I was driving through Cambridge the other day. Obviously it's a big cycling city.
One observation I made that, at a guess, maybe as few as 25% of riders were wearing helmets.
Is this generally a thing in cycling cities?
I'd imagine the chance of being clipped by a car and hitting the deck is quite high?
I'm all for personal choice, so not judging
Thoughts, discuss...?
Look to the Netherlands. No one wears helmets. There is no huge epidemic of head injuries. Why do car drivers not wear them? More car drivers get head injuries. Why don't you wear a full set of body armour and a neck brace?
It's Cambridge. They are like that there.
Previously when there was a helmet thread here I kept a tally of helmet-less to helmeted riders on my commute home from central London through SW London one night, the helmet-less were by far in the majority.
Yup. And no epidemic of head injuries.
Its almost as if head injuries preventable by a helmet are so rare as to be insignificant.
One of the worst head injury cases i looked adter had been wearing a helmet. He had a diffuse axon injury the type helmets may well make worse
Is this generally a thing in cycling cities?
Yes. Last year I did a random sample of 50 in Copenhagen and found about 40% wearing helmets. I was surprised it was that high, but it did include kids who were pretty much all wearing helmets.
I'd imagine the chance of being clipped by a car and hitting the deck is quite high
. . . and, critically, then smacking your head on the ground. I imagine it is pretty low.
Personally I always wear a helmet when MTBing because of the relatively high chance of something going wrong where there are rocks and trees, and on the road because of the consistent high speeds. And ditto skiing. But for city biking, the speed and perceived risk is much lower so I am comfortable with no helmet - that’s the case in London as much as Cambridge, Rome and Scandinavia.
In Naples however - definitely use a helmet.
Meh, it’s a strange mindset. I once nearly flattened a pedestrian who didn’t look before crossing. He was adamant I should be wearing a crash helmet. Go figure?
No collision, I stopped in time.
Wearing special clothing to pop to the shops is one of the things that puts people off push bikes.
Wearing special clothing to pop to the shops is one of the things that puts people off push bikes
I'd guess that for the majority it's probably mostly the physical effort required that's the biggest factor in why they don't pop to the shops on a bike. And unless you have s special bike set up for loading with luggage etc, or have already gone to additional effort to make that possible on your bike, you're limited to how much you can carry swinging on the handle bars or jam in a back pack.
Personally I always wear a helmet when MTBing because of the relatively high chance of something going wrong where there are rocks and trees, and on the road because of the consistent high speeds. And ditto skiing. But for city biking, the speed and perceived risk is much lower so I am comfortable with no helmet - that’s the case in London as much as Cambridge, Rome and Scandinavia.
Same here.
I use Lime / Santander bikes a lot in London, I'm not going to be carrying a helmet around with me on the off-chance I fancy a quick ride to the station. Utility / city cycling needs to be presented in that normal clothes, no helmet manner. It's just an upwardly mobile pedestrian.
Helmets, hi-vis, lycra are all massively off-putting for actually normalising cycling as a simple means of transport.
Look to the Netherlands. No one wears helmets. There is no huge epidemic of head injuries. Why do car drivers not wear them? More car drivers get head injuries. Why don't you wear a full set of body armour and a neck brace?
I'm fully aware of your stance on helmets and if you'll note, I stated personal choice, no judgement etc.
It's merely a discussion
I rarely/probably never wear a helmet myself when I'm riding to the shops
Most of the cycling you’re talking about here is taking place at lowish speeds often on cycle specific infrastructure (which is what we should be building). You can certainly get away without a helmet in those circumstances.
There’s no way I’d ride without one at 15-20mph on a road shared with car drivers who hate me because I’m not riding in the gutter, or at any speed down a rocky trail because I’m useless and will inevitably end up going over the handlebars.
Both times I’ve been hit hard by vehicles my head hit the ground with a smack forceful enough to crack the helmet, saving me from more serious injury. I’m pretty sure anyone who’s had a proper crash feels safer wearing one than not.
im always amazed at the ferocity of the no-need-helmet section.
I suppose mountain bikers have had years of marketing telling us we will die horribly falling of a bike unless we buy the latest best expensive helmet
Normal folk meanwhile have not been subject to this brain washing so use common sense ?
I’m pretty sure anyone who’s had a proper crash feels safer wearing one than not.
Thus take more risks ?
Also be put more at risk by car drivers?
Thus take more risks ?
What evidence you you have for that?
Also be put more at risk by car drivers?
So motorists think « oh he’s got a helmet, I won’t be so careful trying to avoid him »?
Nonsense.
I suppose mountain bikers have had years of marketing . . . Normal folk meanwhile have not been subject to this brain washing so use common sense ?
What are you actually saying here? We have been brainwashed into thinking we need helmets on the trails?
Risk compensation. A well known psychological phenomenon.
J R
Risk compensation both first and third party is real and has been observed in studies. Its not controversial in tbe slightest
With car drivers there is another effect as well. No helmet you are a person. With a helmet you are seen as a lycra lout ie an outsider.
Its not concious decisions. Its a subconscious effect. Its real and it happens.
This is a good summary of the evidence with references.
https://www.cyclinguk.org/briefing/cycle-helmets
Risk compensatio
Its real and it happens.
Quote the evidence please TJ - don’t just assert it supports you. Often studies apply one specific context but can’t be extrapolated to others.
I was surprised it was that high, but it did include kids who were pretty much all wearing helmets.
There are some government guidelines in most of the Nordics about use of helmets in the young. Under 12 IIRC.
I've been stopped by the police half a dozen times over the ~20 i've been here and asked why i'm not wearing a helmet...
Maybe it says something about the infrastructure in Cambridge, that people are happy to bimble about without feeling the need to wear armour.
My mate did a study on it at Uni. helmet = more closer passes by car than no helmet. When he told me I thought it was bonkers too. He was one of those annoying people who could prove anything with facts.
When I go cycling, I wear a helmet. When I use my Dutch bike round town, I don’t. Only tourists had lids when I toured in Holland.
Ben Goldacre and David Spiegelhalter have had a good look at the evidence for helmets. Conclusion? Their direct benefits are too modest to capture.
Were the men long haired to look like women and did they also carry convincing dolls that looked like real babies?
Along with no helmet, supposed to make more drivers give more passing space.
That’s Prof Ian Walker’s research. I’ll see if I can find the link later…
We have been brainwashed into thinking we need helmets on the trails?
Yep. Same with skiing
Yes statistically people will die horribly in both sports if they have a crash horribly and bump their head, but I bet statistically the chance is so low that it’s not worth the mitigation we put in place.
However if it makes people feel safer….
Off-road: helmet, always. I ride, therefore I'll crash. I've had a few helmets protect from face abrasions/ear rippage, so I'm happy to wear one.
On-Road: 'Fast' road riding, yes. Speed = more chance of a spill. Commuting, yes. It's a useful place for a light to be mounted at the very least. Popping to the shops/leisure pootle, nah.
Horses for courses.
I wear a helenet riding my bike in the back garden.
But I'm exposing myself to the risk of falling backwards off my bike and hitting my head on something by trying to hop from obstacle to obstacle on the back wheel.
A few years ago I've fell off the back without a helmet and hit my head on the concrete during a five minute "test" ride, not made that mistake again.
I don't wear one on a short lunch time ride about though.
Any studies on BMX street riders and helmets and head injuries? Always amazes me so many of them don't wear helmets.
As always these threads repeat themselves.
A thing to note is 'cycling city' is a bit circular. The city centre is not well suited to cars. The primary driver for bike transport is the collegiate university set up where lectures are held in university buildings but tutorials in college, so students need to get across the city, sometimes several miles, between scheduled classes. The sheer weight of cyclists means cars have to wait behind big groups of cyclists at each set of lights. Then infrastructure has caught up to some degree - 20 mph speed limits and cycle infrastructure on and off road, at traffic lights and now a couple of roundabouts, and that slows cars down more. So cars in the central area do have to share the space with cyclists, and do generally drive slowly. Many car drivers don't like it, see the rhetoric about Milton Rd roundabout. But it's the number of cyclists that means cars are driving more slowly and more aware of cyclists. I don't know what the statistics are on cyclist / car incidents compared to other cities, as a rate rather than absolute number.
I see more crashes of cyclists with pedestrians, which does put the onus on the cyclist to be insured (another favourite on this forum 😘)
My mate did a study on it at Uni. helmet = more closer passes by car than no helmet. When he told me I thought it was bonkers too. He was one of those annoying people who could prove anything with facts.
Correlation is not causation. Which other variables did he eliminate before drawing conclusions? Speed? Clothing? Road type? Time of day? Location?
I’ve had 4 accidents/incidents on the road in which I hit the ground. In 3 of those the helmet was damaged and in one of those, the helmet was cracked. The latter was a van wing mirror hitting the back of my head.
As for the psychological sense of security leading to a decrease in risk mitigation - yes it’s a proven fact, but this ignores what happens over time. Over time, the application of PPE becomes normalised and behaviour returns to normal. In essence, you forget that you’re wearing it.
Helmets do stop minor injuries, but only expensive helmets reduce concussions and even then it’s minimal. I think the last study stated 17% with the latest MIPS helmets and upto 30% with the latest MIPS and wave cell stuff?
Either way, I’ll take those odds and besides, where would I put my headlight if not for a helmet 🙂
Eldest cycled when he was in Cambridge. He wore a helmet out of habit as that what he's always done while riding, but he was very much the exception.
I always felt Cambridge is a proper odd example. The cycle infrastructure in the city is not great, for every mum or dad pedalling slowly with two kids in their cargo bike there are two students haring around as they are late for something. If it is safer for cycling it's due to the sheer volume of cyclists, and the fear you feel as a driver trying to avoid them - both of which are "good things" in my opinion.
If I'm out on my mountain bike I wear a helmet. I've hit my head hard enough in a couple of crashes to see stars (but in all honesty it's those low hanging branches that get me all the time), and my helmet's saved me from many a sore one. On my road bike, riding in rural Stirlingshire, I wear a helmet more because it's just part of the kit than any illusion that it's going to save me from some skunk addled kid screaming down a country lane towards me on the wrong side of the road.
However, I commute by bus into Glasgow city centre each day, then usually get the subway out to the university where I work in the west end of the city. Once the clocks change and it's nicer weather, and if there's one available, I'll happily pop onto a Next Bike as there's a virtually traffic free route from the city to my lab. It does feel a bit weird riding without a helmet, but I'm definitely one of those helmetless city cyclists!
🙂
I’m pretty sure anyone who’s had a proper crash feels safer wearing one than not.
25mph to zero mph, head onto rock, broken jaw, concussion.
This was wearing a normal helmet (Fox Flux I think)
Whether the helmet saved any further damage, I have no idea, but I reckon had I been wearing something that covered my ears (around the point of impact) it might have saved some of the damage suffered.
For most MTB I now wear a Fox Dropframe, sometimes a full face, dependant on where I'm going.
Gravel bike, or if I'm just going for an XC bimble I'll wear the normal Speedframe
Nipping to the shops, or along the cycle path to the gym I'll wear nothing (on my head)
To echo something I said in the last helmet thread I was involved in - each ride is a risk assessment. Obviously not a written one, but definitely a mental one to some degree
Any studies on BMX street riders and helmets and head injuries? Always amazes me so many of them don't wear helmets.
Closer to the ground and lower speed will mean the potential force of impact will be much lower. I’d also wager that aspects of the bike and body will come into contact before the head and ground, again lowering the energy. This also seems to be the case with most of my MTB falls - I had some time to anticipate my impending doom and do something about it or my bars/forks take the initial impact and I then take the remainder as a rag doll. On the road it’s often a sudden and unexpected stop (car/person) or slip (ice/diesel) front wheel washout and the first thing that hits the ground is your entire side followed by your head.
Wearing special clothing to pop to the shops is one of the things that puts people off push bikes.
Well, that's plainly nonsense. If you don't want to "wear special clothing" there's nothing to stop you from cycling to the shop in your underpants.
(... that is to say, wearing underpants. I'm not suggesting that your underpants have a shop in them.)
Two thoughts spring to mind.
In any HSE hierarchy, PPE is always the last resort, so if we think not wearing a helmet is an issue, we need to ask if we've done all we can for the root cause.
I'd probably feel happier not wearing a helmet cycling through Cambridge than I used to commuting through Nottingham. It's pretty hard to drive Cambridge and not be aware of cyclists and other road users being aware is possibly one of the biggest contributing factors to your safety.
Nipping to the shops, or along the cycle path to the gym I'll wear nothing
That's identified the naked cyclist that used to be spotted around Matlock and Bakewell a few years back.....
Most of the cycling you’re talking about here is taking place at lowish speeds often on cycle specific infrastructure (which is what we should be building). You can certainly get away without a helmet in those circumstances.
There’s no way I’d ride without one at 15-20mph on a road shared with car drivers who hate me because I’m not riding in the gutter, or at any speed down a rocky trail because I’m useless and will inevitably end up going over the handlebars.
Pretty much my thoughts.
Riding in traffic or chucking it downhill in (say) a trail centre I'll wear a lid. Pootling along a towpath or blowing it out of my arse up a fire road in July, the helmet's getting clipped to something other than my head.
Right tool for the job, and all that.
That's identified the naked cyclist that used to be spotted around Matlock and Bakewell a few years back.....
Ah good old Noel. Not seen him for a while, don't know if he's still with us. Used to work in the petrol station at Darley
Much the same in Oxford what with all the students and that, probably more risky dodging the illegal electric deliveroo type riders zooming about than worrying about cars for the most part.
Sometimes I don't wear a helemt, and I've been lectured by other people who are happily standing there in their open face polysterene hat with the strap uselessly dangling below their chin as if they've somehow donned a forcefield that will protect them from all injuries. I mean at least where it properly, but even then I don't understand how some people wildly overstate the benefits despite the complete lack of evidence demonstrating their effectiveness in real world situations. And even if this evidence existed, why aren't they wearing helmets for all the other activities that have a simlarly minor risk of head injuries.
It's just a cultural/ fashion thing most of the time.
Can someone let me know when this thread turns up something new in the Helmet Debate
And even if this evidence existed, why aren't they wearing helmets for all the other activities that have a simlarly minor risk of head injuries.
I'm reasonably confident in my ability to walk down the pavement without spontaneously falling over and braining myself. I've been doing it for some time now, I'm quite practised.
I'm less confident in my proficiency on wheels, and the outcome of someone flinging open a car door right in front of me whilst doing 20mph rather than 4mph are somewhat different. Plus I don't generally walk in the middle of the road.
(Who on earth wears a cycle helmet for fashion reasons?!)
Between studenting and working I was in Cambridge for about 6 years. Commuting on a clapped out single speed deliberately chosen so I could be not sweaty; I could do my 2 mile commute in a consistent 12 minutes. That’s an average speed of 10mph, and as it’s pan flat, there’s no downhills to speak of.
somehow I was still mainly overtaking other bikes.
I could run that 2 miles faster if I really wanted to. (Corresponds to a 21min 5k time if anyone’s interested). Should runners wear helmets? More likely to trip (or be run over) than I am to fall from a bike at that sort of speed.
"I'm less confident in my proficiency on wheels, and the outcome of someone flinging open a car door right in front of me whilst doing 20mph"
The answer is don't ride in the doorzone not hope that a helmet will save you.
Most crashes are avoidable. I have had no injury accidents in half a century of touring, commuting, and riding around Glasgow and surrounds.
Route choice. If the cars are not there they can't hit you. So traffic free or quiet roads where appropriate.
Good awareness of road surfaces and what surrounding road users are doing (including mirror).
James Cracknell for example is a helmet campaigner following a serious injury he suffered from the wing mirror of an overtaking truck in Arizona.
My opinion is that not cycling east at sunrise is a better solution and using a mirror. I have had to ride off the road in the USA to avoid being hit by an overtaking RV which I was aware of because I use a mirror.
Yep. Same with skiing
Indeed.
AFAIK there's evidence for their benefit in children who have softer skulls, heavier heads (in comparison to body weight) and are more prone to head injuries.
That was then extrapolated to adults, probably because it was an opportunity to sell something.
WRT cycling, as far as I'm aware, the benefits are greater the more likely you are to fall off, so again, younger chidren, riding in a peloton and mountain biking.
I'm far from convinced that a lightweight helmet makes much appreciable difference if you're hit by a car.
Should runners wear helmets?
Do runners generally run in the middle of the road? Running into a car door at full tilt would be met with "oof," on a bike at the same speed you're off the bike, over the bars and door and landing on your head/back.
This whole discussion is moot anyway. There is nothing to say that you must wear a helmet, it's down to personal preference. We might as well be discussing wearing a leather jacket or deely-boppers.
The answer is don't ride in the doorzone not hope that a helmet will save you.
Great in theory, bold in practice when you've got Mr You Don't Even Pay Road Tax a cheese slice away from your back wheel. How many people even drive like that, let alone ride?
I'd have a significant hole in the top of my skull without a helmet from an OTB into a rock...
I still ride around on Boris bikes without one.
I don't ride on my "road" bike without one.
Horses for courses...
We have been brainwashed into thinking we need helmets on the trails?
My helmet has saved me from countless branch/head interfaces over the years.
I doubt I'd have been seriously injured but I'd have had a nasty wound many times if it weren't for my helmet.
I'd have a significant hole in the top of my skull without a helmet from an OTB into a rock...
Yep - me too. And it was in a simple relatively flat section that I have ridden countless times so a risk assessment would have told me that I didn't need a helmet.
Do runners generally run in the middle of the road?
Often. Especially in winter.
But anyway, this is making it sound like helmets protect you from other road users. They do not.
As others have posted, I always use a helmet when mountain biking, and road riding... I don't always when nipping to the shops.
Helmets can protect you from spills... if you're involved with a "collision" with a car, bus or lorry... don't go pinning your hopes on one.
Based on my commute across Cambridge this afternoon, I’d say helmet vs no helmet was about 50/50. I think helmet wearing in the city is lower due to 1) strength of numbers for cyclists, the volume makes motorists slightly more aware and creates a perception of safety - not sure if that’s warranted as the infrastructure isn’t great - and 2) lots of students - most of the profs seemed to be wearing helmets, students less so.
I wasn’t wearing a helmet. Didn’t want to mess up my hair. 😀
I stated personal choice, no judgement etc.
It's merely a discussion
I rarely/probably never wear a helmet myself when I'm riding to the shops
And yet you have started a thread about people who are mostly riding for transport which you knew would almost certainly elicit strong views and judgements from “both sides”!
In my view it’s a good sign when significant numbers of cyclists are not wearing helmets for local utilitarian riding - it means they aren’t living in fear everytime they hop on a bike, which probably means others are more likely to do the same, which in turn increases the number of active travel cyclists, makes car drivers more aware of and more expecting to see cyclists and generally makes things safer for everyone.
Its almost as if head injuries preventable by a helmet are so rare as to be insignificant.
Care to share a link to the statistics you're referencing?
All there in the cycling uk link i provided earlier and also in the BMJ link someone posted
I do worry for some of you the amount you crash and hit your heads😜
Do runners generally run in the middle of the road?
Often. Especially in winter.
With most of them clad in black.
I nearly hit one the other day, riding along, i just see thew movement rather than an actual figure. Sudden swerve and a bit of bad language. Then I spot his dog, also running alongside in the road, and not easy to see at that.
Should be a law that runners have some sort of light on them, especially if they intend to run along the road, and not use the pavement.
And even if this evidence existed, why aren't they wearing helmets for all the other activities that have a simlarly minor risk of head injuries.
I'm reasonably confident in my ability to walk down the pavement without spontaneously falling over and braining myself. I've been doing it for some time now, I'm quite practised.
I'm less confident in my proficiency on wheels, and the outcome of someone flinging open a car door right in front of me whilst doing 20mph rather than 4mph are somewhat different. Plus I don't generally walk in the middle of the road.
(Who on earth wears a cycle helmet for fashion reasons?!)
Head injury rates are similar per mile for walking and per hour for car driving.
Far morepedesyrians and car drivers get head injuries that might be mitigated by helmets.
If its evidence based then car and pedestrian helmets would save a lot more injuries. Why aren3you wearing one? If its needed for cycling its needed for car driving and walking. Thats what the evidence shows
If yiu are worried about getting hit by a door do some remedial training. Never ride in the door zone except at very low speed when filtering.
Should runners wear helmets? More likely to trip (or be run over) than I am to fall from a bike at that sort of speed.
Is the difference that a runner can stick their arms out more quickly to prevent a head/ground interaction? In some unplanned off-the-bike excursions I've experienced, the split second needed to release that death grip (or momentary hesitation/misguided belief that I can right the mistake) is a huge part of the crash.
Basically, I find handlebars slow down head protecting reflexes.
In any HSE hierarchy, PPE is always the last resort, so if we think not wearing a helmet is an issue, we need to ask if we've done all we can for the root cause.
Get out of here with your reasoned professional advice!
Not strictly related to helmet wearing, but an interesting view of the risks over all.
Should runners wear helmets? More likely to trip (or be run over) than I am to fall from a bike at that sort of speed.
Is the difference that a runner can stick their arms out more quickly to prevent a head/ground interaction? In some unplanned off-the-bike excursions I've experienced, the split second needed to release that death grip (or momentary hesitation/misguided belief that I can right the mistake) is a huge part of the crash.
Basically, I find handlebars slow down head protecting reflexes.
Do some judo and learn to breakfall. I find on the very rare occasions i get ejected i tuck and roll rather than going splar. Muscle memory or reflexes
The Cambridge Cycling Campaign is very much anti-helmet compulsion:
“Cambridge Cycling Campaign supports all cyclists as they go about their lawful business on the public road. We note that the law does not require helmets or high visibility clothing. The image of cyclists presented to the public has become so strongly skewed towards riders wearing those items that the legitimacy and status of those who do not wear them is being undermined. In order to help restore the balance the campaign reserves the right to decline to promote events or activities where helmets or high visibility clothing are required or implied.”
https://www.camcycle.org.uk/resources/helmets/
I tend to use a helmet when cycling around Cambridge but I'm not entirely sure why. It is certainly a good way to keep my head warm in the Winter, and protected from the sun in the Summer, without having to wear a hat that would just blow off.
I'm not sure how well a helmet works with the Oxbridge centre hair parting, would it not just push the hair into one's eyes?
Thats good oldpastit. Evidenced based.
Even promoting helmets puts enough folk off to make the overall population health worse.
As an aside the vast majority of mtbers i see have ill fitting helmets poorly fastened let alone commutters where a properly fitting and fastened helmet is almost never seen
Head injury rates are similar per mile for walking and per hour for car driving.
a) Again, show your working. Where are you getting these figures from? (Apologies for the previous question, I posted before reading the rest of the thread.)
b) That's a spurious comparison, it's almost as though you've cherry-picked two totally different metrics in order to go "look, these things are the same!" If you're measuring something per mile or per hour then you need to pick one and use the same in both cases otherwise it's about as relevant as head injuries annually on cruise ships.
c) What does any of that have to do with cycling?
I do a lot more mileage on foot than by bicycle. YMMV. 😁 I don't recall the last time I fell over in the street. On my ill-fated inaugural MNPR excursion I decked out twice, one OTB from hitting a rut on a downhill and the other the front wheel washed out from under me when setting off on gravel. Sure, I didn't bang my head, but my chances of having a body/floor interface is considerably higher when on wheels than on foot.
If you're asserting that mountain biking carries the exact same risk as walking to the shops then you're off your uncovered head.
Is the difference that a runner can stick their arms out more quickly to prevent a head/ground interaction? In some unplanned off-the-bike excursions I've experienced, the split second needed to release that death grip (or momentary hesitation/misguided belief that I can right the mistake) is a huge part of the crash.
The difference is that when running I'm unlikely to do a full-body 270' spin on the way to the floor. On the bike having an OTB it's pretty much inevitable. When I first came off on the ride above ☝ what broke my fall wasn't my arms, it was my rucksack.
If you're a runner and concerned about accidents, the best thing you can wear is gloves.
This is an increasingly silly discussion.
I used to live in/near Cambridge and both cycled and drove in the city. I wore a helmet when I cycled because the traffic was insane at times and drivers just do not see you. Any chance of reduction in impact to my head was welcome if I had an off.
From a driver's perspective, it was a free for all. Cyclists not wearing even remotely visible clothing and not having lights on their 20 quid third-hand ratbikes made driving after dark a nightmare and very stressful. But... bike crime was rife in the city, so I am not surprised at the lack of stuff that could be stolen at the drop of a hat.
I don't agree with compulsory helmet and high viz, but I do wish people would actually wear something that is visible and not blame drivers when they cycle into traffic wearing dark grey/black with no lights and get beeped at or hit.
And yet you have started a thread about people who are mostly riding for transport which you knew would almost certainly elicit strong views and judgements from “both sides”!
And?
Not sure what your point is, sometime I choose to wear a helmet, others not - and anyone and everyone else is free to do the same.
I made an observation in Cambridge where we now seem to live in a world where you get screamed at for being irresponsible for not wearing a lid, that the majority were not wearing lids. Ergo, started a discussion about it....
You need to practice falling off a bike from childhood if you want to improve your chances when you get knocked off. I rode BMX pretty much everyday between 10 - 17 years of age so became pretty good at falling off. When I was knocked my bike 10 years ago by a driver t boning me from a side road I rolled from bike put out hands. Only damage was a very badly broken middle finger.
Realise that doesn't have much to do with why people in Cambridge don't wear helmets! I think that will be down to them feeling they don't need to and also being surrounded by other people not wearing them. I don't wear one cycling around the New Forest but I would guess I am in a group of less that 2% but there are very few people casually cycling to go to shops, work etc,.
Cougar. The links to the data are all in those two posts. It's all evidenced.
Just go read them
More folk get head injuries walking and in cars than they do on bikes
Evidenced and factual
You need to practice falling off a bike from childhood if you want to improve your chances when you get knocked off. I rode BMX pretty much everyday between
Basically taking bike/body separation to the next level!
I fell off loads as a kid too. But then stopped cycling and didn't ride again until in my thirties. Not sure falling off as a kid helped that much. Putting yourself in situations where you regularly have to bail out does though (and helps if they're relatively low risk situations compared with skill level too).
More folk get head injuries walking and in cars than they do on bikes
I've not read the data, but is this actual total numbers or percentages?
There are a lot more people walk and drive than cycle
I used to live just outside Cambridge. One time when I was cycling back through pitch black Granchester Meadows from a lovely evening in the King Street Run, I cycled straight into a herd of sleeping cows across the path. Straight over the bars and onto the top of one of them. The herd started mooing and the cow got up, stood on my foot then shat on my bike. Had a bruise for days I did and a very smelly bike. So basically if you haven't got a helmet just aim for a cow but wear leg protection.
I was also knocked off my bike right outside the Eagle by an idiot language student on one of Mikes Bikes - the doorman gave me a free pint of Abbott Ale (back when it was good) to help ease the pain. No helmet because they hadn't been invented yet - apart from maybe the Skid Lid
Happy days.
More folk get head injuries walking and in cars than they do on bikes
It’s surprising how much your head moves in a car accident.
I went through a phase where whatever I was driving I seemed to get hit.
3 collisions in two months whilst stationary.
I hit my head pretty hard on the B pillar when an Audi failed to stop and squashed the poor courtesy Fiesta I had at the time.
So a sample of one, I’ve had more head injuries driving than cycling.
I suppose mountain bikers have had years of marketing telling us we will die horribly falling of a bike unless we buy the latest best expensive helmet
Most MTBer's I know have crashed enough that they know to need to wear a helmet, along with gloves, kneepads and other protective clothing/armour.
And TBH if I had a Pound for every branch that I'd clattered with my helmet etc.
you get screamed at for being irresponsible for not wearing a lid
To which the response is "this affects you how?"
More folk get head injuries walking and in cars than they do on bikes
Well of course they do. Many many more people walk or drive than ride bicycles on the road. The incidence of motorway collisions for cyclists is vanishingly low. Conclusion: it's perfectly safe to cycle down the M6?
At the end of the day, it's a personal choice. I'm of the mind that you only have the one head so if there's a clear and present risk that it might get ****ted then I'm going to cover it up. I'm not going to be wearing full body armour to walk to the bakery round the corner. You may disagree and that's fine, equally that's your choice.
If, hypothetically, we were going to legislate anything (like any road cycling laws are enforced anyway) I'd put 3rd party insurance and some form of hi-viz way ahead of helmets. You can do what you like regarding your own safety but should be made to be mindful of everyone else's.
