Another helmet press release

C3PO

petethedrummer wrote: »

Why not all the time? Please explain.

Well I always wear a helmet off road, will occasionally ride the road bike without a helmet if the weather is nice and I'm going for an easy spin and wouldn't usually bother if I'm arsing around on the BMX, going to the shops etc

Hermy

Does nice weather make a helmet less effective?

C3PO

Hermy wrote: »

Does nice weather make a helmet less effective?

No ..... just more uncomfortable!

petethedrummer

RPL1 wrote: »

Well I always wear a helmet off road, will occasionally ride the road bike without a helmet if the weather is nice and I'm going for an easy spin and wouldn't usually bother if I'm arsing around on the BMX, going to the shops etc

So noone ever fell off a bike on a sunny day. And noone ever fell off a bmx. And noone ever fell off going to the shop.

C3PO

petethedrummer wrote: »

So noone ever fell off a bike on a sunny day. And noone ever fell off a bmx. And noone ever fell off going to the shop.

Never claimed to be a saint :rolleyes:

galwaycyclist

petethedrummer wrote: »

So noone ever fell off a bike on a sunny day. And noone ever fell off a bmx. And noone ever fell off going to the shop.

Hmm no but the evidence from Australia suggests that, once they start wearing helmets, people on bikes start having more injuries than when they didn't wear helmets.

Better to not be falling off the bike in the first place, or getting hit by cars, or going under trucks.

petethedrummer

galwaycyclist wrote: »

Hmm no but the evidence from Australia suggests that, once they start wearing helmets, people on bikes start having more injuries than when they didn't wear helmets.

No need to convince me. I'm not only anti-compulsion, I'm anti-helmet (except for racing and MTBing), mainly on the grounds of them looking stupid.

Edit: I was just wondering why RPL1 is pro-helmet but didn't wear one all the time. But he's only pro-helmet when it suits him to wear one. Which is fine by me.

ROK ON

galwaycyclist wrote: »

Hmm no but the evidence from Australia suggests that, once they start wearing helmets, people on bikes start having more injuries than when they didn't wear helmets.

Better to not be falling off the bike in the first place, or getting hit by cars, or going under trucks.

There could be some truth in that. I know that I tend to descend far more recklessly when wearing leg or knee warmers than having bare flesh exposed.

Hermy

My helmet DOES NOT look stupid!

Undercover Elephant

petethedrummer wrote: »

And noone ever fell off going to the shop.

I'm trying to work out whether it actually makes more sense to wear a helmet going to the shop. Presumably the sort of accident you'd be likely to have in this situation is of the fall-down-go-boom variety that helmets are designed to protect you against. Whereas they offer very little protection when your descent into Howth is abruptly arrested by a SUV pulling out of a driveway without looking.

Course, that tells you nothing about the relative risk of having an accident in the first place.

galwaycyclist

ROK ON wrote: »

There could be some truth in that. I know that I tend to descend far more recklessly when wearing leg or knee warmers than having bare flesh exposed.

I have had the same effect with woolly hats in winter time. In fact I once came off on ice and my wolly hat cushioned my head as I came down - do you think it might have saved my life?

Hermy

What colour hat?

Undercover Elephant

galwaycyclist wrote: »

Better to not be falling off the bike in the first place, or getting hit by cars, or going under trucks.

You know, I think we're looking at this the wrong way. Maybe we should just make it illegal for people to fall off their bikes. That will really strike a blow for road safety.

galwaycyclist

Hermy wrote: »

What colour hat?

Green ribbed - (fishermans knit?) rolled up to keep top of my ears warm but not the bottoms. This last may have been the key modification - patentable?

Cookie_Monster

effective: :pac:

Hermy

Hermy wrote: »

When I crash I usually land on my face. Am I wasting my time wearing a helmet or should I just improve my crash technique so as to get the helmet more involved?

That's what I need.:pac:

goldencleric

How is my hair supposed to develop a lush blond tint in the sun if there is a big chunk of plastic in the way?

tomasrojo

I've wondering what the helmet-wearing rate in Ireland was. I reckoned it was pretty high. Apparently the highest in Europe, 40%.

http://www.etsc.eu/documents/ETSC_2011_PIN_Report.PDF

Ireland 40%
Switzerland 38%
Austria 35%
United Kingdom 34%
Finland 31%
Sweden 27%
Israel 17%-28%
Slovakia 17%
Denmark 15%
Germany 11%
Table 16. Cycle helmet wearing rate estimates for countries where data is available

No figures for the Netherlands.

blorg

Very surprised it is that high, I wouldn't have thought it so. It seems very high indeed with roadies (90%+) and MTB (99%+) but much lower with utility cyclists, who I would have thought the vast majority of riders in Ireland... maybe though they are not, and cycling is leaning more towards a leisure pursuit in this country?

Also very surprised Austria is so high and so much higher than Germany, it seemed no different to me. I think I could count the helmets I saw on one hand cycling across that country. Maybe different methodologies in the data collection?

galwaycyclist

tomasrojo wrote: »

I've wondering what the helmet-wearing rate in Ireland was. I reckoned it was pretty high. Apparently the highest in Europe, 40%.

I think caution is required until we find out how they derived this figure. If the counts were done on rural roads at the weekends they might be dominated by recreational/sports cyclists.

petethedrummer

blorg wrote: »

I think I could count the helmets I saw on one hand cycling across that country. Maybe different methodologies in the data collection?

They're all dead now. Leaving only the helmet wearers.

tomasrojo

galwaycyclist wrote: »

I think caution is required until we find out how they derived this figure. If the counts were done on rural roads at the weekends they might be dominated by recreational/sports cyclists.

Yes, it would be interesting to see how that figure was arrived at. I do wonder whether they polled working-class areas. Close to zero helmet-wearing in those areas.

On the other hand, if you did a count on arterial roads in urban areas at rush hour, you'd get a very high figure. Same with intercity cyclists, since they're predominantly roadies.

Cookie_Monster

galwaycyclist wrote: »

I think caution is required until we find out how they derived this figure. If the counts were done on rural roads at the weekends they might be dominated by recreational/sports cyclists.

The usual Mid November canal cordon count I would imagine

tomasrojo

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

The usual Mid November canal cordon count I would imagine

That might account for the high number. That's an arterial road. It seems to me that at rush hour helmet-wearing on main routes into Dublin approaches or at times exceeds 50%.

CramCycle

I'd just like to point out my disgust at the fact that despite the constant use of words/phrases such as helmet, ribbed, protection etc that there has not been any attempt to turn this thread into one long p*n*s joke.

el tonto wrote: »

These days I never go to a house party without a helmet.

Statistically speaking there is less danger to your wallet in 48 weeks if you cover your helmet while in use.

Hermy wrote: »

My helmet DOES NOT look stupid!

They all look like that, its the way evolution made us.

galwaycyclist wrote: »

Green ribbed

Ribbed - LOL

Undercover Elephant

CramCycle wrote: »

Statistically speaking there is less danger to your wallet in 48 weeks if you cover your helmet while in use.

Shurely 39 weeks? Unless you are a horse and not merely hung like one.

Lumen

Undercover Elephant wrote: »

Shurely 39 weeks? Unless you are a horse and not merely hung like one.

Touring sperm. They camp out for a while before the siege starts.