We've all heard the horror stories but......
Do You Wear a Helmet?
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 CTE375 |
Do You Wear a Helmet? |
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Posts: 17 (09/25/08 07:58:10) |
Do you where a helmet (Result)
Last Edited By: CTE375 09/25/08 08:20:44.
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grendel |
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Posts: 16 (09/25/08 08:38:33) |
I always wear a helmet but this is from experiences on my DF. I'm not sure how a helmet could help a trike rider much except in a corning induced rollover.
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woocat |
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Posts: 60 (09/25/08 08:57:00) |
Same basic background as grendel. I don't feel 'right' without the helmet on. I have flipped the trike once taking a poorly banked left turn too
rapidly, but the injury was to my right forearm and not my head.
I rode without a helmet once for about 50 yards before I realized it wasn't on... it just felt too strange like that. woo |
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mikeatlbch |
relative risk | ||
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Posts: 2020 (09/25/08 15:39:23) |
Life is about relative risk.
If you ride a bike or trike you accepted some risk from motion and some locations chosen to ride. You have reduced your risk of sedentary diseases. On the beach, I don't wear a helmet. On the road I almost always do. On the trail I may on the trike I usually do on a bike. Children's fall risk per mile is higher than mine. The elderly also have a higher fall risk and a worse outcomes probable from the fall. My helmet has yet to be damaged in a crash. Both my children have broken helmets. Some overvalue helmets protection. Wearing a helmet and using a flag and having all required plus additional lighting will keep your killers lawyers from suing your family because you are careless. The jury will think you are foolish because you aren't in a car. Mke |
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michaelheggen |
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Posts: 399 (09/25/08 22:28:13) |
I wear a bike helmet on my Catrike Road-always.
1. It protects my brain from concussion or worse in the event of a spill. 2. It encourages other riders to wear helmets (the more people that wear them, the more people will wear them). 3. My wife, who is a physician, would skin me if I didn't. 4. Wearing a bike helmet is societally responsible. The cost to the health care system of a preventable head injury is astonishingly huge. It doesn't seem right for me to unnecessarily risk being that big a drain on what is a shared finite resource. In my case, I have excellent health insurance; in the case of people with poor or nonexistent insurance coverage, their medical bills for a preventable head injury would be dumped on the taxpayer and/or the local hospital and physicians. CHOOSING not to wear a bike helmet has a direct impact (in the event of a head injury) on the lives and wallets of one's fellow citizens. -Mike Salem, Oregon |
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Richard B Clarke |
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Posts: 178 (09/26/08 04:02:34) |
michaelheggen wrote:Item 1: "It protects my brain from concussion or worse in the event of a spill" . Should read "may" . The issue is bicycle helmets in reality offer very little protection compared to a Motorcycle helmet which can be Snell or DOT certified. And as such will offer very little if any protection in a high speed accident or collision with a larger vehicle. Item 2: "It encourages other riders to wear helmets (the more people that wear them, the more people will wear them)" . I agree. That is why I wear one. It can also put one in frame of mind to be safe. Item 3: " My wife, who is a physician, would skin me if I didn't" . Won't go there on that one......... Item 4: "Wearing a bike helmet is societally responsible. The cost to the health care system of a preventable head injury is astonishingly huge. It doesn't seem right for me to unnecessarily risk being that big a drain on what is a shared finite resource. In my case, I have excellent health insurance; in the case of people with poor or nonexistent insurance coverage, their medical bills for a preventable head injury would be dumped on the taxpayer and/or the local hospital and physicians. CHOOSING not to wear a bike helmet has a direct impact (in the event of a head injury) on the lives and wallets of one's fellow citizen" . It is the common Dogma that is presented. However, It comes down to "choice" and respecting each others choice. Richard ( Catrike 700 )
Last Edited By: Richard B Clarke
09/26/08 04:11:24.
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megaman415 |
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Posts: 138 (09/26/08 19:15:32) |
I like something on my head to keep the glare down and the sun off. A cap would work, but the wind could knock it off. Therefore it's a helmet. It's
cooler that a cap and gives me a bit of security hoping that if I roll my trike, that I probably won't hit my head so hard. But the one time I rolled my
trike, I don't recall hit my head at any time.
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Canadian BlueCoyote |
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Posts: 318 (09/27/08 10:22:42) |
You know I am guilty of not wearing a helmet all the time. I sometimes just wear a ball cap, yet a very stylish one. When I am opn some paved trails around
here the worst thing that could hapen in the bush is I get hit on the head with a pine cone! Even though we have some big ones here not much danger. When I am
out in traffic I always wear a helmet. A false sense of security and another way to be visible.
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megaman415 |
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Posts: 139 (09/27/08 17:24:46) |
This time of the year a lot of black walnuts are falling. I've come close to getting hit by one and I don't think that would thrill me too much.
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TeeEss |
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Posts: 66 (09/28/08 09:06:46) |
I've had two chances to "test" and replace my helmets, and I'm convinced the results of those accidents would have at least been more painful
without them, probably more damaging to my limited cerebral infrastructure, too!
I wear it for the same reason I wear seatbelts, insure my home and car, and file my taxes conscientiously: The odds of a problem are small, but the consequences of not being prepared are huge. I worked in a rehab hospital doing negotiation and marketing at one point. Believe me, your insurance won't go very far for the long-term needs of a closed-head injury, and your family and society will both suffer. |
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megaman415 |
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Posts: 145 (10/05/08 09:36:34) |
While I always wear my helmet, yesterday may have been a bigger wake up call. On the Root River trail in Minnesota there were two falls from bikes that I was
aware of. It was a beautiful fall day and there were tons of cyclists out. No other trikes though. Since it was a pretty nice day it apparently brought out
cyclists that don't ride that often. Then get them with a large number of other cyclists and problems are bound to happen. One of the falls I witnessed
right after it happened. The lady flat out lost control of her bike and the front went off the paved edge and instead of going with the bike, she tried to
immediately bring it back onto the path. She fell at a low speed. But if she had lost it my way and hit me, my helmet may have been a life saver.
The other fall I arrived at about 5 minutes or so after it happened. It looked like the same thing happened. The problem there became the people around all stopped and left their bikes on the path, instead of the shoulder. There was barely enough room to get by and many cyclists wanted to get through. Since bikes don't have brake lights and the trail was so crowded there may have been little time to react because there was so many people out the trail. Hence the real possibility of a collision. |
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gecko |
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Posts: 11 (10/19/08 15:18:59) |
I always wear a helmet, partly because of my two-wheeler days, and partly because my daughter works in a rehab hospital (traumatic brain and spinal injuruies).
Far too many of the brain injuries, especially children, are from bicycle accidents with no helmet ...and of course, she does not think I am any different from
a child on a bicycle!! My current helmet is 10 years old and about 12,000 mile old but has no accident damage. I had a long wheel-base recumbent that I dumped
three times and never hit my head ...elbows and butt cheeks were damaged every time!
I have been tempted a few times to wear a cap rather than a helmet on my Expedition. Even with a visor on my helmet, riding into the sun is a killer on the eyes. I'll likely continue wearing a helmet on trails and the road, but in controlled situations will likely be wearing a cap!! |
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trsnrtr |
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Posts: 75 (10/29/08 04:28:50) |
It's hard to statistically prove or disprove bicycle helmet viability due to the inability to do repeat testing. Nobody volunteers to fall down with and
without a helmet.
 So, we're pretty much left with anecdotal evidence.
Recent case in point is my wife fell at low speed a few weeks ago and severely smashed and cracked the back of a Giro Atmos helmet. The result was vomiting, headache, blurred vision, inability to stand and an ambulance trip to the emergency room. Diagnosis was a concussion and a bad sinus infection which they found in her scans. 
Anyway, anecdotal evidence here would seem that the helmet gave its up life while doing its job as intended, Oh, edited to add, that my wife was riding an upright instead of her trike. In this case, she wouldn't have fallen if she had been riding her trike.
Last Edited By: trsnrtr
10/29/08 04:33:13.
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megaman415 |
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Posts: 161 (10/29/08 17:33:48) |
Dennis, I glad your wife didn't get hurt any worse. The thing with a helmet though, is that if your helmet gets roughed up I'd think quite a few other
body parts are going to get it too. When I rolled my trike the year before last, my helmet never hit the pavement. My arm and side took the brunt of the abuse.
My hope is my helmet does it's job if I get into a bad accident.
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Hipster |
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Posts: 344 (10/30/08 12:01:07) |
Dennis, sorry to hear of Peggy's accident. Please pass on my best wishes.
Those who have ridden with me or seen my pictures, know I am not all that personally fond of helmets. I do own a very nice one but usually only wear it when required by specific trails (example: Route of the Hiawatha) or by event organizers. On the trikes I would rather wear one of my broad brimmed hats. When I do venture out into traffic on two wheels, then I am likely to be wearing my helmet. Riding with my nieces & nephew will also find me wearing a helmet. The full coverage motorcycle/sled helmet (w/face shield) is donned when winter turns nasty - though reason is more for warmth than anything else. |
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trsnrtr |
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Posts: 78 (10/30/08 19:27:42) |
Thanks for the well wishes, Guys. Peggy is doing fine... I think. Sometimes with her, it's hard to tell.
Seriously, her road rash is pretty much cleared up and she is going to the doctor tomorrow for a checkup. I saw the ER bill today, about 3,300.00. 
She's planning on a 45 mile ride on either her upright single or our upright tandem on Saturday. It will be her first ride since the accident. |
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Dragon |
I did the experiment | ||
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Posts: 41 (11/18/08 12:23:03) |
I was riding a folding df with 20" wheels and hit a rock causing the bottom to stop but not me and I went flying and landed on my head. I am not sure
bicycle helmets were even available then but all I had was a wide brimmed canvas hat. The hat took all the blow, and spread out the force, so there was no
concentrated force on my skull.. A higher speed or hitting some thing more focused than the sidewalk might have had a different result, but the greatest damage
would not have been reduced a bit as the whiplash to my neck that was terrible and has remained so for 35 years.
If I was able to ride a DF and rode it at the +15 mph common now rather than the 7mph- then a real bicycle helmet might be considered, much over 20 and a real motorcycle helmet mighht be more in taste. But on a tadpole at under 15mph I am much more likely to be injured as a result of the sun in my eyes than wearing a wide brim hat such as when I did have that accident. I just recently got a bike helmet (for $4) that I would wear if forced to but I find them neither necessary, nor comfortable on a tadpole trike that is not being used as an automobile at automobile speeds, and under those conditions a motorcycle helmet makes more sense. |
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Chuck |
try the melon test | ||
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Posts: 4 (01/24/09 18:09:59) |
In the 70s & 80s I was a very serious DF rider. The bike shop that I frequented had a nice collection of 'crashed' bicycle helmets. Looking @ those
helmets I can tell you that they saved the wearer from severe injury or death. I saw a rider get a concucsion after coming to a complete stop, she just
didn't get her feet out of the toe clips in time. I was also on a ride when a rider died because he didn't have a helmet on. Are bicycle helmets as
good a a motor cycle helmet, of course not, but they are better than a ball cap. So for those of you that think youdon't need a helmet, take the test. Get
a nice head sized mellon of you choosing. Take it on your trike or bike & get up to your 'my head is hard enough to take this hit' speed & just
drop the mellon on the pavement. It's your head.
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Tickle Pink |
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Posts: 913 (02/12/09 09:46:14) |
Guilty!!! I never wear a helmet because I wear a big visor all the time. My riding partner wears a helmet all the time and I'm sure he would prefer that
I did too but I don't. When I first got Pinky, I wore a pink helmet a couple times and hated it very much. I would only wear one if I was on a trail that
said it was mandatory. I also don't ride fast and don't take corners on two tires because I have Jujube over my back wheel, so I'm not riding like
some of you guys do.
I do wear bike gloves all the time now because I know if for some reason I was going to tip over, I would definitely put my hand out to prevent myself from hitting my head or shoulder on the ground. When I get to a place that I'm riding slow and it's safe I take them off because they are hot and also I hate looking at white hands on brown arms. |
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altozwei |
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Posts: 52 (02/15/09 16:15:19) |
I wear a helmet every time I ride. I have used them for a long time with DF bikes plus I don't feel I can ask my kids to use them if I don't set the
example. I've never really minded wearing them though. I started wearing a helmet for skiing too, so it now feels pretty natural to put one on
automatically. My only difficulty is finding a helmet that fits. I have a small head and there have been times when it was difficult to find one small enough
but still made for an adult.
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ElSobrante |
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Posts: 4957 (03/12/09 06:35:16) |
I just read somewhere that Bell has introduced a new fitting system with 4 sizes from child to adult, with the purpose of assuring that one of their helmets
would fit snugly to any head with a minimum of fuss. The reason for the new system was that children were more often than not riding with a helmet too loose to
provide the wanted protection. It is sold at big box stores.
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