#11
|
|||
|
|||
Helmet News
On 6/21/2018 8:18 AM, Emanuel Berg wrote:
Frank Krygowski wrote: All this fear mongering [...] Perhaps this is an American issue. Here, the streets are filled with people who ride their bikes every day, many several times a day, and very, very few use helmets. Riding a bike is not considered dangerous! Here, it is. Some helmet promotion sites have sections where they attempt to rebut helmet skeptic arguments. In response to "But bicycling isn't dangerous" they say "The U.S. is not the Netherlands. Riding here is much more dangerous." It's fear mongering. And BTW, I've seen websites that claimed that it can be fatal to even fall off your bike while standing in your driveway. The fear mongering here can be ludicrous. The road bike people and the MTB people use helmets but they are a very small minority. These days, in my area, if you go to a paved bike trail - the kind that Americans drive their cars to, mount their bikes and ride a few miles up and back - about half the riders will wear helmets. Even more weird, on those trails I've passed riders on low recumbent tricycles like this: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...jzt-iSeZBR0L5y Again, a helmet for a trike you cannot possibly fall from, used on a car-free bike trail! Are they afraid they'll trip when they try to get off the bike? It's ludicrous. Intuitively, I feel like if you ride a road bike at that speed and have an accident involving traffic, that sounds like a very serious situation with or without a helmet, but I think I'd use one anyway. I believe you can make a case that performance oriented riders "training" (that is, pushing for speed) might have more likelihood of some helmet benefit. But then you get into risk compensation. I _know_ friends of mine take risks they would not take without the helmet, and I'm sure those extra risks easily exceed the tiny protective capacity of a bike helmet. With the MTB people, I don't see why you can't simply trip over a stock, and hit your head into a rock. I don't see why a helmet wouldn't reduce the impact? I won't argue against a bike helmet for challenging mountain bike riding - except to say (as Mayer Hillman did) that you may be safer with the helmet, if you can just pretend that you're not wearing one. Many years ago, Bell Sports (then the biggest helmet manufacturer and promoter) had a notorious advertisement: "Bell - Courage for your Head." It showed a "first person" view from a guy looking down a steep, steep cliff at buddies who had apparently just ridden down it. The implication? Put on our certified-for-14-mile-per-hour helmet, then risk your life. I no longer do that sort of mountain biking. When I do ride my mountain bike, I wear an ordinary cap. -- - Frank Krygowski |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
HELMET NEWS | datakoll | Techniques | 0 | May 7th 13 12:34 PM |
Cyclists' helmet cameras (BBC 1 News, 1pm) | brass monkey | UK | 0 | February 2nd 11 12:29 AM |
Great news on the helmet front! | Squashme | UK | 0 | May 15th 09 09:13 PM |
In the News: Sizing up the sports helmet market | Jason Spaceman | Techniques | 3 | July 28th 08 12:35 AM |
The anti Helmet on this news group | gareth price | UK | 17 | August 19th 06 04:32 PM |