Anti-Helmet tendency from cycling advocates?

[PurpleBikeChick]

Neurologist here.

Helmet always

[AngryScientist]

I dont think anyone is really anti-helmet, just potentially anti-rules.

I use a helmet most of the time I get on a bike because I analyzed my options and the risk, and I decided that it's a net positive to wear the helmet.

I am perfectly fine with other adults making their own decisions.

If I rent a bikeshare commuter style bike in a city for example, its usually low speed, lower hazard riding, and much less convenient to have a helmet, so i go without.

Anytime I kit up though, the helmet is included, for me.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by PurpleBikeChick

Neurologist here.

Helmet always

Just curious; as a neurologist, surely you've dealt with patients who have slipped and fallen in the shower or tub, and suffered a head injury. Do you always wear a helmet when in the shower or tub?

[jadmt]

I definitely am not anti-helmet, instead am happy that I am able to wear one if i want and have the choice not to wear one if I don't want to..I am incredibly luck compared to many of the posters here in that I have reached almost 66 yoa without crashing on bicycle or at least crashing hard enough to require a helmet. all my crashes have been without a helmet and no head traumas in any of them. I am definitely more apt to wear one on a short ride but when doing longer rides ie 3+ hours I just enjoy leaving it at home. when it is super hot feels good without and when it is cold feels good without. I wonder if there is a correlation between people who always wear helmets and have crashed a lot as it seems more people have reported crashing while wearing helmets than people not wearing helmets and crashing. Maybe they take more risks while wearing a helmet. I do know for myself when I am wearing a helmet I have not problem trying to hit 50mph going down hill but without I get low 40's I start sitting up..

[rkhatibi]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

Just curious; as a neurologist, surely you've dealt with patients who have slipped and fallen in the shower or tub, and suffered a head injury. Do you always wear a helmet when in the shower or tub?

That seems silly. The prescription would match the context. https://www.ebay.com/itm/395530533235 (non slip daisies from the 1970s because that's the first image that came to mind)

[Louis]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

Just curious; as a neurologist, surely you've dealt with patients who have slipped and fallen in the shower or tub, and suffered a head injury. Do you always wear a helmet when in the shower or tub?

This is the sort of logic that totally undermines the "anti helmet" argument.

[Louis]

Originally Posted by rkhatibi

That seems silly. The prescription would match the context. https://www.ebay.com/itm/395530533235 (non slip daisies from the 1970s because that's the first image that came to mind)

Another alternative - I hear lots of ads on the local ESPN station for these:

[OtayBW]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

Just curious; as a neurologist, surely you've dealt with patients who have slipped and fallen in the shower or tub, and suffered a head injury. Do you always wear a helmet when in the shower or tub?

Boy - that's a stretch.....

[bicycletricycle]

Originally Posted by OtayBW

Boy - that's a stretch.....

seems relevant to me

[Likes2ridefar]

Originally Posted by bicycletricycle

seems relevant to me

It’d probably be a good idea if known to fall in the shower to first consider support bars to hold on to and traction. If very serious it would be smart for seated showering or a bath as someone else showed allowing entry through a small door then seated. A helmet seems like it should only be used for extreme cases.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by Louis

This is the sort of logic that totally undermines the "anti helmet" argument.

Please explain why.

There are many scenarios in which head injuries may occur, many of them in common everyday activities. Yet the use of helmets are often encouraged in some of these activities, and not in others. According to the CDC, in 2021 there 69,473 TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) related deaths in the US. According to the IIHS, there were 971 cyclist fatalities that same year, so even if all cycling fatalities were due to TBI, there were would still be over 67,000 non-cycling TBI related deaths. Or to put it another way, there were over 71 TBI-related death, for every cycling death from all causes. Surely, if helmets could prevent some cycling deaths, then helmets could prevent some non-cycling TBI-related deaths as well. So why not encourage helmet use in other, non-cycling everyday activities in which head injuries occur? If it could only save one life, wouldn't it be worth it?

[Fat Cat]

This is all descending into stoopid

[KonaSS]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

Please explain why.

There are many scenarios in which head injuries may occur, many of them in common everyday activities. Yet the use of helmets are often encouraged in some of these activities, and not in others. According to the CDC, in 2021 there 69,473 TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) related deaths in the US. According to the IIHS, there were 971 cyclist fatalities that same year, so even if all cycling fatalities were due to TBI, there were would still be over 67,000 non-cycling TBI related deaths. Or to put it another way, there were over 71 TBI-related death, for every cycling death from all causes. Surely, if helmets could prevent some cycling deaths, then helmets could prevent some non-cycling TBI-related deaths as well. So why not encourage helmet use in other, non-cycling everyday activities in which head injuries occur? If it could only save one life, wouldn't it be worth it?

Today's lesson is how to create a strawman argument.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by KonaSS

Today's lesson is how to create a strawman argument.

Calling the argument a strawman is itself a strawman.

The question still remains - of the many everyday activities in which head injuries can (and do) occur, how do we decide in which activities helmets should be worn, and in which helmets need not be worn? The argument was made in reply to the assertion, in relation to cycling, "helmets always". But why always in cycling, and not always in other activities in which head injuries occur?

[fourflys]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

Calling the argument a strawman is itself a strawman.

The question still remains - of the many everyday activities in which head injuries can (and do) occur, how do we decide in which activities helmets should be worn, and in which helmets need not be worn? The argument was made in reply to the assertion, in relation to cycling, "helmets always". But why always in cycling, and not always in other activities in which head injuries occur?

it pertains to risk mitigation.. you drive a race car, you use a 4-point harness based on the increased risk of injury.. you work in certain places you have to wear composite toe shoes, sometimes electrically safe.. could you drop something large on your toe in the garage or walk across a hot deck and get shocked at home? possibly, but pretty unlikely based on the perceived risk.

Riding a bicycle has a higher perceived (by many) risk than taking a shower.. if you are older and/or have balance issues, you might install grab rails in your shower or around your house, again, based on increased perceived risk..

You could get hit by car in a 15 mph zone in your neighborhood, but you are much less likely to do so compared to walking across the I-5 in San Diego.. so most folks don't walk across the I-5 in San Diego (that perceived risk again).. plus, it's probably illegal due to the calculated risk..