View Poll Results: What Are Your Helmet Wearing Habits?
I've never worn a bike helmet
52
10.40%
I used to wear a helmet, but have stopped
24
4.80%
I've always worn a helmet
208
41.60%
I didn't wear a helmet, but now do
126
25.20%
I sometimes wear a helmet depending on the conditions
90
18.00%
Voters: 500. You may not vote on this poll
The Helmet Thread 2
#926
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Seems to me that what generally happens (other than the endless headbanging) is that folks come in sure that they're going to easily show us simpletons why it's so important to wear a helmet, and then either rage-quit (thanks to Mconlonx for that one) after a couple of futile pages, or else come to the understanding that the whole issue much more complex than they had believed.
So the end result is either a bit of learned tolerance for other people's choices, or a really pissed-off helmeteer. Win-win, way I see it.
So the end result is either a bit of learned tolerance for other people's choices, or a really pissed-off helmeteer. Win-win, way I see it.
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My uncle suffered a severe brain injury due to a car accident and has trouble walking. He uses a power wheelchair. He also does a lot of lower-body workouts at the gym daily to give him some semblance of control; and forces himself to walk. And; you guessed it, he wears a helmet when he walks. Takes him a long time to get anywhere and he falls frequently. Wears a leather harness to make it easier for caretakers to pick him back up (he lives in a nursing home).
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Velocity changes the force of impact immensely. And as I understand it, it's exponential. Meaning 15mph vs 5mph is actually significantly more than 3x the impact. I don't know the formula for figuring that; but I've been led to believe that it is exponential (A friend and I were discussing the effect speed has on car accidents and he happens to come armed with an undergrad in Physics from MIT). So there is a LOT of difference in the potential for a serious injury between 5 and 15mph.
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Except that one of the standard helmeteer arguments is that you can be killed even in a low speed fall because it's the distance from the ground that matters.
#933
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Velocity changes the force of impact immensely. And as I understand it, it's exponential. Meaning 15mph vs 5mph is actually significantly more than 3x the impact. I don't know the formula for figuring that; but I've been led to believe that it is exponential (A friend and I were discussing the effect speed has on car accidents and he happens to come armed with an undergrad in Physics from MIT). So there is a LOT of difference in the potential for a serious injury between 5 and 15mph.
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The value of your life doesn't change based on the way you travel. - Dawn Schellenberg (SDOT)
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#934
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It's not speed or distance, but impact that matters. The NHTSA standard model is that 75g's on a 50th percentile (middle of the road) male will kill you. Obviously that's a ballpark, and there are all sorts of variables. But let's use that for what it is; a ballpark to help us understand the danger of impact. At 30mph, a 160lb person who stops in a space of 0.2ft (sudden impact) experiences double the fatal amount of g forces as expressed by the NHTSA. At 5mph, they don't exceed the 75 g's. Fall distance factors in here. The higher you fall, the more you accelerate before you suddenly decelerate. And that sudden deceleration applies force.
Ultimately it's not the fall that kills you. Nobody has ever died from falling out of a plane. They either suffocated in the thin high altitude atmosphere; or were killed when they impacted the ground! Rapid acceleration puts a lot of force on our bodies; and our bodies can only handle so much force. There is a point, an amount of force, that will kill you if your head withstands it. We know that helmets increase that number by decreasing the amount of force that actually translates to your head. Thus increasing the survivability of a given accident. So take with that what you will. If you say "I don't care!", cool! If you say "Helmets will make me irresponsible and aggressive", I'd say that's weird; but whatever floats your boat. If you say "They'll make bigfoot come eat me", sure, whatever. I really have never lost an ounce of sleep over someone elses helmet decision. But if it benefits someone else; that's why I wear mine. It's all about the sudden stop at the end. And a helmet increases the amount of 'sudden stop' that I can survive.
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You could be walking at 3 MPH and get hit by a car going 30 MPH. I'd also suggest that you read @rydabent's past posts to see what his arguments for wearing a helmet are like.
It's a funny world we live in. Which is why I do what makes the most sense to me and encourage others to do the same.
Last edited by RomansFiveEight; 01-19-15 at 11:56 PM.
#936
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Quick disclaimer before I go further; I don't care if you wear a helmet or not. I do; if you don't want to, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. I'm just here for the potential to learn. I believe that it's well demonstrated that a helmet is an effective way to mitigate risks on the bicycle and that alternative studies that suggest riskier behavior, etc., are sort of solutions seeking problems. But I support individual riders making up their own minds.
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#937
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daihard
And I dont care if you do not wear a helmet or not. All I have ever posted is the fact that intelligent cyclist wear helmets. And--------as I have posted I am against MHLs.
BTW I notice you have one on in your avatar.
And I dont care if you do not wear a helmet or not. All I have ever posted is the fact that intelligent cyclist wear helmets. And--------as I have posted I am against MHLs.
BTW I notice you have one on in your avatar.
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#939
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Velocity changes the force of impact immensely. And as I understand it, it's exponential. Meaning 15mph vs 5mph is actually significantly more than 3x the impact. I don't know the formula for figuring that; but I've been led to believe that it is exponential (A friend and I were discussing the effect speed has on car accidents and he happens to come armed with an undergrad in Physics from MIT). So there is a LOT of difference in the potential for a serious injury between 5 and 15mph.
Secondly, you need to look at the force as vectors, not a scalar quantity.
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mcon
Yes it is sad that people are not intelligent enough to wear a helmet while cycling, since all of their excuses are shallow and not well thought out. Once a helmet is on, it is forgotten. And it may save a cyclist from injury. So the question is why not?
Yes it is sad that people are not intelligent enough to wear a helmet while cycling, since all of their excuses are shallow and not well thought out. Once a helmet is on, it is forgotten. And it may save a cyclist from injury. So the question is why not?
#944
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A standard anti-helmeteer argument is that pedestrians die "all the time" from falls. Which is the same argument. Actually more so because it doesn't appear that any "helmeteer" suggests that pedestrians should wear helmets. Oddly, it's anti-helmeteers that keep suggesting that pedestrians should wear helmets!
#946
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It's about two camps of people who have already made up their minds and absolutely will not change their minds trying to change the minds of the other camp that has already made up it's mind and won't change it's mind.
But it's fun, nonetheless And I think there is some learning going on.
But it's fun, nonetheless And I think there is some learning going on.
#948
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It's about two camps of people who have already made up their minds and absolutely will not change their minds trying to change the minds of the other camp that has already made up it's mind and won't change it's mind.
But it's fun, nonetheless And I think there is some learning going on.
But it's fun, nonetheless And I think there is some learning going on.
I have had and have nothing to contribute; my reasons for wearing and for (occasionally) not wearing a helmet are equally without rational foundation. The former: because Ms. Badger prefers that I do. The latter: because I don't like wearing the bl**dy things.