Bike helmets (lighthearted!)

[micemicebabies]

I was in a shop today and had the following unwanted conversation:

Nosey lady (NS): "were you in an accident?"
Me: "excuse me?"
NS: "we're you in an accident?"
Me: "pardon?"
NS indicates with her eyes to my bike helmet I was holding
NS: "They're stupid things. Do you were it all the time"
Me: "eh, when I'm on my bike, yeah..."
NS: "what!? I have a child and SHE doesn't even wear one! They look so stupid! Hahaha! Even my child doesn't wear one!"
I turn away a bit, still smiling politely.
NS: "why do you wear it? Were you in an accident? They look so stupid!"

Would I have been unreasonable to whack her in the head and then yell "SHOULDA WORN A HELMET!!!!"

Sorry for the terrible were we're wear mistakes!!

Well DS always wears his helmet and it's a good job, he's never fallen when throwing himself down skate park Ramps but a nice gentle ride through the woods saw him hit some mud and go spinning and take all the skin off his knee and shoulder, the side of the helmet was really scratched and indented indicating if it wasn't on his head he would have hardly any skin left on his face either.

Stupid woman.

DS (21) was going out cycling recently with his cousin (19). Cousin refused to wear the helmet he offered to her because she didn't want to 'look like a twat' as she put it.

DS, who is a keen cyclist and was all kitted out in his lycra, replied 'I'd rather look like a twat than get a head injury.'

DS was speaking from experience having fallen off his bike a few years ago and banged his head. Thankfully he was wearing a helmet at the time, and always does.

He was very picky when he bought his helmet & insisted on getting one that didn't make his head look big

You should have told her that your brain is worth protecting but you can see why for her a helmet is probably pointless.

HerOtherHalf Brilliant! I'm going to remember that one!

The evidence for the efficacy of bike helmets is dubious.

Herotherhalf hahaha I will definitely use that one next time someone has a go at me for using a helmet!

I usually actually wear a high vis vest as well unless it's during the day and I'm brightly dressed. It amazes me the amount of people here who wear no helmet and wear all black when cycling at night (with no lights too!).

DS and I always wear our helmets, but the number of people we seen not wearing them is huge. What also puzzles me is the parents who insist their children wear helmets, but don't wear one themselves :-/

The evidence for the efficacy of bike helmets is dubious

Perhaps. But in my specific case my bike helmet prevented a potentially fatal injury when I kerbed at 25mph, fell and smashed the side of my head onto a sharp edged rock lying on a verge. I have absolutely no doubt that a bare head would have resulted in a genuinely serious injury, if not death.

That lady was rude, but as pointed out, the argument in support of cycle helmets (for adults) is far from convincing.

People who think not wearing one is somehow daft, might want to do some research before judging those without one. It could save a big egg on face moment.

Wow radical that must have been terrifying, so glad you were okay!

Not on a bike, but when I was a child I was horse riding for the second or third time. It was bad weather so we went out into the town (the arena was one big puddle) and the instructor had the horse on a lead role. Someone's dog started barking aggressively at the horse at one point and the horse lunged forward into a gallop. As it galloped the saddle slipped down so my head was being dragged against a wall and I could see the horses legs so close to me. I really thought I was gonna die actually but managed to let go, banged my head hard off the ground when I landed too. If it wasn't for the helmet then between the wall and banging it off the ground, I think I'd have been a lot worse off.

Sure helmets don't work in every situation, but they work in many situations and I think it's far better to wear one than not to. I use one of those BMX style ones that goes around quite a bit of my head, just feels safer to me.

I don't care really if other choose not to wear them, it's nothing to do with me (and the vast majority of people here don't, I see maybe one person a week or less with a helmet in this city), but having a go at me for wearing one and telling me it looks stupid is not on. She'd have been horrified if I'd randomly started talking to her in a shop telling her her Tshirt was stupid and asking if she was wearing it coz of past trauma haha.

I don't care what other people think I look like in it, I can't bring myself to cycle without it.

Could you elaborate please, acasualobserver?

Head injuries are the most common form of injuries for car driver ([https://aseasyasridingabike.wordpress.com/2012/11/26/helmets-expectation-and-inconsistency/ source]), so why are there never campaigns for them to wear helmets?

Surely wearing a helmet when you're driving a car just makes sense? Even if it only saves one life?

Oops...

source

Evidence for the efficacy of wearing helmets is dubious? I find that unlikely.

I'm with DramaAlpaca's son on this one!

Sorely it is none of her buisines. You can dress as big bird if you like.

As a pro helmet, I probably would have pointed out we and all in the fortunate position to have brain cells gong spare.

That's appalling typing. My apologies, hope you get the gist!

LemonRedwood

Google "efficacy of bike helmets" and start reading!

Evidence for the efficacy of wearing helmets is dubious? I find that unlikely.

I've read about this and I believe it is thought to be a perception error. Doctors who treat head injuries in cyclists report that the head injuries they see are equally bad in those who were wearing helmets and those who were not. What they fail to add into that equation is the number who WERE wearing helmets when they had an accident, but were uninjured and therefore didn't actually ever see a doctor.

I think the no helmet surrounds their presence making other road users less likely to take as much care etc.

Read previously but still prefer helmet wear when riding on roads or going faster. I always wear one if cycling here.

But then I have known a young teen die after not wearing one. He was in one of my classes in about my second year of teaching. Cycling on the roads after school. Came off. Hit head on kerb. That was it. Gone. Horrific.

A teacher from same school brought his helmet in one year where he had come off - helmet was caved in on one side where he'd landed in it. He was perfectly OK. Helmet took the impact.

My brother does triathlons and they all wear helmets.

Was she a real life troll? How bizarre. I would have been totally gobsmacked at her even talking to me and would have probably manages this face . But really I would have been fuming dor days that I hadn't come up with something witty and withering back.
I like Herotherhalf's response.

*managed
*for

""The evidence for the efficacy of bike helmets is dubious.""

Is that because they're not the full head/face, ones?

When my DD got her first small moped, everyone went on about the danger.

But you go as fast on a pedal cycle, especially downhill. The difference is that you're not kitted out, properly.

It surprises me, when 'serious' cyclists wear shorts, I've seen some terrible skinning injuries.

Just to add that you wouldn't put a child on a horse without a helmet, or appropriate clothing, so I don't see the difference.

That was another thing I pointed out, that my DD had been riding since she was four.

Thank you, acasualobserver.

The studies also appear somewhat dubious. Case-control studies are not always particularly accurate. On balance, I think I'm still pro-helmet!