Originally Posted by
Six jours
Well, I have had numerous "close calls" with high-speed traffic. A half dozen close friends, including my first girlfriend, have been struck and killed by cars. And I have a young family. I just feel like my luck has to run out one day, and I have more to live for now than I ever have before. Moreover, the traffic in my neck of the woods tends to be 50-70 MPH. When you get clobbered around here, the helmet doesn't do much good, as the market for ghost bikes will attest.
Realistically, my chances of being struck and killed are pretty low - but if I stay away from cars entirely, my chances of being struck and killed drop to essentially zero. In my situation, the cars are the only thing that make bicycling potentially deadly, and bicycle helmets don't change that.
The amusing bit is that I'm such a lousy off-road rider that I fall all the time, so I always wear my helmet now.
↑↑↑ This is a good post. What it illustrates to me is that we all are in different riding scenarios, different circumstances and cities and routes and types of street - and so helmet use is based on our own personal need and choice. I ride on the streets all the time, but my city is set up in such a "grid" that I can go nearly anywhere on 25mph or 30mph neighborhood streets. Therefore I
do wear a helmet at all times - because my head injury would be more likely caused by a fall rather than a speeding car slamming into me. If I was riding busy boulevards with fast traffic, I'd probably still wear my skid lid but I would understand that it would help very, very little if a car bashed into me.