I swear, this isn’t a troll, I just want to know what the forum thinks.
I usually run on a paved bike path. On the weekends, a lot of the cyclists who use the trail are of the recreational sort, by which I mean that they’re actually riding slower than I’m running.
Do these people need to be wearing a helmet? I ask because a lot of them do, and it caught my eye- it looks funny.
The only cyclists that need helmets are the ones who want to survive a head injury.
If you’ve ever seen how easy it is to crush a person’s head (you can do it with your foot if they are laying on the pavement) you would wear one all the time.
Speed isn’t as much as a factor as distance from the ground in many accidents. It’s the perpindicular force at which your head hits the ground that can cause many injuries. Also, less experienced riders have poorer handling skill and are more likely to be involved in accidents.
Yeah, but I don’t wear a helmet all the time. I guess what I’m asking is, is it more dangerous to ride a bike on a bike path than run on it, if speed is not an issue?
The darn thing about bike paths are people walking dogs, in-line skating, etc. The multi-use nature of it puts a number of vehicles and pedestrians in close proximity to one another at a wide variety of speeds and that is often a bad mix.
Years ago I was mountain biking in a local preserve, riding without my helmet because there were no cars, I figured cars were the danger. A volunteer mountain bike patrol guy rode up and told me that helmets were required in the preserve, quite sensibly, and explained that while there was zero likelihood of tangling with cars on the trail, the possibility of falling was much greater than on my road bike on the street, because of the lower speed and the multi-use issue that Tom cites, and I needed to protect my head from whatever I may hit on the way down. Made sense to me, and I’ve never not worn one since.
The only cyclists that need helmets are the ones who want to survive a head injury.
I always say: “If you’re stupid enough to ride without a helmet, then it might be okay to ride without a helmet. Do your part to strengthen the gene pool.”
-Zo
…only if you have something in your skull worth protecting. Oh, and especially make sure you sign an organ donor card if you decide not to wear one…might as well help others that need the organs.
Don’t get the wrong message, though, helmet wearers should consider being organ donors, too. And helmets certainly don’t prevent all head injuries, just enough of them to be worth it, e.g., a helmet can be the difference between being fed out of a spoon (or worse) the rest of your days vs. returning to your normal activities very quickly.
Tom, for this reason, when I have the choice of a “multi use recreational path…aka bike path” or a road, I’ll always take the road unless it is early in the morning when no one is on the path. While an accident on the road is more catastrophic in general, cars travel in a more deterministic manner. Then can’t stop on a dime and turn 90 degrees, like a person pushing a baby stroller, an inline skater or a dog.
i think they/we all need helmets, at all times, with no exceptions
i ride on a bike path here in LA and i am constantly amazed at how many outwardly serious-looking riders (full USPS suit, 5k bike, $300 shoes) are cruising (not riding necessarily, but sort of cruising at 10-12 mph) around without helmets…it’s really baffling.
the rec riders (reg pedals, old Huffys or beach cruisers) I can sort of understand…sort of…but these dudes who have dropped serious coin on their rigs riding with just a (usually matching) painters cap make me angry in some weird way i can’t fully explain
be smart, be safe
A helmet saved my head while on one of those bloody bike paths. My helmet was scraped up pretty badly, and what was revealed that the liner was cracked. I hate to imagine what my head would have been like after a bike path crash.
YES!
Having worked closely with the crew at the helmet test lab at the University of Southern California during graduate school, I got to see first hand the injuries sustained and the impact forces generated by head meets ground. It is not pretty. We used to call the old racing helmets brain baskets for a reason (remember the leather covered soft foam cage?)
All those bike paths cross intersections from time to time, right about the time a 67 year old retired lawyer with 6 scotch and soda’s in him from a golf game at the Club drives by. Not worth the risk.
Be smart, wear one, and replace it every 5 years because the impact resistant polystyrene core degrades with exposure to heat and oxygen and reduces effectiveness over time.
Cheers,
Karma
By far-the worst bike accident I have ever had was riding my mountainbike to clock a run. I was on a cartpath type trail and could not have been going more than 6-8 miles an hour. I hit a wet/algae/leaf/mud curve and some really strange phyisics occurred. I slammed to the ground harder than I have ever hit. First thought after my head hit was being thankful that I was a nerd and wearing a helmet. My elbow and hip (I have some of the nastiest photos you have ever seen of the deep bruising) did not fair so well.
"the ones who want to survive a head injury. "
Q. What’s the term for cyclists who don’t wear helmets?
A. Organ donors.
Hey Karma, did you work with Dave Thom? Not sure if he still works there, that was a few years ago. Real nice guy!
Wolfwood
Yes, Dave Thom was there when I was. He and Harry Hurt. Harry FIANLLY retired in 1995 after heart surgery and pacemaker implant. The scool of Safety and systems management went belly up in 1995 and got pushed into the engineering school because we were not a profit center for the university.Those guys saw more cranial autopsies than anyone I’ve met since. Tonight on my evening Mtn. bike ride, I stopped to preach the helmet gospel to a couple on their bikes. We have some very steep, fast and loose trails in the East SF Bay that will put you in a ditch if you disrespect them. Went over the guys head though, too bad, he’ll end up a statistic some day like the rest of them.
Cheers
A patient of mine was sriding to school. While riding he wasn’t paying too much attention and hit a rock, which torqued his wheel and send him to the pavement. His helmet was split down the middle and had a few other major cracks. He was fine. the likelihood that he would not have been seriously injured was small.
I used to keep his helmet hanging over the reception desk. My partner threw it out because he thought it was gruesome.
I worked in a large pediatric emergency room for 3 1/2 years in the prehelmet law era. We saw lots of serious head injuries. Most were from falling over or bumping into the curb while not paying attention. It’s usually not the cars. It is the vertical force. As the head passes 45 degrees, the center of gravity is accelerating at the acceleration of gravity. The head is accelerating at approximately twice that rate.
The bumps and rocks on trails are even more unfriendly that the street.
It is stupid to ride without a helmet. Period.
I sometimes ride without a helmet.
I am intimately familiar with the level of risk I am assuming.
I NEVER ride helmetless in a group ride/race situation.
I have health insurance, and I pay an insane amount of money for it - so screw the public health argument.
I have performed first aid and CPR, more than once, on cyclists - including an unconscious (now ex)girlfriend - who have had serious cranial trauma.
I have personally seen several people die from head injuries (not the girlfriend, thankfully.)
If I, in full knowledge of the risks, and maintaining my own health insurance, decide to excercise my right to engage in a completely irrational act, that I thoroughly enjoy, for completely irrational reasons:
I have a right to do so. Bicycle helmet laws are scary legal nonsense.
Don’t F**king lecture me when you see me on the trail. I know how stupid I am - I could care less what you think.
Cycling is an inherently dangerous activity. Every adult individual has a right and responsibility to dtermine for themselves the level of risk they are willing to assume for themselves. This level will and should vary with each individual.
No one has the right to determine another adults level of acceptable risk.
I know I am going a bit far afield, but…
In the context of an organized group activity, mandating helmet wear is obvious and essential. Requiring that at all individuals wear helmets, in all situations, when operating a bicycle, is a slippery slope issue. Very serious questions of individual rights, at a constitutional level, are involved in this argument; as cyclists, we should be very wary of the dangers implicit in legislation that deems all bicycle riding hazardous, and frames these hazards in terms of a public health issue.
Helmets are great. I own four of them. I wear one 15+ hours a week. When I occasionally ride without one, I know, deep down, that part of the reason I do so is to affirm, for myself, my god-damned right to do something stupid that couldn’t possibly hurt anybody else - you know, the kind of good-ole-boy stuff that makes America great…
MH
(see - I’m not a “lib…”)
I agree, if your brain isn’t worth protecting then you shouldn’t wear a helmet while riding a bike.
I have health insurance, and I pay an insane amount of money for it - so screw the public health argument.
Insurance is shared risk, I am paying more $$ for my insurance because of the people that don’t wear a helment and get head injures. Your insurance is indirectly higher because you don’t wear a helmet.
Andrew