But lately, the argument I get in is with old friends about ski helmets. Now we all grew up in Park City, UT a ski town, and I think some of us now in the 40′s are just denying them because they think they are silly and yet come up with these rationalizations as an excuse. As someone who got knocked out twice skiing, it was a no brainer (ha!) for me. The moment came when I caught an edge at the top of a chute, and went down head first. It’s a very steep run, trees everywhere, and I remember saying to myself, If I make it through this, I’m getting a helmet. And I did. It has come in handy skiing tress when I didn’t duck low enough and hit a branch. You could say the helmet made me more careless but honestly, ahem, I have done that before. Hey sometimes you think you’re clear, and then crack! Also, one time the safety bar (ha!) hit me in the head on the lift.

As for Holland, a place I have visited many times, things are different there. They have much more of a bicycling culture and that is reflected in how they ride and respect each other. I was told that bicycles have the right of way over cars and pedestrians.

But the final thing for helmets for me is, sometimes you can have just the smallest accident, no other bike or car or person involved, just one of those ‘doh!’ moments, and you clunk your head on the curb and it’s all over. Head trauma sucks, you got one brain, protect it.

I do agree on how unstylish bike helmets still are, but until I find that perfect cool helmet, I guess I’m stuck with my dorky Giro. Hey, at least it’s got a sun visor!

What’s funny is that the people who wouldn’t dream of protecting themselves with a helmet are the same people that, when getting into a car seem to forget they have a seat-belt,…

Many many years ago, a group of us from work piled into a car to go to lunch. One person in the back commented: “Well, I guess we are required to put our seat belts on now!”. To which I replied that the lap belt I had worn as a teenager was why I still had a face. I was in the front seat of an old 1960s car, and we had a fairly slow speed head on collision. I have a vivid memory of the dash board getting closer to my head, and then I bounced back. Because it was just a lap belt, I ended up with a couple of broken ribs and a weekend in the hospital (the doctor wanted to make sure I had bruised my spleen). Even though those ribs hurt for a couple of years, it was better than having my head hit the dashboard (or go through the window).

Needless to say, the person who made the quip about seat belts did not open her mouth again about vehicular safety devices.

(oh, and talk about faulty memory: I always remember the oncoming car as being red, I was told later it was actually blue)

Vehicle drivers, however, appear to give bicycle riders without helmets more room than those with helmets. So wearing a helmet may make it more likely to be hit by a car while riding a bike.

I wondered about this and realized two things. Firstly, most accidents don’t happen because a car has rammed a bike off the road sideways. They happen at junctions or because the bike wasn’t seen at all. Secondly if I see someone without a helmet, I instantly assume they are not going to be a regular rider so are going to be careless, unpredictable and wobbly. I would give extra berth to a learner driver for the same reason.

What’s funny is that the people who wouldn’t dream of protecting themselves with a helmet are the same people that, when getting into a car seem to forget they have a seat-belt, air bags, basic roll cage, special designs that crumple the car to absorb the energy, adjustable wrapping head rests to protect against neck injury, ABS brakes and probably a few other things. Not to mention the number one reason I always hear for the SUV, that it’s big so it’s protective.

But no, we definitely shouldn’t put on a small, light helmet and maybe wear some bright clothes when hurtling along a road on top of a bit of metal and some rubber.

1. The vast majority of accidents are caused by the uncontrolled, unskilled, or inattentive acts of people driving incredibly dangerous objects.

Mandating helmets for cyclists is the equivalent of mandating children wearing body armour as a response to school shootings. Driving should only be undertaken by highly skilled, professionals, as is the case for busses, trucks and heavy equipment. No logical distinction exists, to my mind, between a sedan, and a Cessna.

2. Helmets would make EVERYTHING “safer”, including travelling in cars. Yet, while car drivers constantly harp on about how others should wear uncomfortable, expensive, restrictive objects on their heads and bodies (to keep them somewhat less vulnerable to the dangers mostly posed by car drivers), car drivers would never themselves agrree that car occupants should wear helmets and fire-proof clothing.

I have a simple, cheap, suggestion that would reduce the road toll to near-zero overnight: Remove the driver’s seat belt and air bag from every car, and install a two-foot shiny steel spike protruding from the centre of the steering wheel, pointing directly toward the driver’s chest.

Not a joke, by the way.
.

tmac,
During my three months of cycling I often wondered about rear vision mirrors. I virtually never see them in use here. But you can’t really get a good view looking backwards over, around, or under your shoulder and it keeps your eyes off the road ahead for too long, especially if riding at speed.

Chris,
I also have a bike trail near where I live and, likewise, it is a converted railway line. It extends 40km from Lillydale to Warburton and is pretty flat. I used to ride my hybrid bike along that trail to Warburton and back before discovering hill running.

http://waronthemotorist.wordpress.com/2012/08/02/all-those-helmets-posts-in-one-place/

Elvik, R. Publication bias and time-trend bias in meta-analysis of bicycle helmet efficacy. Accid Anal Prev 2011
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21376924

de Jong, P. The Health Impact of Mandatory Bicycle Helmet Laws. Risk Analysis 2012
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1368064