helmet usage
We have been scolded many times since moving here for not wearing our helmets while working our pedicab business. Does wearing a helmet make cycling safe? My thoughts are cycling is not a dangerous activity. It is what happens while riding your bicycle that creates a hazardous situation. And with the pedicab, it is a slow moving, stable, three wheeled vehicle. Would you tell your child that in order to be safe driving the family car, all they need to do is wear the seatbelt? Education is the missing link here. Seatbelt use is the law in the US and Georgia. Helmet use is not (for riders over 16 years old). We do advocate wearing helmets for bicycling. They are a life saving piece of equipment. Could we get "your" opinion on this??
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Comments
Wearing a helmet won't make
Wearing a helmet won't make cycling a safer activity but it'll definitely help lessen the chances of serious head injury in case of an accident. If I hadn't been wearing my helmet when I had my collision with a Dodge Durango a few months ago, I would've been dead, no question about it. The foam part of my helmet cracked right down the middle from the impact, but I had no serious head injuries. I walked away with just a bruise where my head grazed against the foam. I feel more confident when I am wearing a helmet.
A customer asked my son if
A customer asked my son if he should wear a helmet. His response: "Well, it is your head."
Pedicabber not wearing bike helmet
My comment on a (stable 3 wheel) pedicabber not wearing a helmet.
You may NEVER need it, but that's why they call them accidents, because no one intended or planned on them to happen.
Wear the helmet, even if just for the good public relations of setting an example for kids. (please...)
But don't stop there, we need to:
- educate people on the proper way to wear a helmet. ( snug fit, low over the forehead, etc.)
- stress that wearing a helmet is just 1 ( small ) part of "being Safe"
- stress that visible, predictable, and under-control cycling is also ( probably more important than wearing a helmet ) part of "being Safe"
- realize that no one riding a bicycle is really "totally Safe"
Then enjoy CYCLING !
Also, is Pedicabbing now legal in Atlanta ? I have read various reports of Pedicabbers told to quit (maybe around the time of the Olympics ), ABC has asked lawyer Drago to address the issue with Atlanta City counsel in 2008, etc. Is this allowed now ? Can you contact me directly ( Jerbal1@aol.com )
-Jerry
Are there any statistics
Are there any statistics regarding head trauma while wearing a helmet? While we feel safer, does that small piece of foam and plastic do anything? What are the standards for a cycling helmet (if any)?
Being a triathlete..
We are required to wear one before during and after an event. If we are seen riding our bikes to an event or from an event without helmets, we can be DQ'ed.
So I always wear a helmet. And The one time I did not wear one.. I was hit by a car and spent 4 days in Grady Hospital. Never Again without the helmet.
Death does not scare me.. It is life that frightens me more!
All the time, every time
I commute 14 miles round-trip nearly daily, but sometimes catch the bus to or from Georgia State. It stops a block from work and right at my complex's entrance. From there, it's maybe 100 feet to our apartment.
Even that block, those hundred feet, I wear my helmet. No matter what. I am careful bordering on obsessively paranoid, but, who knows -- I'll fall off and crack my head.
As you say, education is key here. It is to all things; however, example is key to that education, and that means wearing a helmet.
I wouldn't just tell my child how to safely drive the family car: I would show the child how to obey the road's rules, and explain and demonstrate as best able how seatbelts, whiplash arresters, airbags and the like are employed to keep one's cranium uncracked when someone else fails to obey said rules.
Helmets are integral to safe and confident cycling, and to educating others about it, regardless of speed, ride stability or traffic volume.
And if people, especially other cyclists, are scolding you for not wearing helmets, I consider that good. Just as they might remind someone to buckle up when driving.
But simply: why not just wear the helmet?
A few thoughts come to
A few thoughts come to mind:
* The best way to advocate for others to wear helmets would be to wear them yourselves, IMHO. I get especially frustrated when I see parents out riding without helmets next to their kids that are riding with helmets. What kind of example is that setting?
* I know that the data is mixed with regards to whether helmet use actually improves cycling safety. For example, one study has shown that cars will give you more space when they pass if you are *not* wearing a helmet. Nevertheless, I've also heard of people getting brain injuries from a single bike accident after hitting a pothole at low speeds. For me, wearing a helmet is cheap insurance for my brain.
* I've been riding for 20 years or so now, and going out without a helmet makes me feel "naked". It's the same feeling as sitting in a car without my seatbelt on. I believe that if others felt the same way then helmet usage would go up. Passing laws may not be the answer here, it's more of a cultural thing.
* Given that most cycling in Atlanta is vehicular cycling (i.e., in the streets with cars that often don't want you there), I feel like helmets become even more important.
My two cents...
wear it
You only need to land on your head once to regret not wearing it.
Cracked mine in half
Walked away perfectly fine, if a little shaken. I never go without. I do refrain from pressing my opinions on other, though maybe a little anecdotal evidence would do a stranger some good.
Helmets
Racing cars most of my life I always wear a helmet and on my bike and motorcycle. I crashed on pavement last September and broke my collar bone first break in 40 plus years of cycling, but I don't remember the crash due to a concusion and was wearing a helmet. I know if I did not wear a helmet that day I would not be writing this post now it is a easy choice every time I get on my bike.