[Closed] Wear your helmet

That does not sound good at all and I hope he is fine.
Accidents happen and it is not the kids fault

Get a good nights sleep as it will be fine in the morning

Please no one do the helmet debate on this thread

Youngest son (9) reminded us to put on our helmets.

Smart kid, hope your dad makes a full and speedy recovery.

I've broken two lids after hitting a tree & a gate (don't ask). Somehow I think my head may have been busted if I hadn't been wearing a helmet (twice)
Wear mine for the shops even.

Hope Dad's ok!

Couldn't agree more. Hope your dads ok.

Had a number of crashes that would've been serious head injuries without one. Last incident cracked my hex helmet right through the polystyrene in two places! I'd have been in serious trouble without it.

Once went to lee quarry and forgot my lid, still rode but didn't enjoy the day as i was taking it easy and it just didn't feel right.

That's a pretty tough days riding mate !

Get some sleep and in the morning remind your 9 year old over breakfast that if he hadn't told the grown ups to put their helmets on then things could have been a lot worse ! Then tell the two of them he wasn't swerving at the back but trying to pop wheelies, and after all that and when it's all settled down think about yourself and wonder at what you will be doing when you are 76 and pray that you will still be riding...... Lastly remind the old fart its his round !

Take the bike out of the equation. Not hard to imagine. Would you still encourage everyone to wear helmets walking to the shops to get ice cream? If not, why not?

Serious injury from cycling is on par in probability to a jackpot win. The odds aren't good enough to make me play the lottery.

Sorry to hear of his injuries and I hope he has a speedy recovery.

A little over 10mph is about 12mph which is just about the speed where your brain moves inside your skull if you come to a violent halt. The helmet slows the spike in G and spreads the impact load. It's a simple device that regularly saves lives of those that choose to wear them.
Your life, your choice but not many people walk to the shops at 12mph.

Sorry to hear this and wishes for a speedy recovery.
When I'm 76 and have been off the bike for 20 years, I'll probably wear a helmet

Just best wishes for Mr Mountainlight Snr from me mate, get well soon sir!

Hope he's ok. Sounds like a hell of a shock. I can sympathise. I went OTB and face-planted in much the same manner. Smashed my face in pretty badly, and split my helmet up the front. The surgeon who stitched me up in A&E said, looking at the damage to my face, if I hadn't helmet on I'd definitely have been looking at serious head injuries/fractured skull. Or worse...

It absolutely amazes me when I see people riding with no helmet on.

Your life, your choice but not many people walk to the shops at 12mph.

Surely it's about the speed your head hits the ground at - which is completely different to the speed you are walking/cycling at?

At the moment I'm having a "discussion" with a bloke on Cycle Chat who claims that wearing a helmet is dangerous because the rotational leverage it exerts in an accident could break your neck. What a dick.

Hope he's ok mate. Wife had a similar off, years back now - approx 20mph down a hill and the brake block (borrowed bike) wore through the front tyre & tube. Blow out, straight over the bars onto her head. If she hadn't borrowed my helmet hate to think what state she would've been in.
Personal choice, but save more than they cause!

THIS IS NOT A HELMET THREAD
HAVE SOME RESPECT FOR THE OP
PLEASE
Resist, just for once, STW

globalti - Member
At the moment I'm having a "discussion" with a bloke on Cycle Chat who claims that wearing a helmet is dangerous because the rotational leverage it exerts in an accident could break your neck. What a dick.

Reading a thread at moment about an elderly person having an accident. Somebody swerves to bring up the helmet debate. What a dick.

Hope your dad is soon recovered and thatit doesn;t put your kids off riding bikes

Hope he recovers quickly and the kids too from their trauma of seeing it. It's sods law that the most innocent of tumbles end up being the worse.

[b]Wear your helmet[/b]

[i]THIS IS NOT A HELMET THREAD[/i]

Ok 😆

Open face helmets do little for face plants into tarmac... just one of those things. Hope he heals fast and gets back on a bike.

First up, get well soon Gramps.
The thread title is "Wear Your Helmet" so surely that in itself would be a debate opener.

Surely it's about the speed your head hits the ground at - which is completely different to the speed you are walking/cycling at?

Open face helmets do little for face plants into tarmac.

See my post above. I was doing a lot more than 10mph when I face-planted and made a right mess of myself. According to the people who put me back together, and who I suspect has seen plenty of this kind of thing ... it saved me from serious head injuries, a fractured skull, or possibly being killed to death. He didn't look like the melodramatic type, who was building his part up.

If thats nothing, then I'm extremely grateful for the 'nothing' my now smashed-in helmet afforded me

I just hope the OP's dad makes a full recovery, like I did. And don't forget to remind him that chicks dig scars! 😉

Please no one do the helmet debate on this thread

THIS IS NOT A HELMET THREAD
HAVE SOME RESPECT FOR THE OP
PLEASE
Resist, just for once, STW

Reading a thread at moment about an elderly person having an accident. Somebody swerves to bring up the helmet debate. What a dick.

WTF? Are there some wannabe mods on here who see it as their job (it isn't) to tell people what they can and can't say on a forum?

The TITLE of the thread is "Wear your helmet" ffs, it's hardly OT if people post things about that very subject.

Can I suggest if you want to dictate what people and can and can't post about, start your own forum somewhere.

Hope you're dads ok - the anti-helmet brigade never cease to amaze me!

Hope you're dads ok - the anti-helmet brigade never cease to amaze me!

Indeed, hope he heals up OK. I know several people who had what should of been relatively minor crashes that have done some nasty damage.

STW doesn't have an anti-helmet brigade per se, more of a pro choice lobby who prefer their choices to be informed by evidence and not anecdote. That and we understand the design limitation of helmets and they're not a catch all solution to hitting your head.

When Junky and I agree, etc....

Hope the old chap heals up well and fast, OP!

Take the bike out of the equation. Not hard to imagine. Would you still encourage everyone to wear helmets walking to the shops to get ice cream? If not, why not?

Just wondering what this thread is about if it categorically isn't about wearing a helmet?

I've had a fair off that resulted in concussion, blurred vision, cut cheek, black eye, broke helmet right through and took a piece off. Always wear my helmet now, even at lottery odds, the one time I do come off & land on my head, I'd rather have it.

Wishing your dad a speedy recovery.

Glad to hear your Dad is well, wish I could persuade my own Dad to use his all the time (63) but I know he doesn't, this is especially annoying after several years of him trying to compel me as an arsey Yoof, and the missing 24 hours I got for not heeding his advice aged 17... I now practice what he used to preach without exception and apply the same to his Grandchildren...

Certainly heap praise on the kids for making you wear your lids I reckon the incident will help reinforce the whole wear a helmet thing with them, at least for a while, which has to be a bit of a silver lining...

The bump your Dad had OP sounds like precisely the sort of thing bike helmets are designed for TBH... The more Common, relatively "Low Speed" impacts between your noggin and something immovable...
Shield of invulnerability? no, but damage limitation, or at least moving the outcome of an accident from [I]"fatal"[/I] to [I]"Significant, but recoverable injury"[/I], Glad it did its job...

Hope your Dad recovers soon, and can make light of it as time passes.
'chicks dig scars' etc...

Any news OP? Fingers crossed for a quick and complete recovery.

We came across an older age range chap who had been clipped by a car pulling out of the side road just after the roundabout by Bristol Airport about 2 months ago. He was heading in the Bristol direction and a car driver didn't see him and pulled out of the Brockley Coombe Road. He had a glancing blow (took out the wing mirror) and went down hard onto his shoulder and side of his head.

We arrived very shortly after the accident so I pulled up and Kate (vet) went over to administer first aid and I set about managing the busy traffic with 2 other guys until Police arrived. He was concious and able to remember his birthday etc. We were glad he had his helmet on or it may well have been a much sadder experience for all involved.

What's more dangerous - choosing not to wear a helmet if you don't want to or a society that advocates diminishing freedom of choice and free association under the guise of security ?

I definitely think you should have the freedom of choice. Darwinism innit? It all helps with cleansing the gene pool

Hope your old fella makes a full recovery, make sure the kids are ok, keep reassuring them that it wasn't their fault.

+1 Binners.

Best wishes to your dad and his swift recovery! And looking on the positive side, your kids are now ALWAYS going to wear their helmets 😉

RE: Helmet Debate: It's personal choice, but to those who don't wear one for some "made up reason or other" (see note) i invite you round to mine, where i have a nice 4foot long bit of 4x2 which i shall be using to wallop some sense into your, unhelmeted, head..... 😉

NOTE:
Reasons NOT to wear a helmet:

1) It might be a bit hot
2) you might look a bit silly
3) You can't afford one

Reasons TO wear a helmet:

4) IT MIGHT WELL SAVE YOU LIFE

If anyone thinks (1->3) > 4, then you are frankly so stupid, we won't worry too much when you get removed from the gene pool via fatal head injuries............

Max, the same applies to wearing a helmet while driving or walking. I presume you wear a helmet for those activities, or have you just called yourself stupid?

Like everything there is a risk involved and I'll wear a helmet while mtbing, but not when pootling around town.

Hope your dad makes a speedy and full recovery OP.

I'd normally advise wearing a helmet when cycling, however with a 2005 study showing that only 7.1% of hospital admissions were cyclists maybe we should be advocating helmet use 24hours a day. Won't someone think of the [s]children[/s] other 92.9%, hey if it saves just 1 life it's gotta be worth it right?

Max, I don't think those are the reasons when some one decides to NOT wear a helmet !

Before I get self proclaimed modders cutting and pasting my post please read up on the reasons for and against.

Title should be wear your full face helmet surely...

JPR
Max, the same applies to wearing a helmet while driving or walking. I presume you wear a helmet for those activities, or have you just called yourself stupid

Except it doesn't does it. When "wlaking or running" you are NOT constrained by a bicycle! What i mean is that if you trip and fall whilst "on foot" in the vast majority of situations you put your hands, and often feet too, to break your fall. The statistics for falls "on foot" bear that out, with the common result being a wrist injury.

On a bike, it's very different. The fact you are seated, with hands on a handle bar means that often in a "fall" you are pivoted "up and over" the front wheel / handle bars. Now, you are very very much more likely to land on your head, without being able to break your fall with an upper or lower limb.
And that's before we get to the "average velocity" of the devices. Anyone, can do 15mph on a bike without trying hard, pretty much only an oylmpic athlete can run at 15mph. So, on a bike you are, on average, going faster than when on foot (with the corresponding higher chance of impact injury)
Finally, being on a bike puts you in a more dangerous position regarding other road users, which you are much more likely to interact with. On foot, you don't generally walk down a road, but stay on the pavements and cross on crossings etc.

If you look at the facts, with a calm, sensible head (sic) the advantages to always wearing a helmet when cycling are so overwhelming, that, like i said, you're an idiot if you don't.

(And i do wear a helmet when driving my rally car! In the UK, it is currently illegal, and since airbags were invented fairly pointless, to wear a helmet whilst driving a car on the road)

Hope you wear a helmet next time you go to the pub max

[i][url= http://emj.bmj.com/content/21/2/185.full ]Conclusions: Alcohol related falls are more often associated with severe craniofacial injury. The severity of both limb and head injury is greater and correlates directly with blood alcohol concentration.[/url] [/i]

You would literally be insane not to

[url= http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/pedestrian-taken-to-hospital-with-serious-head-injuries-after-being-hit-by-car-in-richmond-9155663.html ]walking is pretty risky too[/url]

[img] https://i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/2262269184/h7837F123/ [/img]

What would a cycle forum be without the weekly helmet thread.

Wear one, dont wear one, couldnt care less it just amazes me others get so bothered by it.

As much as I agree with Picard it's tempting to respond just to piss off Junkyard but...

WTF? Are there some wannabe mods on here who see it as their job (it isn't) to tell people what they can and can't say on a forum?

Can I suggest if you want to dictate what people and can and can't post about, start your own forum somewhere.

Most definitely this., though there is a degree of irony in the statement - but hey, **** it

My word, in fear of swiftly diverting this topic right off thread !!!!!!!

I never drive my Caterham without wearing my Motorbike helmet which means that I'm actually breaking the law ?
I never knew it was illegal to drive a car with a lid on.

Are there some wannabe mods on here who see it as their job (it isn't) to tell people what they can and can't say on a forum?

Can I suggest if you want to dictate what people and can and can't post about, start your own forum somewhere.

I dont care what or where folk debate i thought for once we might act like grown ups and just sympathise with a guy who saw his elderly dad injured in front of his kids and is awaiting results of an overnight observation.

Forgive me for the optimism, flame away ,debate helmets and insult anyone who disagrees.
it is the grown up and mature thing to do and I know in real life if i ever visit a loved one in hospital with a head injury I will be sure to make sure they know the helmet did **** all.

I am no more pissed of than when I see small children squabbling over the tv remote. I have learnt what to expect on here over the years and accept few on here realise there is a time and place for debate and a time and a place for sympathy.

Wear one, dont wear one, couldnt care less it just amazes me others get so bothered by it.

I don't like being called stupid. I don't like anecdotal evidence being used in lieu of actual evidence.

I am no more pissed of than when I see small children squabbling over the tv remote. I have learnt what to expect on here over the years and accept few on here realise there is a time and place for debate and a time and a place for sympathy.

Oh, the irony.

I'm just glad I've never seen small children arguing over a TV remote ?

For the record I don't wear a track suit, I don't posses a road bike and I don't wear Jewelery.

And is it not "oh the Ironing" on STW ?

Thanks for the response (all of it).

Personally I experienced some compelling evidence yesterday to convince me riding with, is better than riding without, but we still have freedom to make our own choices. So go where your head leads you (no pun).

Dad had a good night, sitting up in bed. Internal bleeding has stopped - but they want to keep him in a little longer to make sure fractures are stable, other than that no lasting harm.

I tend to rationalise a lot, so positive points are two kids who will wear helmets (until old enough to be educated here) and some time to make special with a Dad who is still around.

Cheers for the kind words.

Glad your dad is on the mend!

For the record, I'm pro choice.

The 'Walking down the street' argument doesn't really stack up. Mountain biking is an inherently dangerous business, walking down the street, not so much.

Excellent news about your dad.

Now, Usain Bolt runs at 25mph, isn't it about time...

I dont care what or where folk debate i thought for once we might act like grown ups and just sympathise with a guy who saw his elderly dad injured in front of his kids and is awaiting results of an overnight observation.

I would agree with you except the OP is telling us to wear helmets.

No doubt people could've been saved from serious injury if only they'd been wearing arm/ knee/ back protectors, but we never hear much about those - I've no idea why helmets stir up so much vitriol.

Probably something to with the brain..............................

Maxtorque,
1) [...deleted...]

and breathe.

2)Presumably you advocate all children wearing high vis jackets whilst walking to school do you?

Probably something to with the brain..............................

Ah yes, I was forgetting the trivial nature of spinal injuries.

Anyway, this article by Ben Goldacre is well worth a read.

http://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.f3817.full?ijkey=I5vHBog6FhaaLzX&keytype=ref

Maxtorque

Next question:

It is clear that you think an individual can make themselves safer by wearing a cycle helmet.
Do you think the same applies to the population taken as a whole?

I would agree with you except the OP is telling us to wear helmets.

I think it was meant as friendly advice, rather than as a directive. No need to get het up about it.

Get well soon, OP's dad.

Firstly and most importantly, it's good to hear the OPs dad is on the mend! That's great news!

Now:

I don't care if you choose not to wear a helmet it's your head, it's your choice!

Often in these discussions, people apply specific cases to their arguments. But it ain't about specifics, it's about the law of averages and "chaos" theory. ON AVERAGE you stand a lower chance of injury if you wear a helmet when you ride your bike. Now i'm sure there are isolated cases of people getting more injured more by their helmet, but those are exactly that, isolated cases.

Applying the "you should wear one all the time even when not cycling" argument is also defeatist. By the same token you should not get out of bed in the morning just in case you hurt yourself. Life is about Risks, and taking sensible precautions to mitigate those specific risks where you can do so for a small penalty (being a bit hot, maybe looking a bit silly, or having to fork out some cash for a skid lid etc) is a good idea.

Same goes for the "kids in high vis" "getting pissed down the pub is dangerous" and numerous other unconnected / irrelevant / representative / abnormal situations that people love to trot out at such times.

If you look hard enough, i'm sure you can find a story online that says "My cat safely landed my airplane" but only a fool would suggest we replace trained airline pilots with cats on the off chance they make flying safer.
At all times, because of the Chaotic nature of events, as in individual you HAVE to go with what is on AVERAGE the best choice. Falling off you bike is a chaotic event, one over which the outcome can range from nothing at all, to very serious indeed, and before it has happened it's very difficult to forecast the result.

Cycling is more dangerous and carries a higher risk than a lot of other things we do on a daily basis but with little thought (driving you car is probably the riskiest, but we have hundreds of people mitigating those risks with airbags, crumple zones, smart tech etc). So, to wear a small amount of protective equipment seems sensible to me, given the minor financial and social penalty.

Perusal of just this one forum will find you literally hundreds of stories of people falling off their bike and smashing themselves up, which suggests to me, that it is a risky enough activity to warrant some extra protection when you do it. If it cost you £1000, and mean't you could only cycle on a dry day, at a maximum of 1mph, then we'd have to rethink about if wearing a helmet was worth it. But ALL you have to do is spend about £20, and remember to put it on your head. Hardly difficult or time consuming.

And here's the final vital bit. If your(or someone elses) kids see you wearing a helmet, chances are, they will too. And there are plenty of people too young to make their own valid "life choices", for whom, they look to us adults for inspiration and as examples.
For that reason alone, i'd like to see EVERYONE on a bike wearing a helmet, even if they personally don't want too. If you're an adult, and you throw yourself at the scenery without a helmet, then you are simply just an idiot, but if you're a young kid, riding without a helmet because your dad is, and you do the same thing, that's a whole different situation, and a tragedy imo!

But, back to my 1st point. It's your head, you chose.