Originally Posted by
Joe Minton
wphamilton:
Thank you for your accuracy, correctness and intelligent reasoning. Everything you said is accurate. This is uncommon and very welcome.
...
Joe
Joe, I'd love to hear more about your experiences and opinions on helmets. These are my current thoughts on bike helmets (not motocycle helmets.)
Some (or all) of these may be wrong, feel free to correct me.
Bike helmets don't do that much to prevent concussion. There simply isn't enough padding. If you're going to hit hard enough to get a concussion, you'd get one with or without a helmet. If you're going to hit hard enough to have serious brain injury, it will happen with or without a helmet. I'm sure the helmets do SOMETHING (small), but not enough to justify wearing one. Especially the road biking helmets with little more than a few mm of padding on the inside and the rest hard foam. I believe people on here have quoted stats before and after required helmet laws were put in effect in cities. From what I've read (on here) those stats didn't change much before and after those laws were put into effect.
Helmets can easily grab on something and wrench your neck around via the straps.
Helmets are GREAT for preventing road rash/cuts on the top of your head, provided it stays on.
Helmets do nothing to protect your face (which is also your head.)
With that said, I don't wear a helmet when I commute. (Short commute, I don't go very fast.) The main danger to me on my commute is cars. If I get hit by a car I don't think a helmet would do much to protect me. However, I DO wear a helmet when I go riding. The main danger to me there is the road surface, my own mistakes, etc.
Mind you, I have had a somewhat serious crash without my helmet on. I was going around a roundabout 270 degrees at probably about 18-20 MPH. The rear tire slid out from under me and I slid, a good long while. I instinctively slid on my stomach (I've been playing basketball since I was a kid) and held my hands, feet, and head up in the air. The only injuries I had was a bit of road rash on my one hand (from the initial fall) and a bit of road rash on my knee, also from the initial fall. My head never touched the ground. My chest was fine as I generally wear 2 shirts, with a dress shirt on the outside. The dress shirt stood up pretty well, however it was ruined. The place I slid was mostly smooth asphalt, so I was lucky there.
I have had other, less serious, falls without my helmet on. I tend to roll, if I'm headed in that direction, to avoid sliding on my head. I've flipped over curbs on my winter bike. I've fallen from pedalling too hard, which I also rolled away from. I know I can't rely on instincts to save me from a serious crash, but those are just my experiences. I've also been riding dirtbikes since I was 5, and have had plenty of crashes on those, all with a helmet on though.