?  Dang.  How about some bubble wrap and stay inside watching tv and drinking beer.  I do believe in helmets after six or more beers, however. Helps with the wife especially.

But personally, the day after they make helmets on bicycles mandatory ... my bikes will go up for sale, no maybe or second thoughts about it.

I agree !

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 %.