Complacent cylists urged to start using their heads -- and helmets

davej

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/complacent-cylists-urged-to-start-using-their-heads--and-helmets-1073172.html

I don't want to start another debate on the pros and cons of helmet wearing, but I guess now that children are back in school and summer holidays are over it's a good time to start a campaign like this.
But is it a bit much to be bascially threatening people - "Wear a helmet or you'll end up a vegetable" ?

davej

Mucco

Brain injury risk alert to cyclists

Bríd Higgins Ní Chinnéide - Irish Times

The Peter Bradley Foundation yesterday launched a campaign to raise awareness of acquired brain injury (ABI). The first stage of the Mind Your Head campaign is aimed at cyclists.

"Wearing a helmet is not only a preventative measure in terms of head injuries, it can also reduce time spent recovering in hospital and the duration spent in rehabilitation," said Barbara O'Connell, chief executive of the Peter Bradley Foundation.

Ms O'Connell said it was important for the Department of Health to recognise those with ABI as a distinct disability group so that funding could be allocated to developing further services.

"We continue to find people with ABI wrongly placed in psychiatric hospitals and nursing homes because of a lack of understanding and because there are no adequate support services," Ms O'Connell said.

dalk

davej wrote:

But is it a bit much to be bascially threatening people - "Wear a helmet or you'll end up a vegetable" ?

Its scare mongering. I wonder why there is a need to create a perception or reinforce a prejudice, that cycling is dangerous? I think a campaign like this will be more likely to just scare people off their bikes, rather than scaring them into wearing a helmet.

I guess its easier to just say "wear a helmet" & "wear high-vis" than to try and educate and promote good cycle craft, and responsible use of the road...

Civilian_Target

Yeah. Its a really sickening campaign, blantantly setup because some guy fell on his head without a helmet. May well ignore tha fact that he was cycling quite dangerously in some other manner. As usual, an ineffective magic wand solution because a helmet may have saved him.

Ghost Rider

Victor

They would be much better off focusing their energies on motor-caused injuries.

kmick

I am a full time cyclist and some of the behaviour I see by cyclists on the road leads me to believe a number of them already have an ABI. I believe helmets are useful even though I dont wear one. I do wear it on longer cycles but not on the short trip to work.

philstar

Well that report on ABI on RTE news last night inspired me to get a helmet today.

Can't say i like wearing it, i look like a dork and i feel like a dork.

Then again better to be a walking dork than a dork in a weelchair.

btw i get severe wind sheer on my ears when i wear the helmet as i cycle along the road, is this normal??

Victor

philstar wrote:

Can't say i like wearing it, i look like a dork and i feel like a dork.

Who cares? You don't have to look at it! And as you whizz by pedestrians, they won't be looking at it for long.

Be careful that you don't become too confident with it though, it won't stop accidents happening and only protects one part of you.

ThOnda

I have never felt difference in confidence having helmet or not, even my new helmet with chin protector. But I feel "naked" without helmet. It is like driving car without seat belts. Having helmet is just normal, like washing my hands before eating.
And talking about kids, the message must be a little simplier. I love that poster with "helmet hair", that's what I like.
There are tons of different shapes and colours, so I don't think anybody should think (s)he looks like a dork.
But it is just my private opinion. Bicycle ride = bicycle + helmet + gloves + glasses. It won't take you more than 5 seconds more to put it on before each ride. Are those five seconds worth being good example to your kids to wear helmet and protect their heads before they are less skilled bikers?

daymobrew

philstar wrote:

Can't say i like wearing it, i look like a dork and i feel like a dork.

I always advise people not to look in the mirror when wearing a helmet. Having said that, I really like the look of my Giro
Pneumo (in silver, not pink thank you very much )

There will come a point when, like ThOnda, you'll feel naked without it.

philstar wrote:

btw i get severe wind sheer on my ears when i wear the helmet as i cycle along the road, is this normal??

I get it too.

Victor wrote:

Be careful that you don't become too confident with it though, it won't stop accidents happening and only protects one part of you.

This cannot be stressed enough. It's better to avoid an accident in the first place.

fish-head

If you're going to wear a helmet, for god's sake don't use it.

Capt'n Midnight

How many cyclists died on our roads where a motorist wasn't involved ?

Enforcing existing laws would be a more productive option.

Speeding
Right of way, especially when turning left in front of a cyclist you have overtaken
Draconian punishments for disqualified drivers caught driving
Clamping down on unaccompanied L drivers
Curfews / zero alcohol tolerance for motorists under 21
enforcing bus lanes - it's €60 to be caught in a bus lane.


How much use is a cycling helmet if you get at 40mph /60 kmph or higher ?

Bearing in mind the AVERAGE speed on 30mph link road was measured at 41mph and fewer than 2% of drivers obeyed the speed limit.

Overall the benefits of cycling on health outway the risks, but most of the risks are preventable without needing helmets. Helmets are a sticking plaster solution, with a feel good factor, it does not improve safety in the way that off road bike lanes would.

How much benefit does a helmet give, does it reduce your risk of death or serious injury by more than 17%, because that the threshold where motorists should wear helmets !

ThOnda

We are not talking about reducing accidents, but reducing injuries. I would wear/use helmet even in cycle lane. Anybody can fall even in front ot their home door. Just imagine your dog jumping on you inviting you, you fall backwards and hit the fence or the wall with your head. Yes, blame cars for yor brain injury!
I give up, that makes no sense talking about helmets and road safety in one thread.

Johnny Jukebox

*sighs*. FWIW, I've raced both road and mountain bikes for years'n'years. I've fallen off hundreds of times, landing on my feet, my head, my ass, my back and so on. I've had lots of injuries, mostly minor with the odd more serious one. But I've never had a head injury, because I've always worn a helmet. The helmets havent been so fortunate...

banaco73

Anybody intrested in a new helmet

www.sugroo.com

They have a special on a shain helmet at the moment €39.99

This helmet retails for well over €100

Good Luck

rubadub

philstar wrote:

Can't say i like wearing it, i look like a dork and i feel like a dork.

Then again better to be a walking dork than a dork in a weelchair.[/I]

Are you going to wear it in the car too? I have read it offers more protection in a car than on a bike, even with airbags & seatbelts.

Do any people here would would not cycle without a helmet wear it in the car?

Better be a driving dork than a crippled dork.

The majority of injuries of people I know happen while walking drunk, but for some odd reason there are no TV campaigns advising people to get drinking helmets

TinyExplosions

banaco73 wrote:

Anybody intrested in a new helmet

www.sugroo.com

They have a special on a shain helmet at the moment €39.99

This helmet retails for well over €100

Good Luck

Cheers for that -just ordered one! Damn good price

Ghost Rider

You mean walking helmets, I take it! Anyway, I'd say the main reason there aren't any campaigns for walking helmets, or indeed any helmets for walking, is very simple: pedestrians don't share a space with motorists. Cyclists, on the other hand, do.

rubadub wrote:

The majority of injuries of people I know happen while walking drunk, but for some odd reason there are no TV campaigns advising people to get drinking helmets

robfitz

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

How many cyclists died on our roads where a motorist wasn't involved ?

In the last three years I make it to be three out of at least thirty fatal cycle accidents (My collection of Cycling Accident Stats).

2007-07-01, Meath, The man's bicycle crashed into a parked car shortly after midnight at Newcastle in Enfield.
2006-12-02, Dublin, A young mother cycling with her daughter lost control of her bicycle as she was crossing Parkgate Street in heavy winds
2005-09-08, Cork, the woman had cycled down a steep hill and crashed at around 8.30am

I'm sure wearing a helmet may have helped in some of these accidents, but the cause of these accidents would seem to be poor cycling/road skills.

robfitz

Ghost Rider wrote:

pedestrians don't share a space with motorists. Cyclists, on the other hand, do.

Yes, but are cycle helmets useful in an accident with a motor vehicle, have the been designed and test for this type of accident?

rubadub

Ghost Rider wrote:

You mean walking helmets, I take it! Anyway, I'd say the main reason there aren't any campaigns for walking helmets, or indeed any helmets for walking, is very simple: pedestrians don't share a space with motorists. Cyclists, on the other hand, do.

I am not talking of the danger from motorists to drunk people walking. As the previous posts showed it is not just motorists causing accidents.

Some people just seem to have a bias against cycling, i.e. somebody who would NEVER cycle without a helmet, yet would never consider wearing one in a car or out walking, even though it could possibly give them more protection in these instances than when cycling.

Ghost Rider

I'm pretty sure wearing a helmet would be more useful than not, and that's all I need to know.

My brain is soft; roads are hard. My skull gives some protection; a helmet will give even more. To me, it's as simple as that.

robfitz wrote:

Yes, but are cycle helmets useful in an accident with a motor vehicle, have the been designed and test for this type of accident?

Ghost Rider

Let me put it this way: I wear a helmet every day. Now if there were no motorists, I would never wear one. And I don't think that's remotely irrational.

rubadub wrote:

I am not talking of the danger from motorists to drunk people walking. As the previous posts showed it is not just motorists causing accidents.

I just don't get this line of argument. People in cars are effectively already wearing a helmet: a large steel helmet with an engine and windows. People on footpaths are off the road, so the risks of serious accident are minimal. Of course there's a risk of a car mounting the footpath, but then there's the risk of a piano falling from a fourth-floor apartment too...

rubadub wrote:

Some people just seem to have a bias against cycling, i.e. somebody who would NEVER cycle without a helmet, yet would never consider wearing one in a car or out walking, even though it could possibly give them more protection in these instances than when cycling.

Ghost Rider

I agree with this point. A lot of people are fudging the two issues. Nobody is suggesting helmets are a substitute for road safety or cycle craft or whatever you want to call it.

ThOnda wrote:

I give up, that makes no sense talking about helmets and road safety in one thread.

macplaxton

"Risk compensation"

I think helmets are of little use and don't wear one myself. Cycle lanes are rubbish too (stopping and starting). Wobbling about gets you some extra room!

This study is interesting.

I should get a long blonde wig!

I had an idiot driving at me (in my car) on my side of the road the other day :eek:. With really sloppy and downright dangerous driving behaviour like that going unpunished it's always going to be a lottery on the roads. You need education of all road users and strict enforcement. (or allow me to administer to the driver a good beating for his idoicy)

omri

I don't understand ppl moaning bout how do they look wearing helmet. You're wise you'll wear one. I don't move anywhere without mine. If you ever had a serious accident, then you realize how fragile human body is. Your safety is not only up to you...there's much more goin on the road, you can't control or see everything

So wear your helmet.
Mine's nice and I like it

Mucco

This helmet debate is old hat :-)

We should really campaign for the reduction in motorists' safety equipment: when seatbelts were made compulsory, motorist fatalities fell, but cyclist + pedestrian fatalities rose!

M

Ghost Rider

Off the top of my head, I'd say that's the worst joke I've heard all day.

Mucco wrote:

This helmet debate is old hat :-)

Victor

Ghost Rider wrote:

Let me put it this way: I wear a helmet every day. Now if there were no motorists, I would never wear one. And I don't think that's remotely irrational.

I can definitely see your point, but it is still true that cyclists die, without motorists present.

I just don't get this line of argument. People in cars are effectively already wearing a helmet: a large steel helmet with an engine and windows.

Not a very good helmet if 300 people per year get killed using them.

Indeed, this 'helmet' kills many people (500,000 per year worldwide).

People on footpaths are off the road, so the risks of serious accident are minimal. Of course there's a risk of a car mounting the footpath, but then there's the risk of a piano falling from a fourth-floor apartment too...

The car risk is much higher than the piano risk.

rubadub

Ghost Rider wrote:

Let me put it this way: I wear a helmet every day. Now if there were no motorists, I would never wear one. And I don't think that's remotely irrational.

That is fair enough. I would personally only wear a cycling helmet while mountain biking (with no cars around), I weigh up the risks, including the apparent danger wearing a helmet can put you in (e.g. cars not giving helmet wearers as much room, the helmet possibly causing worse injuries upon crashing due to its ergonomics and subsequent dynamics).

I do some dangerous tasks in work, I sometimes wear safety goggles, sometimes I chose not to since the goggles can obscure my vision and actually make the job more dangerous.

Ghost Rider wrote:

I just don't get this line of argument. People in cars are effectively already wearing a helmet: a large steel helmet with an engine and windows. People on footpaths are off the road, so the risks of serious accident are minimal. Of course there's a risk of a car mounting the footpath, but then there's the risk of a piano falling from a fourth-floor apartment too...

your main concern seems to be just the motorists, I am speaking of other concerns, such as danger to ones-self. I would recommend a helmet for a child, they are off the road and really a danger to themselves due to lack of experience. There was some study saying motorists would be afforded far more protection in a car from a crash when wearing a helmet. Seatbelts & airbags are supposed to offer relatively little protection compared to a helmet. Most rally drivers would not get in a car without one.

My point is people can be overly biased about protecting themselves while cycling, yet not in a car when a simple act such as wearing a helmet will reduce risk. An analogy would be somebody who would never dream of eating sugary foods, yet has no problem with high fat foods, for whatever reason.

It is as though they are blindly following "the norm", if people did start wearing helmets in cars they might too. Cycling helmets are relatively new to the common commuter. Maybe people are scared of looking "like dorks", if they wore one in a car, or out drinking