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I voted other because there was no choice for all of the above. My friends who refuse to wear a helmet often state most of the reasons given. I, myself, just was lazy and figured that I was a safe bicycle rider. Does not matter how safe you are, accidents happen and a broken skull is no way to go.
I was a participant in the 11th annual AIDS LifeCycle bike ride from San Francisco to Santa Monica that started on June 3rd and ended on the 9th. It was mandatory to wear a helmet, protective glasses and to obey all traffic laws, meaning coming to a complete stop at all stop signs, unless prompted to proceed by a traffic coordinator. Our goal is to continue obeying the laws of the road and be better prepared for next years 545 mile bike ride. There were 2205 riders this year and 550 roadies, we raised 12.6 million dollars for charity.
Keep riding safely, obey the road rules and have fun.
I do not understand your linking the 2 issues. I never said it was the #1 priority to focus on; that's not what the thread is about. My question is if it is so relatively inexpensive to get helmets and use them why do so many justify not doing so? Find a parent who's child fell and incurred head injury and tell me if "It's micromanaging and scare-mongering and taking what amounts to a *low risk* and turning it into a huge issue, even more so than actual big deals are."
I wish I had the article from the ER docs at Lutheran General Hospital discussing the head injury cases they treated which motivated them to start the helmet program. It is so relatively easy and inexpensive. The most difficult thing to overcome is parental indifference, ignorance or invincibility.
So do we also go back to letting kids ride in cars seated on our laps? Or wearing flammable pajamas? Or chain smoking and forcing them to breath our 2nd hand smoke?
"The helmet truly saved her from a major head injury, I am sure of it," said Dr. Manoj Shah, director of trauma services at Lutheran General. "It is obvious when you look at the pictures of the helmet, which was demolished."
Dr. Ehrlich is on the road to recovery as she attends physical therapy in hopes of a full recovery and returning to work with her pediatric patients. She hopes that her bike accident will be motivation for parents to purchase their children helmets and for the kids to wear helmets whenever they are riding.
"Wearing a helmet saved my life and I want to tell make sure others know that," said Dr. Ehrlich. "If this accident can get through to kids how important a helmet is, it will have been worth it."
Isnt it the American government who are fools for not making this a law that you must wear a helmet., I find it hard to believe that they still allow this ..
T. E. Lawrence (known as Lawrence of Arabia) had a crash on a Brough Superior SS100 on a narrow road near his cottage near Wareham. The accident occurred because a dip in the road obstructed his view of two boys on bicycles. Swerving to avoid them, Lawrence lost control and was thrown over the handlebars.[2] He was not wearing a helmet, and suffered serious head injuries which left him in a coma; he died after six days in hospital. One of the doctors attending him was Hugh Cairns, a neurosurgeon, who after Lawrence's death began a long study of what he saw as the unnecessary loss of life by motorcycle despatch riders through head injuries. Cairns' research led to the use of crash helmets by both military and civilian motorcyclists.[3]
You people who keep howling about the precious children, can't you just be a parent and enforce it as a rule for your kids? Why are you so insistant that adults wear a helmet when it is none of your business? Are you afraid your kids will rebel against wearing a helmet when they see me without one? That's your problem, learn to control your children. Your kids, your rules, time to exit this debate. Let's talk about adults who choose for themselves. Like me. I choose not too wear one, for a variety of reasons. None of my reasons are covered in this ridiculous poll.
A quote from Bicycling Magazine:"There are 2 types of riders. Those that have fallen and those that haven't fallen YET." May you never fall and your journey be clear, down hill and with the wind at your back.
And when I was a kid, asbestos was being used to insulate pipes, DDT was used to kill insects, wearing seat belts in a car didn't occur, smoking in bed was no big deal and we didn't wear helmets. But things evolve.
actually I have fallen.
and while walking my bike across the street one time, I was hit by a car, and the bike was totalled, I had scrapes on my legs, "lawsuit winner over here".
and I wasn't wearing a helmut, that was back in 1997, nothing happened to my head.
Isnt it the American government who are fools for not making this a law that you must wear a helmet., I find it hard to believe that they still allow this ..
T. E. Lawrence (known as Lawrence of Arabia) had a crash on a Brough Superior SS100 on a narrow road near his cottage near Wareham. The accident occurred because a dip in the road obstructed his view of two boys on bicycles. Swerving to avoid them, Lawrence lost control and was thrown over the handlebars.[2] He was not wearing a helmet, and suffered serious head injuries which left him in a coma; he died after six days in hospital. One of the doctors attending him was Hugh Cairns, a neurosurgeon, who after Lawrence's death began a long study of what he saw as the unnecessary loss of life by motorcycle despatch riders through head injuries. Cairns' research led to the use of crash helmets by both military and civilian motorcyclists.[3]
Geeeeeeez... more government laws??? What happened to common sense??
and while walking my bike across the street one time, I was hit by a car, and the bike was totalled, I had scrapes on my legs, "lawsuit winner over here".
and I wasn't wearing a helmut, that was back in 1997, nothing happened to my head.
So you were in an accident as a pedestrian, who happened to be pushing a bike at the time.
You still don't know what it is like to suddenly fall from a bike you are riding.
There is a big difference.
When you riding, the speed you are traveling can add to your injuries, because it makes the force of the crash that much greater.
The force of the crash on a moving bike can knock you unconscious, which is what happened to me.
Then when you fall, or are thrown from your bike, you have no control over where your head will hit.
A pedestrian has more time to react, and control the way they fall, so a head injury is less likely.
I'm just providing an actual example of how much more serious an accident can be when riding a bike versus walking a bike.
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