And did you check the foam lining to see if compression had occured, thereby actually doing anything? Or did you just anecdotally assume that this meant the helmet had done its job?
Roads getting safer or more dangerous ?
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And did you check the foam lining to see if compression had occured, thereby actually doing anything? Or did you just anecdotally assume that this meant the helmet had done its job?
Surely the very fact it had split means it absorbed a fair bit of the force that otherwise would have gone straight through the riders skull?
A valid point. On hitting the fence without the helmet, assuming it is a metal barred fence, I'm pretty sure the fact the force on the skull will have been more focused on impact. If this didn't result in a fracture it will will have at least left a damn nice painful bump / bruise. By wearing the helmet the single point force of the impact was spread across the entire inside of the helmet as well as the padding. It still may have hurt a little however. As someone else has said though smack anything at speed that is solid and you will have issues. It is the same with motorbike helmets too though. No helmet will prevent your brain from splattering against the inside of your skull if the deceleration is rapid.
I'm still not saying to make it law to wear one but I will always stick by the fact that there are really no cons to wearing one and only pros.
No it means the plastic cracked, not the foam part that actually absorbs impact. The shockwaves could still well have gone through the skull.
No cons other than that they can cause injuries in certain circumstances where you wouldn't have otherwise caught your head, and the fact that wearing a helmet leads riders to be less risk averse, and of course the fact that drivers drive less safely when passing/seeing cyclists wearing helmets because they assume that the cyclist is better protected.
The best thing you can do is actually be a woman, because people drive more cautiously around them; so perhaps the answer is actually mandatory wigs for everyone
.MIPS is a slip-plane protective layer; ie pretty useless. You were conned by tech speak. You only need a slip-plane in the event that a helmet does not move, which, unless you've cranked it so tight the bloody supply is cut off, a bicycle helmet can do.
In fact MIPS liners often do nothing to protect the rear of the skull, and whilst most head impacts on a bike are front/side, there are enough impacts that result in a whip back of the head to consider this as being quite an oversight for such a "safety" feature.
At last - an upside too all those men who think we're terrible drivers! :/
No cons other than that they can cause injuries in certain circumstances where you wouldn't have otherwise caught your head, and the fact that wearing a helmet leads riders to be less risk averse, and of course the fact that drivers drive less safely when passing/seeing cyclists wearing helmets because they assume that the cyclist is better protected.
The best thing you can do is actually be a woman, because people drive more cautiously around them; so perhaps the answer is actually mandatory wigs for everyone
The psychology side of this arguement is rather interesting. But if we base it on humans thinking in this manner all the time then wearing seat belts in a car is also a downside to preserving life.
All cycle helmets must come with a wig to cover them now too then
I think it's safe to say that smack your head into anything in any helmet and at a reasonable speed and you will feel something. It is more to do with how the initial impact force is distributed across the head, spreading it instead of it being quite so focused.
After accidents I have seen helmets where 1. The foam and plastic have split 2. The plastic has a big dent but no other visible damage inside 3. Visible scrapes and dents to foam only on the outside.
I also recall during my apprenticeship, about 19 years ago, another apprentice taking my cycle helmet, putting it on and headbutting the corner of a wall. That didn't crack the plastic but put a big split in the foam inside. I wasn't impressed!
I've been driving for over 30 years and in that time I am not sure the general skill level of the average drivers has got any better or worse. There will always be people who pride themselves in how they drive, who see it as the most important thing they are doing at that given moment and then the rest, or the masses, who seem to see it as the third, fourth or frith most important thing they are doing when behind the wheel.
There is no question that cars are massively more safer than they were when I began driving and that in a crash you are far less likely to be as badly injured. However, there are now many MANY more distractions in a car that make people reprioritise their driving and that is a problem. The roads are also much much busier than even 30 years ago and that brings added distraction and incident. I feel safer now on the roads than I did, but that also brings a level of invincibility that some people seem to have when behind the wheel.
The most noticeable thing above all of that however is the anger, angst and sheer temper of the modern motorists, especially in cities. That has changed in those 30 years significantly and people seem so intent on getting where they need to go before you and if you get in their way you are ruining their lives that day and need to be shouted at.
There is no question that cars are massively more safer than they were when I began driving and that in a crash you are far less likely to be as badly injured. However, there are now many MANY more distractions in a car that make people reprioritise their driving and that is a problem. The roads are also much much busier than even 30 years ago and that brings added distraction and incident. I feel safer now on the roads than I did, but that also brings a level of invincibility that some people seem to have when behind the wheel.
The most noticeable thing above all of that however is the anger, angst and sheer temper of the modern motorists, especially in cities. That has changed in those 30 years significantly and people seem so intent on getting where they need to go before you and if you get in their way you are ruining their lives that day and need to be shouted at.
Hope you weren't hurt.
White Van man?
Other than a bruised leg and scratched bike, I'm good, thanks
Ha, yes it was! Well, it was an estate van but close enough. I'm under the impression he was probably on his phone or something like that.
What always strikes me about being on the roads is the number of people who clearly think they are the **** and drive like they are better than everyone else. They are the ones that you think, "the only reason you didn't crash there was because other people were driving safely and changed what they were doing to let you get away with driving like a ****"
You can see them from a mile off sometimes, weaving through traffic, cutting across multiple lanes on the motorway. You see them do it to someone in front of you and you expect them to do it again so when they do, you are prepared and watching for it.
You can see them from a mile off sometimes, weaving through traffic, cutting across multiple lanes on the motorway. You see them do it to someone in front of you and you expect them to do it again so when they do, you are prepared and watching for it.
How is that going to work for children exactly?
You can't treat bikes and cars as if they are the same.
Soldato
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True, although its also bred complacency, i did my test in a yaris and the instructor taught me when doing an emergency stop just to slam my foot on the brake and let the car do the stopping.
Didnt help me after i passed and was driving a car with no abs, to this day i wish somebody had bothered to teach me proper brake control, and i'd be very much in favour of introducing a dynamic element of a driving test/teaching course.
Your point is valid, boy racers have always existed. Funny a freind of mine who's getting on a bit takes the mick out of me for driving a bmw, until i pointed out the irony that he was driving a lotus at my age.
Same kinda thing with me, country road, pulled in to let a car past, front wheel in the ditch ended up sliding down the road on my elbow, was lucky i didnt smack my skull. (Tbf i blame the ditch more than the car, i didnt really need to pull in)
Smacked my head into a tree when mountain biking (fortunately slowly enough to just get a bruise), ever since ive worn a motocross helmet when cycling in the forest lol.
The chip on my shoulder is from some of the utterly horrific attitudes ive experienced from road cyclists (the lycra brigade) both in a car and as a pedestrian, beyond mere ignorance its actual agression that ive never seen from any other denomination (save one singular incident involving a modeo driver)
That said, i myself cycle (mostly off road but you need to go on road to get to the off road), and many folk i know do with proper attitudes.
As for your helmets dont work argument, i think theres enough anecdotes in this thread to prove they do make enough, if not then ask any motorcyclist who's come off (even moped riders limited to 30, which a good road cyclist can match)
Apt for this thread I think.
http://www.theguardian.com/environm...y-scheme-in-birmingham?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Sounds like a great scheme. Whether it will actually help or do little I guess is up to the attitude of the drivers but it's a start.
That said the second image in that article just shows why cyclists should own the road, or at least cycle a metre from the curb, rather than in the gutter!
http://www.theguardian.com/environm...y-scheme-in-birmingham?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Sounds like a great scheme. Whether it will actually help or do little I guess is up to the attitude of the drivers but it's a start.
That said the second image in that article just shows why cyclists should own the road, or at least cycle a metre from the curb, rather than in the gutter!
I think the problem with the helmet debate is there are two different debates. Off-road helmets are a given. They will protect more than harm. On road you have to counter any added protection with the added "aggression" from motorists seeing a helmet and being demonstratively less safe around you. The jury is still out on the latter.
I've always been of the opinion that helmets should be worn off road, where you're more likely to fall off by your own fruition, and on road it doesn't matter either way.
I've always been of the opinion that helmets should be worn off road, where you're more likely to fall off by your own fruition, and on road it doesn't matter either way.