-As some of you know I work in Central Park in NYC. I cannot say it enough, wear your helmets. At least once per week we get a call for a cyclist that crashed and needs an amubulance. Usually the ones that need the ambulance are not wearing their helmets. Well yesterday I saw the worst crash since I have been in the park.
-A 23 y/o guy was riding a fixed gear bike inside the park. Another cyclist cam and flagged us down. When my partner and I got to the scene, we saw blood and lots of it. There was a big crowd over this guy who had fallen. He was on the ground twitching, and then he woke up. His head was split open above his eye socket. He had no idea about what happened and kept rubbing the open wound like it was a bug bite. (the gash was about 2 inches x 3/4 inches wide in the middle)
-Apparently something (squirrel Im thinking) ran out in front of him. He could not stop and went over the bars. He was rushed to the hospital where he ended up only having a bad cut, some swelling and bruising but nothing more. He was conscious and knew where he was but did not remember the crash at all. Thank goodness he was ok, bc you hate for the worst to happen.
-As triathletes and cyclists, we are usually decent bike handlers and can trust ourselves. YOU CANNOT TRUST YOUR SURROUNDINGS, the things that can “get you.” Most of the crashes are regular roadies or triathletes with their team kits on. Not the people cruising along just out to enjoy a ride. Is it really that hard to put on a helmet? Im not worried about my ability, but I do worry about others causing me to crash.
Please wear your helmet, and make sure that you strap it on. A helmet wkith no straps is just as good as no helmet.
I always think of the footage when basketball players fall on their backs. it seems like most of the time, after the guy’s back hits, the head snaps and hits the floor around twice as fast. that’s the sort of thing that has me wearing my helmet when i ride.
My 3 day trip to the ICU was caused by a pedestrian circling the Rose bowl, as do hundreds of others, who suddenly turned left into my path without so much as a glance beforehand. (I had been forced to the right by a passing roady) She was ok, because I managed to veer and miss her, except for my right bullhorn, which hooked her and slammed me to the ground, a la Lance, crushing my helmet, breaking ribs and sternum, collapsing a lung and separating my shoulder, as well as the concussion caused by the head slam. I doubt i would be writing this, had I NOT been wearing my helmet. (I probably would be drooling in my shoe.) I’m also lucky that I was between intervals and was only going 19-20mph instead of the 25+ I would have been going, in that slightly downhill section, a few seconds later.
I hate that place! People running the wrong direction, not paying attention, Kids with training wheels not watching where they are going, Cyclists going at varying rates of speed & motorists pulling out w/o taking a good look around. I will sometimes throw a loop in my rides just for a good flatish 3 mile section before heading out for some more terrain but caution is the key.
WEAR YOUR HELMET? Did anyone read Chris Boardman’s article recently? Interesting info…
Great points. Where are the ST 'Wheenies" who say…“ITS MY RIGHT and GOD-D**mn it” I will not whee my helmet, even with kids and family. They think we should all live like those in NH (Live Free or Die", LOL. Anyone who rides without a helmet (and we get some on our Thursday night Woodstock NY rides) should be banned form the ride, period. This is one area the government must step into. It’s a no brainer (no pun intended) that helmets reduce seious head injuries by over 90%).
I agree with his points. If you are in a high risk situation (Group Rides, in traffic, etc) wear your helmet. Otherwise the need really may not be as beneficial as you think. Wearing a helmet can cause the rider to think he is safer than he or she really is causing that person to take more risks. Call me what you want but I don’t personaly like wearing my helmet…But I do judge the situation & wear it when I think I may potentially be at a higher risk. Not wearing a helmet at all really is a scary way to live.
Helmet saved my life…won’t go anywhere without it. My accident was caused by my own idiocy. Don’t forget that we can do stupid things too. I had ridden the day before and because of that, I just grabbed my bike and went (with a helmet of course). About 40 miles into my ride, there is an area with a pretty severe bump in the road that, given the road is slightly downhill, you can hop over (about 25 mph). So I ready myself to hop the bump, pull my bike up, and that is the last thing I remember. The day before when I had got home I took my front wheel off to check out some rattling in the hub, and when I put it back on, I didn’t secure the quick release. So at 25 mph, when I pulled up on my bike, my front wheel came off and I went forehead first into the pavement. No broken bones, but helluva lot of road rash on my face and shoulder and a puncture under my eye and under my nose. Helmet destroyed cracking on the front and right side, which would have been my skull without it. Needless to say, I would not be here without a helmet.
I would argue that you are always at risk on the bike. I don’t think of it as a suit of armor, just a bit of protection that could make a difference between your brains on the sidewalk and a more minor injury. It won’t save you if the hit is hard enough and it won’t do anything to protect you against other trauma that could just as easily kill you.
"Why do you care if other people wear their helmets? "
Maybe he has a small amount of humanity in him that hopes “other people” don’t crack their skulls and get hurt. What do you think? The real question is why people like you get pissed when someone asks you to potect yourself from injury. Do you also get pissed when someone tells you to have a nice day?
He’s out there helping the poor souls, AND the idiots who crash and get hurt. I agree with the OP. Wear your damn helmet. I don’t want to pay more for insurance because of uncalled for hospital visits.
I’m pro choice, I don’t like riding with helmetless people, and won’t coach athletes who don’t. But you only should wear a helmet if your brain is worth more to you than the cost of a cheap helmet. If it’s not, than ride bare cranium. But if it is, then protect it.
“If the post was out of pure compassion, then maybe he can tell us of the action he is taking to stop people from cracking their skulls open”
Sorry maybe you missed the part where he works in the park trying to take care of people who crack their heads open. Also, he wasn’t complaining, he was asking you not to risk splitting your melon. Gee, the nerve of the guy…
The truth is I am a cop in the Central Park Pct. (Not parks enforcement, a real cop) For your info, I do try to tell the cyclists to wear their helmets and be careful, esp in the high traffic areas and where the kids like to play kick ball and whatever else. Of all the cyclists that I have called an ambulance for, none of them were wearing a helmet. The guys that crash with helmets on, usually get up after a they shake the fall off and ride on with a bit of road rash.
Im not trying to save the world, but as a cyclist myself, I dont like to see others get hurt. Believe me, all I really do is call for an ambulance, I know very basic first aid. I am just giving a friendly reminder to wear a helmet, not demanding it of you.
It would be pretty shitty of me or an EMT or anyone to just say F- it when a cyclists falls without a helmet bc that was the choice he made. It is your choice to wear one or not, If you get in an accident I will act the same way towards you. I probably see more bike accidents in Central Park than just about anybody. Im just saying, make the “safer” choice.
I said decent, not good. I should have wrote, “triathletes are better bike handlers than beginner cyclists”
hehe…again, debatable
if we’re talking like 3 year olds just off training wheels…sure. past that, i’ve seen some pretty damn scary triathletes.
i remember riding the 2km to school as a kid with no hands the entire way…it was a game we used to play. i know a number of triathletes who almost crash their bike trying to get something out of their back pocket (and a number that have actually crashed)
the reason there is so much carnage in cat 5 races around here, is because there are so many triathletes! ;p
but i do agree with the original post made, wear your damn helmet. it can save your life. even when you’re taking all necessary precautions, all it takes is one idiot to do something that can endanger you…and stupidity seems to be at an all time high lately.
It’s a relative situation. Yes, I agree, cyclists should wear a helmet. As a medic, I see first-hand how effective they can be. I personally never ride without one. However, it’s not like cycling in general is the safest recreation or sport, so cyclists criticizing other cyclists for not wearing a helmet makes as much sense as a runner criticizing a cyclist for riding a bike at all, because it’s less safe than running. There’s levels of risk that individuals are willing to live with, and the personal decision to wear a helmet or not, is exactly that - personal. If I were to be hit & killed on my bike, I doubt my wife would console herself with the thought that I was being responsible by wearing my helmet when the drunk driver clipped me from behind. If I landed in the hospital for the same reason, paralyzed from a spinal injury, I doubt I’d be singing the praises of my Pneumo. I’d be cursing myself for continuing to ride even though I knew an accident was likely, if not inevitable, with or without a helmet on.
