Helmets for Cyclists vs. Full Body Armor for Drivers

I've always wished that a company would make a cool-looking helmet. When I was hit by a car, I was able to protect my head with my arms as I flew to the ground but my head still made contact with the ground. There's nothing like looking up, covered in blood and seeing a nice patch of your hair on the ground in front of you. Even after that I still don't want to wear a helmet but I do because my girlfriend makes me. I wish they would have more bike lanes around LA but everyone drives. I think they'd rip up the sidewaks to make another lane for cars if they could.

I really don't like wearing a helmet because I think it's a pain. If i'm cruising through the park or down quiet streets I think this is perfectly safe. People need not freak out about it. Also, in sane cities like Amsterdam it's really not necesary to have a helmet.

This all changes if you're in the US commuting down streets dominated by cars. That's when even I put the helmet on, and hell, I think it looks just fine.

I wear a helmet so that if a car kills me I could have my next of kin paid out to with my life insurance. As long as I am doing what I should, my life insurance will pay out to my kin. If I choose not to, they could keep the money. The only times I don't is when the heat is too bad (like 115 degrees.) or it's a very, very short trip (less than 1 mile.) I have figured out how to lock my helmet and bike up together. Works well too.

Doesn anyone think a tiny little bike helmet will protect you from a car? Something like a motorcycle helmet would be better but still not great if you get hit.

Good point about the life insurance, Janet. Of course it makes sense to do what is necessary to be covered.

Yes, we need cool looking helmets. It's true.

I'm an avid biker in my area, and I have two examples about wearing a helmet.

Once, at around age 10, I fell off my bike and smacked my head pretty hard on the sidewalk, and since I have always worn a helmet, cause that hurt a LOT.

Second, I had an accident with a pickup truck (admittedly my fault) and did a good bit of damage to the truck with my helmet (broke my collarbone, though) and am glad I learned my lesson at age 10 instead of then.

As for wearing a helmet being a pain, it takes like two seconds to put one on and snap the strap. How hard is that?

A more stylish and wearable helmet would be nice. I ride 11 miles a day as a commuter and since I compete in triathlon and bicycle racing I ride a lot more than that. Sometimes as much as 300 miles a week. The current technolgy of helmets has changed little except for look and comfort since its inception. Prices for high end helmets are outrageous, $200-$300 is not uncommon. I recently did a poll on a triathlon site frequented by racers and industry insiders and the consensus was that all helmets have to pass the same safety requirements (set by the country sold in) as any other. What changes are the vents colors and styling. The mechanics and engineering are the same. We need to make some noise on this issue and have companies invest in research to develop head protection that looks good and is comfortable to wear. At this time no one cares. Helmets, made as they are, are worn by those that believe in them, and those required to wear them for events. Nobody wears one because they want to. Hence no market drive to supply a non existence need. I am a firm believer in helmets, most racers are, most commuters and casual cyclist aren't. Bell made a try with its Citi and Metro line of helmets, these were targeted at commuters and had nice features, but the look if anything was worse than conventional helmets and I have never seen a cyclist in one.

I'm pro-choice on this. But, I think that any head injuries sustained while not wearing a helmet should not be covered by health insurance. Currently, these idiots get coverage and the rest of us get a rate hike every year. Sound fair?

I am always amazed that people who would not think of carrying their laptop computer without a padded briefcase or backpack will carelessly risk banging their brain. One good hit can change your life forever- I would fell naked if I got on my bike, blades or snowboard without a helmet- it just becomes a habit. When the cooler weather hits I will take my cool-looking tight-fitting kayaking helmet and wear it- it is rated for bikes and does not look so geeky.

To reply to the laptop comment, I know many people who carry their laptops (including while on a cycle) without a padded case. On the other hand, I can protect my head when cycling (both by knowing how to fall and before that, being careful while on the bike).

On the point of helmets being mandatory, I think that is a horrible idea because anytime something like that becomes mandatory, participation in the sport goes down. If you don't believe me, compare the participation rates for cycling in Australia from before and after changes in the helmet law.

I can protect my head when cycling (both by knowing how to fall and before that, being careful while on the bike).

Er, the the last time I had an accident on my bike, I had as much time to prepare as it takes to think "wow, I'm falling" and then my face hit the ground. That quick. I take issue with the idea that you'd have the wherewithal to protect yourself in every situation, much less protect your head.

Bike helmets aren't about preparation or even prevention. They're like airbags in a car, which you hope you'll never have to use. You can practice being a good driver, and learn defensive driving techniques, but when that drunk crosses that median and slams into your car on the highway, I'll bet you'll be glad you wore your seat-belt and your airbags deployed.

Of course it's your choice to wear your seat-belt, just as it's your choice to wear a helmet (one will get you a fine though). Just don't make it sound like bike helmets are useless, cosmetically-flawed hunks of styrofoam.

I'm curious if anyone who protests too loudly about wearing helmets has ever been in an accident where wearing one made a difference. Personally, I have, and while I realize it won't protect me in every conceivable situation and that prevention and caution are the best safety measures, I still wear one every time I go out because you never know what might happen.

I agree that there needs to be some more innovation in cycling helmets with regards to style and functionality, but look at the state of the market until recently: cycling has been a niche sport in the US. Specialized tried to launch the Globe about a decade ago, which flopped at the time but, who knows, might be a hit today. I think the cycling industry needs to catch onto the modern green movement, but I also think they've been burned in the past by their enthusiasm for the bike in general: after all, their business IS alternative transportation, they've only been lacking the audience. And one can only launch so many failed mass-appeal bicycle models before you become gun-shy. So I don't think it's for lack of interest or will that bicycle helmets haven't changed much: I think it's because the market just hasn't been there. Now that maybe it's arrived we can expect more innovation as interest and popularity in cycling grows.

OK, my first helmet, long lost, was a "skid lid"- there was almost nothing to it and it was light as a feather- now the term is used by motorcyclists and I could only find one reference to it, but why don't they make light, airy helmets like that any more?

http://www.helmets.org/history.htm

i don't have one, but recumbent tricycles seem much safer(you can't fall, you can only get hit). and you are more noticeable(which has been my safety concern) you would take up more roadspace though... but not much more.

Interesting comparison of stats. Thanks for putting some numbers in the post. But I don't think that the figures are quite so favorable for biking as you suggest.

That's 'cause they haven't been standardized for how far people were going and what they were doing on those vehicles. In the US most people go 10-15,000 miles per year in cars... but probably not on bikes. Plus their biking is often in more recreational contexts that reduce exposure to dangers like traffic and bad weather.

My guess is that on a mile-for-mile basis, riding a bike is more dangerous. Are there any numbers on this, anyone?

My experience from some years of living without a car suggest to me that trying to use your bike as primary transport -- day in, day out, to work, to play -- can be pretty hazardous. You're out there playing in the same arena with these beasts that weigh thousands of pounds and just don't see you most of the time. A bicyclist just can't win in a "conflict" with a car. My significant other had a really close call where someobdy ran in to her when she was in a bike lane. Stopped at a stop sign. With a light on!

There's tricks you can use to make it safer -- go on back roads, sidewalks etc. To a certain extent skill on your bike can affect your safety. A lot of new bicyclists really don't understand how to control their bikes; here's a friendly site designed to help them.

But at the end of the day you can't really reduce the vulnerability of cyclists, unless the ratio of cars to cyclists goes way down to Amsterdam levels -- where cars run for their lives, and some bikes are heavy enough to be reminiscent of SUVs :)

There seems to be similarity between the "helmets are ugly" whining and the "windmills are ugly" whining -- ignoring the larger issue in favor of focusing on an aesthetic point that is irrelevant.

Though I guess it could be argued that those who won't wear a helmet because of aesthetics have ALREADY suffered brain damage and the point is therefore moot...

I took a spill yesterday on my new scooter. If I hadn't been wearing my helmet, I would have had a lot worse than a sore shoulder and cuts and bruises.

I don't care how dorky it looks, it keeps my brains where they belong.

"There's tricks you can use to make it safer -- go on back roads, sidewalks etc."

Riding on sidewalks is one of the top ways of getting smacked by cars, second only to riding the wrong way down the road. The collision that cyclists fear the most, getting hit from behind, constitutes only 1/10 to 1/20 of car-bike collisions. The most common collisions are those between cyclists and turning/entering cars, the sort of thing that happens to bikers on the sidewalk a lot. The reason children are told to get off and walk at intersections when riding on the sidewalk is because this is the only safe way to bike on the sidewalk.

In many cases, riding a bicycle on the sidewalk is illegal. If bicyclists want to be seen as an equal alternative to driving a petro-powered vehicle, we need to act like an alternative - riding in the street, obeying the rules of the road, signaling our direction, stopping at stop signs, not going the wrong way down one-way streets. Sidewalks are for pedestrians.

Having worked as a nurse since '98, and now a new cyclist this year, I wear a helmet religiously. I have worked with patients with those kinds of head injuries, and am not willing to take those kinds of chances.

Like some other posters, I an keenly aware that you cannot always control the circumstances of an accident. Sometimes you just don't have time to protect yourself, or a foce of impact combined with the speed it happens might make it impossible to fall well.

I do agree that helmets suck, though. I think they are barely up to snuff, and ugly to boot. I want a cooler looking one, that I have more faith in.

Oops, i didn't think the "riding on sidewalks" comment would get me in hot water. But let me respond a little, 'cause I've ridden bikes in urban environments both ways: the activist "I'm legit transportation and I deserve the whole lane" way, and the "I'm just a scrawny weirdo on a fixie trying to survive" way. Though I wholeheartedly agree with the first sentiment (I went years without a car because I did) I started riding differently after some near accidents caused by car drivers that just didn't see me and other cyclists following the rules. No helmet could have helped if those accidents had been "fulfilled". There are some biking situations that are just too dangerous for the "advocacy" style of riding... to give two examples frequently encountered by serious cyclists, no-shoulder two lane highways in industrial areas, and exurban strip-mall lands -- these are the kind of places where drivers are not used to seeing bikes and they're going fast... 50 or 60 mph. At those speeds passing trucks also make sucking gusts of wind that are quite unnerving. That's when I gladly choose to put advocacy aside!

It turns out that the brain is about the consistency of tofu, and can be easily damaged. Even heading a soccerball is not healthy for your head.

I wear a Bell Metro, it's not great looking but it not flasy and has good air flow to keep ypur head a little cooler. It's the best helmet i've owned.

If a motorcyclist doesn't need a helmet, I'm not wearing one on my bike.
I do occasionally wear a nice 1980's Vetta Lexan helmet with washable sweatbands. Italians got the style a lot of ya'll are looking for.

Hi!
I'm Dutch (that's from the little country in Europe called the Netherlands) and I am stunned by the amount of accidents you guys can tell about. Here, a bike is an important means of transport as you might know. Helmets are not obligatory though. I Have been biking almost every day for all my life and I've never been in a serious accident. The statistics: population: 16.2mln people, 20mln bikes, 67.000 accidents per year, of which 7500 with a car. 12% is treated in a hospital.
I guess that if they are making laws for bikes in the USA, they should start with really protecting bikers from cars. Here in the Netherlands a driver of a car is always responsible in the case of an accident with a bike. For example: even if a biker had no lights and was driving through the red light in the evening the driver of the car still has a tough case in the courthouse.

I have been in many bicycle accidents in my life. In the first one I CRACKED a hardshell helmet (remember those?), but I received NO injuries.

I know 2 people who have sustained serious brain damage from not wearing a helmet. One was right in front of her house and hit her head on the curb. The other was riding with his family. His son forgot his helmet, so he put his helmet on his son and got hit by a car about 30 seconds later. Last I heard he was still learning how to eat and dress himself.

Another friend was killed by a hit and run driver. It was late, she wasn't wearing a helmet or lights, and she had been drinking. But boy did it garner a lot of sympathy for her and outrage against the driver.

I seriously angers me to see a parent out riding with a child. The child invariably has a helmet, but frequently the parent does not. Now I know it would be devastating to lose a child, but tell me, what's that kid gonna do if you die, or if you require 24-hour care for the rest of your drooling life?

Who cares if it "reduces participation?!?!?" It's a public health issue. Helmet use should be mandatory.

Where I live it's a mather if you are happy being alive or not. If you like to live you wear a helmet.

Too many brains have been damaged and to many skulls cracked open.

Mandatory helmet laws are stupid, although you could make a case for under-18 only helmet laws.

There are a million things that could be safer, but we don't legislate them. Why don't we mandate wearing a helmet while riding in passenger cars? I'm sure that would reduce accident related head injuries.

There are many more kids and adults who die by drowning each year then by bicycle accidents. Why don't we mandate life jackets on anyone who wants to go for a swim?

Besides, a modern light weight cycling helmet is not going to do jack when you get in an accident with a car.

Those has to be the most ignornant statements one could make. Its not an issue of this or that. Helmets save lives and if you knew anything about the actual materials and design in the newer helmets you might know that you can have lightweight and strength (ever hear of carbon fiber). And from personal experience they do quite well in an accident with a car. There are always going to be bigger and more important issue, but that is no reason not to have preventative legislature. And you wish they could look cooler ... give me friggin break. And accidents happen for many more reasons that cars ... a curb a root a branch.

Listen, just check this out:

http://www.bhsi.org/stats.htm

Was in a motorcycle accident in 1980. Had a full face helmet on, but still broke my jaw in 2 places & knocked out for 3 days...never remembered anything for 2 days before the accident...solid black & blue from shoulder to ankle & arm swelled to double its diameter. But recovered fully with no brain damage thanks to my helmet. Worked on mandatory helmet law. Data showed that protecting just 3% of your body(head) with a helmet, doubled your chance to live well after an accident. Think properly, wear a helmet(bicycle helmet is great too)...live long & prosper. I did. Grace & Peace to all readers...bill borsheim-litesong

I know I'm late on this one, but I came here from the post on cycle lanes:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/08/uk_cyclist_fine.php

I can't believe that readers would seriously consider not wearing a helmet!

Having worked as a ski and mountain-bike park patroller, I've seen many low speed head injuries that have been or could have been lessened or avoided by the wearing of a helmet.

Life is not about fashion, do you complain about seat belts too? What about the flashing seat belt sign on planes?

I volunteered in a group home and rehab for adults with traumatic brain injuries. One of the saddest and most frightening things I heard from a few families and spouses of people with brain damage: "This is not the same person I knew." A broken leg doesn't destroy who you are as an individual.

Helmets won't protect you from all injury, but they can protect you from devastating brain injury. That alone should be reason enough to wear one.

You can always take your helmet off after a ride, and no one will ever know that you're a part-time geek.

Dave, et al -

I did not want to put this in my previous post but since you asked. I have been in several cycle accidents over the years and how many time did I have a helmet on? ZERO ... yes, zero. The last accident that I had was head over handle-bars onto a concrete raised cyclelane. Did I hit my head? No, but not because I could not have but because I have trained myself to fall. After several years of judo, I automatically protect my head when falling. In fact, instead of thinking "wow, I'm falling", I automatically roll into a proper landing position with my chin to my chest and my body rotating to land on my side.

Also, to answer those you point out all of the people who have minor head injuries that could have been prevented with a helmet, do you know when I have had a concussion? From walking and slipping ... and, according to stats published in the BMJ, it is more dangerous per mile to walk than bike. In other words, for every mile that I walk thru the streets of England, I am more likely to be injured or killed than if I was on my bike for that mile.

I still stand by my decision to not wear a helmet during normal commuting. I do wear a helmet when riding in certain situations, like downhill mountain biking, because in those situations it is beneficial to wear a helmet.

Study out of the UK says drivers give 'helmeted' cyclists less room = more dangerous.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2006-09-12T181001Z_01_N12317799_RTRIDST_0_OUKOE-UK-BIKES.XML

That UK study is rather interesting. When I was in my late to mid-teens I biked everywhere - to work, school, out, etc. and I never wore a helmet. During that time I only had two accidents that didn't involve a care - one was my bike sliding on ice and me ending up dumping my bike (no injury), the second was with my break cable giving out and hitting the sidewalk curb resulting in me going over the handle bars and getting a .2" cut on the palm of my hand. I haven't biked since getting a car but have now decided to commute to work every day (only 6 miles round trip). So, I got a new bike, 25 watt head light system, LD1000 cateye tail light, rear rack with bag, and now a helmet. I can honestly say I don't like wearing the helmet but feel it's a safe thing to do - just in case. But based on my experience when I was a in my teen years I don't think it's really needed. But then again, drivers and traffic is much different from when I was 15-19 years old (now 37). And that's probably the problem and why there's a need to wear a helmet nowadays. Drivers now a days speed more often and at higher speeds, lots of road ways have higher speed limits and smaller shoulders (because of more lane expansion), and the fact that kids today don't ride bikes when they are younger as a way to get around - they just get mom or dad drive them around so they have no respect for people that ride bikes. As the one poster mentioned, if you're on a paved bike trail and just riding casually then I don't think you need a helmet. But if you're going to race your bike or be anywhere near traffic then I think a helmet is needed, at least in the US. It's pretty sad that when they expand roads that they don't think about adding a walk/bike path as well.

"Besides, a modern light weight cycling helmet is not going to do jack when you get in an accident with a car. "

True, but in my experience (3 accidents) they will stop skidding out, hitting a low branch in the dark, and rearending a car turning you in into a vegetable.

If three tonnes of metal is gonna hit you, you are in trouble any which way. helmets are about preventing avoidable damage from "silly" accidents and reducing it in serious ones.

I do agree though, there needs to be more attractive designs. Its not exactly rocket science!