Helmets Save Your Bonce

xerxes":3cc2gi0h said:

helmets save your bounce ;yes they do simples
as for debate how about salvodelli in moto gp last yr or yr before
moter bike helmets have come a long way since 1980 ;when in a race
at assen i think unchinis or luccanelis helmet came off.
he got away with it;shit happens and when it does your in the lap of the gods.
got a ten dollar head wear a ten dollar helmet;if your heads worth nowt why bother to
have one on
as for me i know of 4 accidents this year on bikes;and 2 are here today thanks to skid lids
imo;i hardly ever ride without one on;cos my heads the only thing i have worth owt

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See bottom left, or right, of keyboard for the Shift key!

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grammer police will fix it

We_are_Stevo":3o1k6k5o said:

You can quote all the research/stat's you like, all funded by one pro/anti lobby group or another,...

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The "research" that I have been posting that shows reduction in head injuries despite big increases helmet usage, is all from the primary data of hospitals or government health departments. The Australian and New Zealand data was commissioned by governments looking to find evidence of the success of their mandatory helmet laws. The fact that these are national statistics coming from governments who are looking to justify their own laws is what makes the results so compelling.

We_are_Stevo":3o1k6k5o said:

... but there is more to falling off a bike and landing on your head than rotational wotsit and brian(sic) damage...

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The former is very true. But as "rotational wotsit and brian(sic) damage" is the predominant clinical form of brain damage found after accidents. And I would not dismiss it too lightly. Especially as the vast majority of helmets are not equipped protect against it.

xerxes":ijgn2rm8 said:

I can honestly say I have never suffered any (physical)discomfort due to wearing a correctly adjusted cycle helmet...

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I do, unless it's near freezing outside even my holey Bell helmet makes my head sweat so much that it runs in my eyes, which stings and I can't see where I'm going. As a result, I don't wear it, instead I usually wear a baseball cap, or a cycling cap, which wicks the sweat away and keeps the sweat and the sun out of my eyes.

I once got hit in the eye by something, not sure whether it was a bug, or a stone, but it sure as hell hurt and ever since I always wear protective glasses when riding. I always wear gloves too; I've taken a few tumbles in all the years I've been cycling and never once hit my head, but I have ruined a few pairs of gloves breaking my fall on tarmac and gravel tracks.

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That's up to you, I had never worn helmets BitD as they were terrible things and didn't when I started riding. Only got one as my son did and I wanted to stop trees spiking my head as the cuts where annoying. I sweat in my, not too much even on hot days. Venting is quite good. MET Veleno, well it was as in all the years of my tumbling on not getting my head smashed Sunday just gone I found out the reason people actually wear them.
Sometimes these things just happen no matter how long you've never had you head hit.
It also makes something comfy to lay on while you wait a half hour or so for the ambulance.
Head on rock, helmet crushed and cracked. Not a head injury or even a headache in sight. (ignoring the rest of me)
From what everyone else said, them rocks wouldn't half done some damage.

Which given the title off the thread is what it was about.

That paramedic is trying to break his neck!

Approaching my half century, I cannot recall the number of times I have heard people tossing off glib self assurances such as, "I have climbed up much worse without rope.", "I have been paddling twenty years and never hit my head" and so on..

Some people claim to never fall off their bikes. Call me sceptical but if you never fall off you just don't ride a bike much.

I really don't know what the anti helmet lobby are out to prove, but there seem to be so many half baked theories out there purporting to be facts.

There has been a massive upsurge in cycling over the last dozen years. Perhaps the fact head injuries whilst cycling have steadied rather than increased during this time is down to the where people are cycling, or something else but I can't imagine helmets are not helping.

Chopper1192":24srfqrm said:

That paramedic is trying to break his neck!

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Don't presume he was...

My neck, two days ago
iirc he'll either have been checking my neck or given the helmets off supporting my head (cradling) taking strain of my neck.

Yeah, he'd have likely been immobilising your noggin.

What happened? You ok?

Intimate encounter with a car at the Recent RB National. I was just the unlucky one at the time. Could have been any of us.
Full chest impact on the headlight front/corner of a new modern Discovery.
Not quite sure how no ribs were broken.
(details are irrelevant as that got nowt to do with Helmets)


Helmet means I can sit here typing it just relative discomfort. Save my life dunno, personally wouldn't like to have found out.
Saved from scars, stitches, headaches, sharp point impacts... Yes.
Dull thud to the head, concussion. Possibly.

and like I say, it provided a nice comfy pillow for a while.

did it increase the pain in my neck, maybe, maybe not but they don't matter as much.
But then I have pain all over my chest, bottom ... also

Anyway, stuff happens and thats the point. Why retrobike rides have their rule (not just for insurance) but they and the other riders have to deal with the mess. Let alone the Paramedics, Doctor, Nurses locals....

highlandsflyer":3qsrgs7l said:

There has been a massive upsurge in cycling over the last dozen years. Perhaps the fact head injuries whilst cycling have steadied rather than increased during this time is down to the where people are cycling, or something else but I can't imagine helmets are not helping.

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The head injury statistics published from local and national governments around the world is remarkably consistent:
*The number of head injuries for cyclists are declining roughly in line with the number of head injuries for pedestrians and car users.
*The number of cyclists wearing helmets has increased dramatically in some countries though not in some others. Holland for instance. But overall the proportion of helmet users does not cause a reduction in the number of head injuries.

Increases or decreases in cycling over time always have to be factored in to any comparisons. This is usually done by comparing proportion of riders suffering head injuries and not the actual number.

There are two main interpretations of why increased helmet use has not reduced the number of head injuries:
*That the helmet wearing cyclists are taking part in more dangerous activities like racing and mountain biking and so are having more accidents.
*That cycle helmets are not not very good at protecting against the type of head injuries that are being reported.

The reality will probably be somewhere in between these interpretations.

Graham, there is a third missing interpretation.
Cyclists accidents are not getting reported as they are protecting the head against injury up until a point, not dissimilar to the second point but another way of looking at it. It's taking more to cause that injury that is being reported.
(possibly related to point one I don't feel it is, or there are more people riding in more dangerous places i.e. more people just riding on the roads which are getting more dangerous (more cars, increased public transport, cars parked on roads and pavements, cars are larger taking up more room) in general causing the chances of going beyond a helmet capabilities.
It does not mean a helmet is not working and reducing severity or not saving lives.
It also depends how you phrase it.


Netherland maybe due to a different approach to keeping cyclist away from the chances of severe dangers ? Better attitude and/or infrastructure for cyclist ?

It would be interesting to have some more recent data on the the last graphs, 15 years have past since to see if the trend has just stabilized and also to see what type of accident or if other influences like speed limits, car rules, location are involved. Always the problem with small data sets (the first of the three shows nothing really)

I hope you get my point in my jumble of words