Poll: Is Wearing a Bike Helmet Worth it?

[Cowabungaa]

When i was learning to ride a bike I am pretty sure i would be dead if I didn't wear one. In a match between my soft six year old head versus the asphalt I doubt i would be crowned the champ ya know?

Me and my siblings have never worn helmets while learning how to ride our bikes and we all fell uncountable times, it's really not that bad. You usually instinctively protect your head with your arms anyway, hence why I once fractured my elbow.

 

[teqrevisited]

Not once. I don't doubt my ability to keep control of the bike and the majority of paths I take avoid the traffic.

 

[Kagim]

When i was learning to ride a bike I am pretty sure i would be dead if I didn't wear one. In a match between my soft six year old head versus the asphalt I doubt i would be crowned the champ ya know?

Me and my siblings have never worn helmets while learning how to ride our bikes and we all fell uncountable times, it's really not that bad. You usually instinctively protect your head with your arms anyway, hence why I once fractured my elbow.

Cool?

That's awesome, I however did end up hitting my head agaisnt the ground a couple times when i fell awkwardly. So the bike helmet was a good choice.

But that's awesome how you didn't. You sure showed me.

 

[chris11246]

to all the people saying that if you get in a crash it wont help what if you just fall and fall on your head. Without a helmet youd crack open your head probably if you don't get yours arms in front of your head and even then you could break your arms if your going fast enough. also a helmet might help stop a broken neck because it will hit your back before your head and stop it from overextending. Ill never understand why people think they're too cool for safety.

 

[Snarky Username]

When he says "You look like a fag" just respond "Who cares?"

 

[khaimera]

I would not wear a helmet unless I rode my bike in a packed city or somewhere where crashing was likely.

Nobody ever looks cool in a helmet. Its not a smart choice to not wear a helmet, but I don't care.

 

[Oomii]

Duh, helmets are dumb, who cares if you die, as long as people don't remember as the fag with the helmet.

No seriously, of course wearing a helmet is worth it. You can make a couple idiots think your a dork, or you can die in a painful accident, your choice.

 

[RandV80]

When i was learning to ride a bike I am pretty sure i would be dead if I didn't wear one. In a match between my soft six year old head versus the asphalt I doubt i would be crowned the champ ya know?

Me and my siblings have never worn helmets while learning how to ride our bikes and we all fell uncountable times, it's really not that bad. You usually instinctively protect your head with your arms anyway, hence why I once fractured my elbow.

Cool?

That's awesome, I however did end up hitting my head agaisnt the ground a couple times when i fell awkwardly. So the bike helmet was a good choice.

But that's awesome how you didn't. You sure showed me.

It is an interesting point though. How much it factors into the discussion of bike helmets I'm not sure, but breaking your fall is a real life skill that can either come naturally or be trained. It seems completely unrelated but take professional wrestling for instance, the most important skill for self preservation they can have is being able to keep their head from hitting the ground to when their bodies being slammed into it.

For the training/natural thing I've got both, the former from doing martial arts while growing up and having a trampoline. The difference is that when I was 6 and my shoe laces got caught in my peddles I broke my nose, the last time it happened as a teen I didn't even hit the ground. Now if you're talking about getting into a potential traffic accident I doubt any amount of reflexes are going to save you, but if you're talking about just general casual use I'd give someone the benefit of the doubt if they say they'll be ok without one.

 

[RandV80]

On a similar topic what does piss me off and I'd vote NO on is skiing helmets (note: snowboarding's a bit different). There was that stupid actress that died on the bunny hill or whatever not wearing last year that brought the issue into focus with talks of making helmets mandatory, which I'm really thankfull seems to have died down. I forget who it was and I don't mean to disrespect her I just hated all the media focus, the "Oh no what tragedy a celebrity died, let's focus on and magnify the issue!" I would contend that if the statistics were available you're more likely to save your life by wearing a helmet on the road to the ski hill than you are while actually skiing.

I can't really agree on that point. Snowboarding, yeah, I get it. I know a few snowboarders and I know it's much better with a helmet. But I do actually wear my ski helmet. Mostly because my mother makes me (shut up), and if she's not around I sometimes won't wear it, but there are a lot more irresponsible people on the slopes than on the bike paths.

It's not about falling or hitting a tree, it's about idiot snowboarders, over confident newbies, and out of control kids. Some people just think they absolutely own the mountain and people get hurt. I've been skiing since I can remember and the only people I've ever seen get hurt were either on the terrain park or not at fault. I saw some punk snowboard in front of a ski patrol (also on a snowboard), push him over, and break his collar bone. The only time I've ever been hurt skiing is when a kid going too fast rammed right into the back of me - I would have had a concussion had I not been wearing my helmet.

Long story short - bike helmets meh, ski helmets good on crowded mountains, meh on more quiet ones.

(Besides, how many times have you pulled the chair lift bar down on your head, eh? It smarts! )

I've never pulled the chair lift bar down on my head but now that I think about it I have actually had a head shot and that was getting smoked by a low hanging T-Bar. I'll concede the extremely busy ski-hill point as I don't have much experience with that, but I was more talking about that Skiing helmets are even newer than bike helmets, and while they're not a bad idea I believe if you were to stack traffic accidents en-route to the hill (with often dangerous conditions) compared to severe head injuries while skiing, the traffic accidents will greatly exceed the skiing ones.

On skis unlike a snowboard it really isn't natural to crash & land in a way that you smoke your head, though when it comes down to it I've got a bigger peeve with them than bike helmets because I just don't find them comfortable. I have a high body temperature and unless it's below around -10 C need to be able to take off my toque at times or I get too hot and my head sweaty. Around 0 to -5 I probably won't even wear one, so I'm obviously going to have a problem with a helmet that's built to be warm and I can't stash in my pockets.

 

[theplaidknight]

Good Lord ... 8 pages ... Well, I don't know if this has been mentioned yet but I believe a lot of safety precautions should be available but not mandatory. Natural selection has been suppressed by human beings for long enough and there are too many of us. You might say that wearing helmets is out response to natural selection, and I would respond that people who don't believe in protecting their own safety might just deserve to be selected.

 

[Kagim]

When i was learning to ride a bike I am pretty sure i would be dead if I didn't wear one. In a match between my soft six year old head versus the asphalt I doubt i would be crowned the champ ya know?

Me and my siblings have never worn helmets while learning how to ride our bikes and we all fell uncountable times, it's really not that bad. You usually instinctively protect your head with your arms anyway, hence why I once fractured my elbow.

Cool?

That's awesome, I however did end up hitting my head agaisnt the ground a couple times when i fell awkwardly. So the bike helmet was a good choice.

But that's awesome how you didn't. You sure showed me.

It is an interesting point though. How much it factors into the discussion of bike helmets I'm not sure, but breaking your fall is a real life skill that can either come naturally or be trained. It seems completely unrelated but take professional wrestling for instance, the most important skill for self preservation they can have is being able to keep their head from hitting the ground to when their bodies being slammed into it.

For the training/natural thing I've got both, the former from doing martial arts while growing up and having a trampoline. The difference is that when I was 6 and my shoe laces got caught in my peddles I broke my nose, the last time it happened as a teen I didn't even hit the ground. Now if you're talking about getting into a potential traffic accident I doubt any amount of reflexes are going to save you, but if you're talking about just general casual use I'd give someone the benefit of the doubt if they say they'll be ok without one.

Yeah, i was an energetic six year old who had balance issues, and still do to some extent. Going down hill and hitting a crack you are expecting to just bounce over, hitting it wrong, and going flying can lead to you getting hurt without one. If the first bounce doesn't get you the other one will. If i could feel a fall coming sure as shit i could brace myself, but being caught off guard as a little kid? No.

If the guy had quoted my full post you'd know i don't wear one now because i DO know how to shield my falls better with barely getting scratched which i was taught in football. As well that i only wear a helmet in slippery conditions such as heavy rain or winter(Some of us don't have cars). Even surprise instances i can generally regain balance before crashing though my generally strategy is to stop the bike when i know I'm going to bif it for sure.

However six year olds just hopping on a two wheel for the first time? No. You can take the risk with your kids but my kids wearing a helmet until he is at least 13 and has demonstrated they can ride safely. After that its a choice they have to make.

 

[Agent Larkin]

Bicycle helmet? Yes.

Motorcycle (or in my lexicon bike) helmet? Absofuckinglutely.

 

[BlueInkAlchemist]

How much do you value your brain?

That's really all it comes down to.

 

[Digital_Utopia]

Nope.

Never saw the reason for it on a bicycle.

 

[SrsSimba]

I don't wear one, because I feel like it restricts me and I like feeling the wind through my hair. Plus whenever I fall off I usually end up with something worse than a helmet could protect. I could see why you would want to though, what with the safety risks, and probably higher chance of cracking your head open on the sidewalk.

 

[Eatbrainz]

I don't actually have one, but i know as well as anyone that you'll be grateful for a helmet if you should happen to crash and your face is speeding toward the pavement.

EDIT: it would probably be more useful to wear gloves.

 

[Wakefield]

There is no legit mate reason to not wear a helmet while biking.

Simple as that.

 

[Sarkule]

It's a tough decision. Wear a bike helmet, and look slightly silly. Or crash, and have no brains. Hmm...

 

[Dango]

I always feel like I should, but my friends' ridicule makes not wear one.