''Wiggo the joker''

NAILTRAIL96":1cx6hyuv said:
greenstiles":1cx6hyuv said:
Helmets......reflectors front and rear and on wheels, riding fast on pavements (on the increase)........i think there needs to be a review on both sides of the coin on cycle rules as the number of cyclists is growing.

A helmet saved my life off road, and i knew a man with a badly cracked scull who wasn't wearing one and hit his head on a curb on road.

I don't wear one on-road......but i know head injuries are difficult to treat due to having a brain inside compared to a broken leg.

And there in lies the real problem, a lot of drivers see cyclists as aggressive, selfish and showing little regard for the law of the land.

You don't have to drive for long before you see cyclists taking up a whole lane, jumping red lights, almost never indicating and riding on and off pavements with out warning.

There's a real them and us divide between drivers and cyclists and it goes both ways.
'cos drivers never speed, amber-gamble (or just plain bet on red), tailgate, drive aggressively or without consideration...

Most drivers I see spout that argument are either NIMBYs, hypocrites, or both - and just really have might-is-right on their side.
 
What excactly is the argument against wearing a helmet. I offer see it alluded to, but never the excact training behind it. If it stops my head breaking then great.
 
greenstiles":1ljhmukz said:
A helmet saved my life off road, and i knew a man with a badly cracked scull who wasn't wearing one and hit his head on a curb on road.

What about glasses then?
I know that glasses saved my life off-road once, and now I would never ride without some kind of eye protection. I might ride without a helmet!

A lot of drivers drive like twats, and a few cyclists ride like twats. neither of those are reasons to bring in compulsory helmet wearing. Might be a reason for better training for both though. ;)
 
gavinda":1gsl47dt said:
What excactly is the argument against wearing a helmet. I offer see it alluded to, but never the excact training behind it. If it stops my head breaking then great.

For some reason, car drivers tend to leave (even) less room when passing someone who wears a helmet.
I've observed this myself plenty of times and other forum members have mentioned it too in previous helmet threads.

Personally, it just bothers me to wear one. The feel of a helmet already distracts me enough to affect my awareness of what's going on around me.
Not so much a problem when riding in a forest, but a major threat when in busy city traffic. I'm more likely to sustain severe head injuries with a helmet than without one.
 
Neil":3l5pbhy2 said:
NAILTRAIL96":3l5pbhy2 said:
greenstiles":3l5pbhy2 said:
Helmets......reflectors front and rear and on wheels, riding fast on pavements (on the increase)........i think there needs to be a review on both sides of the coin on cycle rules as the number of cyclists is growing.

A helmet saved my life off road, and i knew a man with a badly cracked scull who wasn't wearing one and hit his head on a curb on road.

I don't wear one on-road......but i know head injuries are difficult to treat due to having a brain inside compared to a broken leg.

And there in lies the real problem, a lot of drivers see cyclists as aggressive, selfish and showing little regard for the law of the land.

You don't have to drive for long before you see cyclists taking up a whole lane, jumping red lights, almost never indicating and riding on and off pavements with out warning.

There's a real them and us divide between drivers and cyclists and it goes both ways.
'cos drivers never speed, amber-gamble (or just plain bet on red), tailgate, drive aggressively or without consideration...

Most drivers I see spout that argument are either NIMBYs, hypocrites, or both - and just really have might-is-right on their side.

On a site for cyclists I didn't feel the need to put our side across as I suspect most already knew it.

The point is niether group can claim to be whiter that white, both groups need to change and blindly and niavely pointing the finger and crying innocence will achive nothing.
 
I'm pro-helmet for my own reasons - never used to wear one BITD, but wouldn't be without one now. Had a bad off a couple of weeks ago and I'm sat here with broken ribs. I have also noticed a huge scuff on my helmet, so had I not been wearing one, who knows.......

However, it's personal choice and I think it should remain that way. We have enough decisions taken out of our hands these days by the Health and Safety Police....

As for cyclists/car drivers, well I fall (!) into both categories as, I guess, do many RBers.
Doesn't really do anyone any favours slagging off one group or the other. As already stated, some cyclists ride stupidly and some car drivers drive stupidly. I like to think I drive carefully with consideration for other road users as I used to be a motorcyclist and feel I have a certain "awareness" stemming from that. However, I'm human, and we all know what that means!
 
I'll admit to being a total helmet nazi, I've lost 3 freinds in the last 3 years due solely to not wearing a lid. Forget all this car vs bikes crap.
If you can hit 40 mph going downhill why not protect yourself ? If you can have irrepairable brain damage just by falling off at walikg speed why not protect yourself. If any of you are in a relationship would you want to have your other feed you and change your adult nappies for the rest of their life ?
Skin grows back, bones generally mend, brains don't all that well.
Just saying.
 
NAILTRAIL96":3qwi44nv said:
Neil":3qwi44nv said:
NAILTRAIL96":3qwi44nv said:
greenstiles":3qwi44nv said:
Helmets......reflectors front and rear and on wheels, riding fast on pavements (on the increase)........i think there needs to be a review on both sides of the coin on cycle rules as the number of cyclists is growing.

A helmet saved my life off road, and i knew a man with a badly cracked scull who wasn't wearing one and hit his head on a curb on road.

I don't wear one on-road......but i know head injuries are difficult to treat due to having a brain inside compared to a broken leg.

And there in lies the real problem, a lot of drivers see cyclists as aggressive, selfish and showing little regard for the law of the land.

You don't have to drive for long before you see cyclists taking up a whole lane, jumping red lights, almost never indicating and riding on and off pavements with out warning.

There's a real them and us divide between drivers and cyclists and it goes both ways.
'cos drivers never speed, amber-gamble (or just plain bet on red), tailgate, drive aggressively or without consideration...

Most drivers I see spout that argument are either NIMBYs, hypocrites, or both - and just really have might-is-right on their side.

On a site for cyclists I didn't feel the need to put our side across as I suspect most already knew it.

The point is niether group can claim to be whiter that white, both groups need to change and blindly and niavely pointing the finger and crying innocence will achive nothing.
Wonderful.

Complete non sequitur, though, because I'm not trying to foist innocence on cyclists, I'm pointing out the emphasis is always in the wrong place.

It's always somebody else's problem or issue, isn't it. <deity>-forbid a bit of introspection and self-realisation, 'cos it's easier and more convenient. Let's just focus on the victims and postulate about whether they were wearing a bit of polystyrene on their noggin, rather than question why they're in increasing risk.

And that's the thing that always gets missed. Motorists bang on about things that if they were really honest, they do much the same themselves, and the only real risk they tend to face from cyclists is to their ego or a bit of paintwork - whereas cyclists are often at the mercy from fragile egos, but face disproportionate risks to life because of the divide. And that's really the problem that nobody seems prepared to take on, largely because there's nothing in it for them.
 
An inch of polystyrene might not be much but I've completely smashed 3 helmets in my years riding and am pretty confident if I wasn't wearing them I'd be a bit worse for wear to this day.

Admittedly a bus running over your head there's not a lot you can do about but you've gotta do something.
 
NAILTRAIL96, I knew what you were trying to say and agree.

When i had my big crash down hill i was doing about 35/37mph a rider went down in front of me i when into his bike flipped....bent his seat post with my back (very big black bruise) torn a tendon in my arm, have a perm dislocated coller bone, BUT after bouncing about 3 times i hit the back of my head on a rock that split my helmet down the middle, saw stars etc..........i would be dead if i had not had one on that day. The point being the other injuries aren't a real issue anymore, my head smashed would be.

But i'm as just like a lot of people, i think if i go for a slow tootle round the lanes i don't need one, daft really but while the law says i don't need one i'm gonna enjoy the percieved freedom.
 
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