No and Yes. I live in the Netherlands and on my 'normal'' bike I don't. When I go out on my 'sport-bike' I do. The difference is because of the speed (15-20 kmh to 25-45 kmh).
As far as Simon's question, yes, live and let live. If you get angry about someone living their life differently, the only thing that will happen, is that you will get upset. The older i get, the more i realize that if you desire to be happy, you have to shift your focus of what's truly important.
I'm not upset if someone decides to not wear helmet, as said, for long term is good for public health if ppl do ride a bike, and the more cyclist there is, the more pressure it brings on infrastructure, at least some countries. What I am upset about, is that people are against to wearing a helmet and make statements with loose aknowledge and bad understanding about statistics (or good knowing but bad meaning), so it's weird way to justify your personal choice when you just can say you don't care or you feel lucky. But hey, Twitter is going to it's lowest so everything explodes when it hits to bots and trolls, so maybe discussion there is pretty useless.
Well, in my country's 🇸🇪 tax and social security setup, just as with smoking, the downsides gets pushed towards all others when the hospitals fills up and taxes must be raised. I get that in other countries this wouldn't be such strong driver, maybe some insurance rates could be affected 🤔
I think I love you. I also think if you’re not here already, you’re 99% with that angry/aggressive behaviour is always the cause of accidents or bad incidents, no matter who has ‘right of way’. If we all used the roads consciously understanding that people are generally stupid and often make mistakes (often due to bad street planning). Always be prepared to be dropped in on and don’t let yourself get angry about it. Unfortunately there’ll always be stupidity but its ridiculously embarrassing to react to it with anger.
I'm 71 years old, and three times in my cycling life my head (in a helmet) has been the first thing to contact the pavement. Once at less than 10 MPH and twice at speeds greater than 25 MPH. I can tell you that I clearly remember the concussive force and sound of impact for each of them. Any one of the crashes could have been a life changing event, were it not for wearing a helmet.
I fell from my bike at about the same speed. My head hit the kerb of a pavement first and bounced. like you I can still recall the crack as my head hit concrete.I am convinced that without my helmet I would have suffered a serious head injury. So they may not save lives in all cases but they will certainly prevent a more serious injury. I never ride without a helmet. Glad your still riding I am 59 an look to continue on my bike for years to come. 👍🏻
Not everyone has the instinct to protect their head by putting out their hands when they fall. Not everyone has the strength to support their falling body with their hands. Some do. That is why a risk assessment is different for everyone and varies by age and environment. Just because you sometimes faceplate does not mean everyone does.
@@cjreeve79 well even if one is strong enough to catch themselves if you get tipped over and fall sideways or backwards it might be impossible to catch yourself. I guess it's an easy way to protect yourself even if it just helps a little
@@Kellnax my experience is that falling sideways results in elbow grazes and the way the body rolls could result in a strain to the neck but unlikely to lead to hitting your head. Falling back is unusual and the bum/back usually hits first and the risk of impact to the head is just from the height you fall not your forward motion. I have hit my head falling back on Ice on a board but although it felt like the world was ending I didn't even get concussion. Riding straight into a brick wall is not recommended without a motorcycle helmet. There is little you can do about that.
@@cjreeve79 The only time I've hit my head during a cycling accident is when someone yelled at me from the pavement and I looked just as the car in front abruptly stopped and I went into the back of them at about 15mph. My instinct is to always protect my head when falling, but there was so little time then from when I felt my wheel hit the bumper to when my head hit the tailgate, even with my sometimes cat-like reflexes, I don't think anyone could have put their arms up in time. The mistake was letting a pedestrian distract me from looking where I was going, not failing to try to protect the head.
When my daughter was little and had a crash on her bike she went face first into the ground, I feel the helmet created a bit of space so she didn't damage her face as much as she would have without a helmet ........I believe this is what they are talking about in the report regarding facial bone damage.
One additional comment. I bought my 3 1/2 year old Grandson a balance bike for Christmas and of course I bought him a helmet with it. He hasn't touched the bike yet, but loves to wear the helmet around the house and even in the yard when he's playing. When he does start riding, the helmet will be natural.
I hope he will, but bike helmets should not be used when kids are on playgrounds, climbing frames etc. Kids wearing helmets are not considered in the design, so they might get stuck and get injured at the neck.
As a kid, before I learned how to ice skate, I used to walk besides my parents on the ice while my sister was skating. I was aware of the ice being slippery and it worried me. So I told my parents that I wanted a helmet just to be safe. (This still amazes me, since I was 5 years old at most.) They told me I'll get one once I start skating myself, and that I didn't need one for walking. On that same day, I slipped on the ice and fell backwards, smashing my head against the frozen surface. On the next day, my dad bought me a red hockey helmet and I loved it. 😅😅
One anecdote about why helmets prevents facial injuries. I have gotten thrown off my bike by a road crack "grabbing" my back tire. The Helmet Visor stopped my jaw smacking the ground and I ended up just scraping my nose. Without the helmet I am pretty sure I would have lost some teeth. So that visor sticking out helped me.
I'm actually surprised they even questioned that point, anyone who has ever tried to lie down or even lean/sit against a wall in a helmet would realise right away how it protects your face, IT'S WIDER THAN YOUR HEAD! 😆
@@gcn I pretty much wear one (casual and touring cyclist) but it really is just reducing risk on some unlikely events. On a societal level I think they prevent a lot of injuries. I think the death rate thing is super misleading here - that is the low probability event. What about all the scrapes and concussions and tree branches hitting eyes or face, etc. These injuries I want to see the data on, but I never see that. It is probably really hard to get. If I was going on an evening ride and couldn't find a helmet, I would still do it I guess, but i would find or get a helmet for the next time.
Couple of things to untangle from for instance the NL stats (and probably similar in other countries with good infrastructure/high daily bicycle usage); on touring bikes/city bikes on which you generally go up to 20km/h and you use it as a mode of transport to do your commuting/going to shops/pubs/school whatever literally no one wears a helmet, because you go slow, infrastructure is great and it is a huge hassle if you go somewhere and then you need to carry your helmet along the rest of the day. On a roadbike/mountainbike where you go >25km/h and you are more prone to go back and forth, almost 100% of the people wear a helmet despite the great infrastructure (dont think I've ever seen anyone without on a roadbike). So speed and the purpose of the ride play huge roles and it is weird to lump the different categories together.
Cycling infrastructure is somewhere between non-existent and insufficient in most of the US, I suspect those stats would be even more tragic without helmets.
Or maybe the shift in focus away from helmets would create more focus on building infrastructure. Personally I find the helmet discussion to be little more than a distraction from the actually-important discussion of bike infrastructure.
Cycled all around the World over my 5 decades... Now living in USA. My contrary example to it is that helmet wearing in USA is almost 100% but cyclist behavior is the worst in the World. Here is what I personally saw on Long Island, NY at traffic light crossing of 8 lanes super-highway (Sunrise Hwy) and small two way street in Massepequa (and this is typical): I was waiting for left turn light. Highway had green for through traffic. Small two way road had red. Typical adult American cyclist, in perfect fashionable gear and with helmet approached the intersection on two way road. 1) He was riding as if in UK on the LEFT side of two way street. 2) He did not even entertain stopping and looking at the traffic light, he proceeded through 3) As he drove through, several highway speed driving cars needed to brake as mad and avoid killing him (helmet wouldn't help). Behavior, refusal to obey any traffic rules or signalization is what kills USA cyclists on average, helmets are not a factor in either direction.
My favorite infrastructure design, in the US, is when parking is allowed IN the bike lane. Especially along roads with high speed limits for cars. Ye, it does defeat the purpose of a bike lane. 8(
@@cumpootuhruser9355 with outstanding infrastructure, accidents will still happen. Even if it's bike to bike or bike to pole. A helmet is going to be better than no helmet.
@@dusanmal Without bike infrastructure you're basically asking for only the most daring risk-takers to ride bikes. It should be no surprise that the countries with the least consideration for cyclists also have the worst-behaved cyclists.
What people seem to miss when talking about helmet wearing is it's not always about someone else knocking you off your bike some times you fall off your bike for what ever reason,mabye a pot hole or some other obstacles,if you land on your head surely it's better to have a helmet on isn't it??
I totally agree. I have had 2 accidents on my bike. Both times the bike helmet cracked, not my head. Once I just rode too close to a gutter (footpath riding is legal where I live and I was riding over a narrow vehicular bridge.) and one wheel slipped and I fell sideways from footpath onto the road and hit my head. Helmet cracked in half and I dont remember falling, due to concussion. The second time I was hit on a roundabout by a car trying to cut across a lane. Flew through the air and cut my leg and cracked my helmet when I hit the tarmac. I truly think I would have head injuries without a helmet both times. Its not hard. I live in Au with 35 degree summers and most of us still wear helmets as our cycling infrastructure is a bit rubbish, and they are compulsory.
@@gregwilson3159 bc somehow they have a fool proof model with the perfect assumptions of when, where, how the accident will happen and at what speeds, and the ragdoll physics model to predict that said collison will magically under no circumstances have their head take the brunt of the trauma
@@verityviolet This is a very individual point of view. As Dan & Si said, making helmets compulsory decreased participation in cycling and thus is bad for society as a whole. Nobody is interested in Tom, Dick or Harry falling off or cracking a helmet. They crack easily. When riding in NZ (I got fined by a UK policeman for having my helmet around my handlebars; it was a desolated beauty spot road with zero cars) my helmet got a crack from simply dropping at handlebar height. They are not even close to how hard your skull is.
@@zero5uk I think this vastly depends on the quality of your helmet, obviously a cheap helmet isn't as strong as your skull, or any helmet really, but if I had to choose between my helmet absorbing 40% of the impact or my skull taking 100%, it's an easy choice.
Living in Belgium, I never wore a helmet since growing up in the 70's-80's, commuting 20km a day to school. When I took up cycling again at the end of 2019, subsequently buying my first race type bike in the summer of 2020, I consciously made the choice to begin wearing a helmet because the speed I'm riding at now is often quite a lot higher than it was way back when, and traffic has gotten a lot more dense and dangerous as well.
Context is everything. The hosts discussed this with their own sense of need per application or not, and handled the discussion well. Let's flip this over for a sec (pun fully intended). How about gloves? Helmets may or may not be beneficial in *some* albeit thankfully few accidents. Gloves offer protection in the vast majority of accidents, and yet even those wearing gloves often wear flimsy Lycra fashion statements. They days of gloves offering substantial protection (crochet backed and heavily padded/proportioned palms) are almost long-gone. You can find some if you order on-line, very hard to find. So all those riders who don't use gloves....why not? Your hands are very delicate and highly needed. And unlike helmets, they don't restrict latitude of vision, and force your spectacle lenses to impact directly into your eyeballs in a head-on collision (happened to me, I've never worn a helmet since). And give your MCM joints (a very common cyclist effected malady) some consideration! You wouldn't cycle in sandals, would you?
@@stephensaines7100 Glove shirking regarding phone use has to by why, paired with the ease at which gloves are to simply vanish, and then one must inevitably adapt to the loss. The feel of bar tape barehanded finds to be preferred to rubberized mtn bike grips as well.
You’d be happy to receive something people had told you would save your life. Might have been less bothered if they’d not been given a biased argument all they lives.
Went over the handlebars a month or two ago , happened so quick didn’t have time to even use arms to break the impact. Face planted the concrete however, felt the force of the impact go through my helmet , was quite surreal . It saved me from a very significant head injury.
I went over the bars when I was 14, landed on my chin. Helmet wouldn't have saved my life then, even if they were available back in the 1960s. Had a couple of stitches in my chin and nobody said I should have been wearing a helmet. Greatly overrated safety item.
@@stevemawer848 I slid off my bike seat onto the family jewels when I was a kid; wasn't wearing a helmet, but even if I had worn one, I would have still spent several minutes writhing in agony; clearly, helmets are pointless for rider health and safety..
@@stevemawer848Did you actually read the OPs comment? You certainly didn't digest that the helmet saved them from significant injury. Every accident is different.
One note, when I worked in public health, we had a grant to give out helmets to kids and show them how to fit and wear it. Not one child refused a helmet and they all seemed genuinely happy to get one. Whether they wore it or not after the events is another question. 8)
My kids would always wear their helmets, .... unless one of their peers decided not to, then, it became a thing of 'coolness' or 'rebel-ness', and then they wouldn't, until they were by themselves or not with that person again. Peer pressure is as strong as the Force.
@@TomK32 I've seen plenty of World Tour riders come off their bikes without interference from anyone else. They're pretty experienced, strong and young. Anyone can come off a bike.
I had a friend that refused to wear a helmet until he saw an accident in front of him where the helmet was split down the middle and the rider was able to get right back on the bike. We were on fast single track. I was the rider. We went straight to a bike shop where we both got new helmets.
An important point in your story is: you went straight to the show, on the very moment… I for example crashed my bike, and my head hit the pavement quite hard. Lucky me nothing really bad happened, and I Promissed myself I’ll buy a helmet: tomorrow. And tomorrow became tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow ,… amd now # 3 years later, - I’m still driving around without helmet…
When I was a teenager I fell off a bike and suffered a concussion. No one hit me and I wasn't riding fast, it was just bad luck. My chain snapped, got tangled up in my back wheel and I landed on the left side of my head. This was ages ago but I have never ridden a bike (or motorcycle) without a helmet since that point. I don't care if others want to wear it or not, but I am definitely wearing one. That doesn't mean that I think wearing helmets are more important than separated bike paths or that this helmet will protect me from a 2 ton truck.
This is exactly my opinion too, the helmets aren't going to do anything when a 2 ton truck hits you (or any vehicle really) but they certainly will save you from head injuries in solo crashes which otherwise could cause head injuries. I fell on a gravel trail at walking speed going around a corner and my front wheel slipped in deeper gravel than expected. My head hit the ground relatively hard and afterwards there was a small dent in the side of my helmet where it hit a rock. That little dent in the foam could have been a fracture in my head. This was on a dedicated cycling path in the woods with no vehicles around. So yes, of course cycling infrastructure saves lives but so does helmets, they just save lives in different ways. I think an equivalent comparison would be that you wouldn't stop wearing a seatbelt because your car has air bags or vice versa.
As privileged Dutch cyclist I would like to add that is not only the infrastructure which benefits the number of injured/fatalities, there is also the subject of education. Children from very young age learn to cycle but also learn to "read" the traffic. And of course soon-to-be motorist are also trained from the first driving lesson to take cyclists in account, because there are so many of them😊
Until I was 50, I would never wear a helmet on my bike. I used my bicycle every day for transport and I have come off my bike maybe 50 times (including dooring), and every winter I would of course fall at least once due to snow and ice, but being an observant rider (and at times very lucky) I never broke any limbs in such accidents. I had a helmet in Denmark for my moped when I was young (speed limit 30 but it did about 45 km/h) and after a minor crash I did not feel comfortable without it - mostly because you cannot hear a thing, with or without a helmet, on a moped. For just riding a bike, at that time I did not think it was necessary to wear one. But as I moved from the flat landscape of Denmark to the hilly landscape of Luxembourg and Germany things changed. On almost any longer trip I suddenly was rolling steep downhill with 50-60 km/h, and I got a feeling of being vulnerable. For the last 15 years I will hardly go anywhere without my helmet - not even to our neighbor village 1,5 km away. I would never get a job if my brain was damaged in a crash, so I wear a helmet. I don’t think a bike helmet saves lives, but that is a very bad measurement for the positive effect it has on the risk of concussions and brain damages. There is a Danish study of 25 deadly accidents in Denmark (2010-2015) where the cyclist was run down from behind. 18 of these accidents happened outside cities and 6 of the accidents happened at night. In 5 of these 6 accidents the bicycle had no light on. 15 of the 25 dead cyclists were more than 62 years old and only 7 of the dead cyclists wore a bike helmet. Two of the dead cyclists were drunk while also two of the drivers were drunk and one was under influence of narcotics. 3 were speeding (going more than 80 km/h). All 18 accident outside cities happened on straight roads with narrow or no painted side lines for cyclists. 3 accidents happened on roads with wide painted lines for cyclist and 4 happened where there were cycle lanes or similar. 19 of the 25 accidents were caused or partly caused by the motorist (cars and vans) and 10 of the accidents were partly caused by the cyclist. Of course, in Denmark cyclist also get killed under turning lorries but then a helmet won’t do you much good either. No, protecting your brain in a simple crash is the reason why you should always wear a helmet on a bicycle - just as we teach the kids.
I had an accident going downhill too fast into a 90. Lost control landed on my left side head slamming into the ground. Luckily, I had started wearing a helmet 2 weeks before because of someone else. That impact would have killed me. As it was I walked away with a broken collarbone and concussion.
Exactly, I don't wear a helmet to save me from cars, I wear it in case 1 of 1 million things goes wrong and I crash/fall off. Much better to hit concrete/asphalt with your helmet than your skull lol.
Eeeeeeeeeeeh, they don't have to fight with cars...............................maybe you forgot !!!! And there has been a few famous crashes back in the yesteryears !!!!
Regarding the helmet question; 1) I was riding in a group (about a year ago), cross wheeled the rider in front of me, crashed and went down very hard. I broke my helmet, and my collar bone, but 6 weeks later I was back on the bike with my friends. I have no doubt that without the helmet I would have had a very serious head injury if not died. The helmet also prevented my face from hitting the pavement hard, to Si's comment, if the helmet isn't there it's likely that you face will hit the ground along with your skull. 2) Cycling infrastructure in the US is very poor, but what is worse is the number of drivers that are distracted by their mobil phones. The problem in the US has more to do with attitudes toward cyclists and distracted driving than infrastructure. I always ride in a group with my club because there is safety (or at least visibility) in numbers.
Great to hear that you got back on the bike so quick! Thanks for sharing with us. Do you think the infrastructure/attitudes questions should be a separate conversation. In reality is there a place for both better cycling infrastructure and helmets?
Distracted driving and negative attitudes toward cyclists are only possible because the infrastructure is designed to be as forgiving as possible to motorists. Roads in the United States are designed to shield motorists from the consequences for their own mistakes. Wide, forgiving lanes; large buffers; highway-spec road design even in the middle of a city. Traffic calming is a form of infrastructure, and with proper traffic calming it becomes impossible for people to be using their phones while driving. And with protected bike lanes, when a motorist does mess up it doesn't end up killing cyclists. But the way it is currently, aside from the occasional ticket (which motorists more commonly blame on the presence of a cop than their own bad driving), there's nothing to provide feedback that they're actually driving unsafely. Roads need to be designed to make safe driving feel comfortable, and to make unsafe driving feel uncomfortable. This is why speed bumps and roundabouts work so much better than signs and enforcement campaigns. - You Can't Just Lower Speed Limits ruclips.net/video/fb2cpjlYLfE/видео.html Attitudes toward cycling naturally improve as cyclists become more common. It's hard to hate cyclists when you actually know people who ride bikes. It's easy for people to not care about cyclists when nobody they know actually is one. Because North American bike infrastructure is so hostile, people can hate cyclists simply because there are so few of them. - I am not a "Cyclist" (and most Dutch people aren't either) ruclips.net/video/vMed1qceJ_Q/видео.html The following video discusses the myth that visibility is the problem that leads people to get hit. It specifically discusses pedestrian safety, but it's also applicable to cyclists: - Crossing the Street Shouldn't Be Deadly (but it is) ruclips.net/video/_ByEBjf9ktY/видео.html
I wear a helmet by default. It did save my face once when I was cycling to school before my A-Level exam. 50m from my drive I went flying over the handlebars and landed face first onto the pavement. The helmet protected my forehead which took the brunt of the impact and my chin was badly grazed. My teachers were concerned when I arrived at the exam hall with a chin covered in blood, but I went on to score 100% on that paper.
I’m an experienced rider. Anything can happen on a bike. I once caught a streetcar track at 12-14mph but still hit the deck in a microsecond. Surprisingly, I got up rather quickly but when I reached for the bike there were two to choose from. After a few minutes my head was clear and I was able to ride the 10 miles home though the headache lasted the rest of the day. I’m convinced the helmet, which slightly cracked, prevented a concussion or something more serious. My attitude remains to each his own.
Tim, I did this exact thing (it was a crane track in an industrial shipyard). I did get concussed, but was not as lucky as you because my front wheel was taco'd, and my helmet was cracked. But I can buy a new wheel and a new helmet, but not a new brain.
Since getting getting daytime running lights, I always ride with a helmet. The helmet (Bontrager Circuit) has mounts for them, and it makes it was easier to be seen and get the attention of drivers at cross streets.
In the U.S., we're so far away from having safe infrastructure, I'd still wear a helmet even doing non-sport cycling. I've been on the ground 5 times (single bike / my own fault) in nearly 40 years of riding. In the most minor of those incidents, I whacked my helmet on the ground and would likely have had a concussion without it. With the helmet, I had a scraped up hand as the worst injury. The worst one (header into the ditch at 23MPH), one of the ER staff's first questions was "where's his helmet?" (to see where it might have hit), then "thank you for wearing one." No visible damage to helmet, but broken collarbone, two ribs, and messed up rotator cuff. I make my living with my brain. I fully intend to protect it.
I've been a cyclist for more than 50 years and always swore that if helmet wearing was made compulsory I'd stop cycling. Then I entered for a cycling event where a helmet was mandatory so with much grumbling I purchased a helmet , I was delighted to find how light they are and really no inconvenience to wear at all I've used one ever since, great show.
They can say what they like but I have been knocked off my bike twice once by a car and once by a cat. The helmet saved my life on both occasions the impact was on my temple. The second time I was wearing a cheap helmet which broke but still did the job. I would advise you spend as much as you can on a helmet and wear it every time you ride.
@@timrathbone The thing is that literally no one says that helmet will save you from crashing. In perfect world cars would not need seatbelts and airbags, but crashes do happen and that's why those safety features are there. Same applies to helmets - it won't prevent crash, but you'll be happy to wear one if you happen to crash.
My theory is that people who are most insistent that others wear helmets have either suffered massive injuries themselves, or have had close friends or family suffer from them. Most people I know that don't wear helmets have never been in a serious crash. They think they're invincible.
Why don't you wear a helmet in a car? Never seen or been in a serious car crash? Trauma and damage to the head, especially the brain, are the most common fatal injuries in car accidents.
But what Si said is still right: it's not your business. Whether close to home or not. I've had people from cars and bikes point at me, repeatedly point at their head, and then even sake their head. It's probably the only thing that makes me truly angry on the road.
Fair point. Thought from my limited personal examples. I went for a club ride up the Wirral a couple months ago and spotted Chris boardman out riding without a helmet on, who’s mother was killed by a car whilst cycling in 2016. Really surprised me of all people he wouldn’t be wearing one. To each their own though.
@@CoolStoryStudio Because cars have airbags and seatbelts and are specifically designed to protect the occupants in the event of a collision. Don't be such a dolt.
@@itsP0rky I know this is difficult, but read these words. Trauma and damage to the head, especially the brain, are the most common fatal injuries in car accidents. Fact. Wearing helmets in cars would save way more lives than wearing helmets on bikes. Fact.
I wear a helmet every time I cycle (I cycle almost daily as someone who can't drive) because, well, I don't really want to die if I'm going to be honest. Life is so precious. I don't know why I would be putting myself at higher risk when there really is no issue for me wearing a helmet - it really is not that inconvenient. I would like to mention, my city has cycle paths everywhere, I do not ride on the road (but these cycle paths do cross at intersections). Strangers not wearing helmets certainly doesn't make me angry. When friends don't wear helmets, though, I am... I'm not sure exactly what the emotion is, but I am scared for them. I wouldn't want to lose a friend because they didn't want to wear a helmet.
Personally I wear a helmet as do all of my friends, many of our partners believe we should as well. I have worn helmets since the 1980s. I have been knocked off and crashed through my own fault and trashed 11 helmets. I am thankful for the helmets I have worn - that includes the variety of clothing Lycra or for work. I don’t care about stats - a helmet does work, I am still alive without a kerbstone imprint in my skull and functioning as a half decent human being
As a road cyclist who has logged more than 35 years of distance cycling adventure I would like to reveal are two significant crashes (out in the country away from any notable traffic) that in retrospect brought in the usefulness of helmets. In both incidents I noted, after recovery, that I would probably be dead had I no been wearing a helmet. Simply put, helmets saved my life, twice
What really got me was all the backlash that one guy got who calmly explained his preference for NOT wearing helmets based on statistics. Anyway: no, i don't always wear a helmet. I habitually put one on, but sometimes i forget. Only if i'm planning to exert myself do i actually care enough to go back and get the helmet in that case. Just casually riding around in nice weather, i don't feel that cycling is any more dangerous than walking or jogging. And i certainly don't see anyone wearing a helmet to walk across the street.
people are retarded. group think. helmets statistically have been proven over and over again to provide no significant protection for riding a road bicycle. wearing a condom to walk around all day in provides more protection statistically against getting a uti then a helmet does in a non technically challenging riding environment
"What really got me was all the backlash that one guy got who calmly explained his preference for NOT wearing helmets based on statistics." It's a psuedo religious thing: they believe it, so not only is it true, but you have to believe it too, and anyone who questions their belief is a heretic. 99% of helmet believers refuse to look at the evidence that shows that their belief is just that, belief, not fact.
I have said this to so many people when asked if they should wear a helmet or not. "Just like seat belts, it doesn't matter how safe you are, what matters is how unsafe everyone around you is."
well said. After a car knocked me off the cycling lane taking a wrong turn, I can confirm. And riding in a big city, there is these tense situations at every corner and you think you can foresee danger and react in time. But it does not always work like that. And same like with the seat belt, once you get used to it right away and do not even think about not using one, it does not bother me at all. I feel naked without one. It does not make me feel so much safer. Just the least I can do as a soft meat-bag in traffic versus persons with lack of sleep and driving skills, picking up kids from the kinder-garden in a a 3,5 ton SUV and similar potential disasters.
I always wear a helmet, and I'm glad I do because the last time I came I landed headfirst and I managed to get up and walk away. If I hadn't been wearing it I think I would have ended up in A&E.
I think I may be in the 31% who was saved from facial fracture by a helmet. I was in collision with a car which pulled out from a side street and stopped. I ended up with the brow of my helmet and my chin on the tarmac. The helmet was a write off with a huge crack in it but I got away with a slight bruise on my forehead and a grazed chin, It's not a very pretty face but it is the only one I have, so I am grateful to Messrs Giro & co.
@@gcn My steel frame was also destroyed, top tube bent and down tube concertinaed, absorbing much of the impact. Claimed on driver's insurance and upgraded 😀
Concerning wearing a helmet, I can tell you that, living in The Netherlands, I always wear a helmet (on my road bike ánd my single speed) and that this saved my life several times.
If I was that accident prone I wouldn't be biking period. Helmet or no helmet. You must have broken a lot of bones in all these accidents. Do you wear more protection or do you just care about your head?
@@topd0wn agree with you. I don't know where this delusional 'I would have died several times over' nonsense comes from but you see it quite a bit. If I have an accident every 5 years I'd be disappointed and would look into what I'm doing wrong.
Hello from Bulgaria.Wearing a helmet is important to me besides, it also protects me well from the strong sun on hot days.Even when I ride my bike to work, I wear a helmet.But enforcing them by law is bad as you mentioned.And I don't think people should be forced to wear helmets but rather be shown the benefits of wearing a helmet.Undoubtedly, a good infrastructure helps a lot, which here in Bulgaria is quite scarce.And I don't get mad when someone doesn't wear a helmet.I have friends that I ride with and they don't wear helmets and I don't have a problem with that, the heads are theirs.I also have friends who wear helmets and it has saved their head.
True, helmets are solely about one self's safety, unlike proper lights, brakes etc. It doesn't make much sense to enforce it by law. I don't really care what other people are doing on their bikes as long as it doesn't put me in danger. It's their responsibility.
Thanks for the comment! It's our body at the end of the day! People will make up their own mind. Great point about the Sun protection, there are many other reason to wear helmet aside from crash protection! 🙌
A helmet saved my life turning a corner once. If not for the lid, my head would have gone right into the very edge of the curb and I’d have brain damage now… so I always wear one as protection to and from myself.
Whilst I'm reasonably ambivalent about helmet wearing, I do get a bit annoyed when I see people cycling on the road in the dark, wearing dark clothes and no lights. I guess that if people choose not to wear helmets, then they are accepting some responsibility for what may or may not happen in the event of an incident. But if people choose not to make themselves visible at night, it's the other road users who may have some responsibility in the event of an incident.
Dan said it best @8:42 > it comes down wt personal choice. Individually assessing the need for a helmet/ or not.. I personally would hate to see the helmet made mandatory. I think it will only take people off the bike and back in their cars.. Probably not the desired outcome considering all aspects of modern congection and pollution issues.
Mandatory helmets would certainly see a decline in cyclists! Do you think the question around better infrastructure is a separate point? Should we not have both?
@@gcn I think that, as is normal in the workplace, all effort should be on eliminating external dangers and threats. This will provide us with true safety. Only when this is done sufficiently look at PPE’s. As you can see in the chart provided in this episode, when cars and bikes are separated real safety comes naturally. As demonstrated in the Netherlands and Denmark. The remaining deaths are usually user error, like running a red light or freak accidents. Bike helmets work best when cyclists are putting themselves (willingly) in danger. For example, riding fast road bikes or fast e-bikes. For crashing on the pavement or riding against a stationary object, the helmet provides a real and measurable benefit. For headbutting a 2-Metric-ton car driving at 35 Mph, the helmet does not so much. Coming from the Netherlands it might be easy to say, but I do believe it comes down to a simple choice. On one hand a future with tax generating cars and an unhealthy and non-active population, or a little less tax income and healthier and mostly happier population. Therefore, it becomes a moral choice. I don’t believe I have to sight any research for this argument. It has been covert many times, also on this channel. To strengthen the argument, we have real world working examples in the Netherlands and Denmark. So non willing politicians should be held responsible for every preventable death of cyclists. Final thought. When you separate bike and care lanes. Frustration and anger between the different road users also declines substantially. Thank you for making this subject a regular item on your show. I think change is happening as you can see by the number of new cyclists. Your government will have to respond to new demands concerning road safety. Just keep up the good work 😊
Yankee here. Never thought about helmets like this before. I don't feel safe with out my helmet. Never had an accident or hit my head (yet) but I still feel a bit better with it. Many drivers in the States are not fond of cyclists since we frequently share the road and it disrupts traffic. Dangerous for everyone. A lot more ways to die in a traffic/biking accident than a head injury too. That said, I wouldn't force anyone to wear one if they really don't want to unless it was my kid. You guys are awesome, keep it up.
I always wear a helmet if I am going to be anywhere near a vehicle. Unfortunately where I am that means all the time 😞I wouldn't wear a helmet on a bike if I could avoid the cars through better infrastructure, although my local laws mandate helmets... Interestingly, I never wear a helmet on my long-board despite riding it the same places I bike. I've never wiped out on my bike (not counting being a child) and I think that goes for most people, my only concern is not becoming a speed bump for an F-150
Interesting that you say you would not wear a helmet if you are away from cars. Do you think they are the only danger? How about falling off yourself? ... we all do it
@@gcn I'm not typically riding fast enough to be in any danger if I was to fall off. I do think with the right infrastructure wearing a helmet is largely unnecessary. If you are particularly prone to falling off your bike, or are a more fragile rider then wearing a helmet is a good idea. Most people in the Netherlands don't wear helmets and they are usually not going very fast.
It doesn't anger me if someone doesn't wear a helmet, it's their head to lose. It does anger me when they say helmets don't save lives using some false equivalency like that graph. As someone who had their front wheel get twisted sideways by hitting a rut I couldn't see, and being thrown head first over the bars into the ground where a small stone dented and cracked my helmet, I don't know where I'd be if it wasn't for the helmet.
I'm so hyped for the MTB races to feature on GCN+. I initially came to GCN from the GMBN & EMBN side of the community and gained back the love for road racing that i lost a few years ago after traditionally watching the Tour every summer with my dad. I fell out with that side of biking after moving out and missed pretty much everything since 2011. "Luckily" last summer, i caught some random virus going around and had to be confined, just as the Tour started and found your channels around the same time. All of that to say, i feel like it has come full circle and i'm so looking forwards to the future !
We love to hear it! It's going to be a very big year on GCN+, have you subscribed to the new GMBN Racing channel? 👉www.youtube.com/@gmbnracing. It's great to hear that you've fallen in love with road cycling again, are you stilling riding both off and on road? 🪨
I find it interesting that always the number of deaths is brought up, like either you die or just walk away, no Inbetween :D While we exactly know from boxing, american football and wrestling that concussions are a huge problem.
@@gcn I don't know. But I think, the cyclist-to-cyclist collisions, or simple things, like tram rail accidents (not to mention the embarrassing no-unclip-in-time) are just overlooked.
Helmets were sold to us on the promise that they would save lives. Now it's been proved that they don't, the helmet promoters move the goal posts and pretend they never said that. And helmets don't prevent concussion.
I wear a helmet when cycling. When younger, I played baseball in the summer and ice hockey in the winter. I wore a helmet for those two activities also. If you've ever seen someone get hit in the head by a fastball, or get tripped and slide headfirst into the boards, or slam their head in the pavement after a bike crash I would think you'd understand why wearing a helmet is a good idea. It's also a good idea for insurance premiums where everyone has to absorb the cost of care for everyone else.
Involved in a crash recently in the Netherlands. Car apparently didnt see me when it crossed a double bike lane. I was going around 20, car around 5. Pushed my across 2 car lanes and ended with my head against the pavement. Got away with some neck pain and bruises. Helmet saved me from a visit to the hospital
I wear a helmet on all my rides. Not going to save me from getting hit by a vehicle but if I do happen to hit my head in the fall I think wearing one increases my chances of surviving. Started out mountain biking without a helmet and after coming off my pedals over a small rise and almost running straight into a tree, figured the helmet was a good idea.
As a Seattleite, the reason for repealing the rule was not safety. It was that the law was being enforced disproportionately on the people with the fewest resources. People who rely on their bike as their only transportation were being ticketed while people on electric rental bikes were being ignored.
Living in Australia, helmets have been mandatory since I was a child, though some people still choose not to wear them (and sometimes get fined). I think they're good for the individual rider (less chance of significant injury etc.) but they do make cycling seem more dangerous, so less people do it, which makes cyclists unusual on the road, making it less safe. From a personal perspective, my partner dropped her bike going round a roundabout after rain. Her helmet hit the grass and whilst she got mild bruising to her face and a sore jaw, no head injuries. My guess is that the extra bulk of the helmet meant her face didn't hit as hard as it otherwise would, reducing the facial damage. In terms of the economic argument that helmets are an added expense and prevent people from riding, you can get a cheap helmet for A$10, and whilst it's not one that you'd use racing at speed, if it's just to be compliant whilst you ride to and from places at a more sedate pace it does what it needs.
Thanks for commenting Greg! Do you think the mandatory rule has meant less people are cycling? Great to hear that your wife is relatively unharmed, Is she now wearing a helmet 100% of the time? 👀
@@gcn she's a few years younger than me, so helmets have been mandatory for all of her life (at least all that she remembers) so it's what she's always done. Besides, it's the law (unless you're on private property) so she always has. She hasn't made it back onto a bike since the accident, but when/if she does, it will be with a helmet regardless of where she is riding. She's also a nurse, and early in her professional career came along a cyclist who'd split his helmet in two in an accident, but suffered no brain injury, or even serious head injuries, so she's an advocate for them in any case. As for reduced numbers, as @Hendman says, 25% drop when the law came in, and I believe participation numbers are lower in Australia than in similar countries without mandatory helmets. Anecdotally, I know people who won't ride to work because it messes up their hair having to wear a helmet. Like many places there was a jump in COVID, especially in Melbourne during lockdown. We were allowed 1 hour of outside exercise per day, within a 5km radius, and most cars were off the roads, making it easier and safer. There were still some bad drivers around who'd refuse to use a reasonable passing distance on multi-lane roads, but it was generally better. Some of that increased participation has continued since, but there are more cars on the road than in 2019 (people not wanting to use public transport) combined with resistance from car drivers who'd lost lanes for protected cycling infrastructure, so some of those have been removed, making it more dangerous. I think we have a cyclist die every 10 days in Australia at the moment, so the risks are definitely there. Almost all (if not all) of those fatalities are people wearing a helmet - as Si (almost) says, against a 10 ton truck, the helmet makes no difference.
I went out the door the other day while talking on the phone on a topic that took all of my limited abilities. I was twenty seconds into the ride when I noticed there was less noise than what I am use to. It was then that I realised I had forgotten my helmet. Turned around got my helmet and then I was off and riding. I felt naked without it.
I was hit by a car in a bike lane , and my head hit the road. I had a headache & the helmet was a good quality $200 + that came with a 2 year replacement warranty if you damaged it in an accident . I have no doubt that if I wasn't wearing that helmet i would be pushing up daisies now.
Instead of the dumb helmet vs. no helmet, can someone tell me the downsides of choosing to wearing one? I don't see why people are against it? (I'm not arguing if they should be enforced - that's different). Also, the argument about good cycling infrastructure is a totally parallel discussion (that everyone will agree is a good thing).
It depends on the helmet. Most people only grudgingly spend money on one, so they get a cheap-o from Dick's or Target, then hate it the whole time. I have a Specialized, top of the line carbon fiber shell/kevlar skeleton helmet that provides better airflow for cooling than not wearing a helmet at all. It hardly weighs anything so I don't mind having it on. Funny thing is, people will spend tens of thousands at a university to stuff an education into their noggin, then not spend $300 on a good helmet to protect their own brain. That never made sense to me.
It genuinely seems superflous. It's like carrying an umbrella on a dry day; I wouldn't carry one just in case someone throws water on me. Similarly I'm not cool with adopting the risk aversion duties of others. I also don't agree with a lot of cycling infrastructure (that we have here in the UK at least). I think it's often designed to remove cyclists established rights of way to the road. I also find it discourages attention to other road users from all parties who are just trusting in the infrastructure instead of their surroundings. Studies have found drivers pay more attention to this if the visual cues about a road seem less safe. They feel less comfortable and pay more attention. Most sadly is that bike lanes give inexperienced cyclists a naive trust that they are always safe in a bike lane, when often, they would be better placed away from car doors, gutters, and cars eager to squeeze by. I'd much rather claim my primary position and then encourage overtakes when I think is safe!
In 2019 I was in pretty serious bike accident. If it wasn’t for my helmet which was cracked. I wouldn’t have made it, I was unconscious and nonresponsive for 16 minutes. The only reason why I’m still alive is because of the helmet and the paramedic that was on our ride. So YES, wear a helmet.
@@gcn legal requirement I believe gets sticky. People in general will rebel against and either not ride or ride without a helmet anyways. I believe everyone has the choice to ride with or without a helmet. I gave an experience that was personal, for context. When I ride my road bike I wear a helmet. When I ride with my kids around the neighborhood they ride with helmets. I wouldn’t mandate anyone to wear a helmet. Just my .2 cents.
No less than 5 people I know, residing in different parts of the US, have all but given up the idea of riding out on the streets due to the lack of cycling infrastructures in their respective areas. Their decisions had nothing to do with helmet usage. They simply didn't feel safe using the same roads as other cars and trucks. On a personal note.. I avoided serious injuries when I landed on my head after a crash some years ago. My Giro ended up with a 3 inch crack, RIP... but my head didn't. So yes, I choose to always wear a helmet anytime I get on a bike.
On Helmets: I saw an older lady once (probably around 60) who was struggling to climb a short but steep incline. Someone teach people to use their gears. Anyway, almost at the top she refused to give up and when almost falling over due to slowing down too much, she frantically tried to get off the saddle and with her feet on the ground. She was not quick enough, lost her balance and fell like a sack of potatoes down the incline, backwards. Almost hit her head on the curb. Probably hit her head hard on the asphalt. She was uninjured (from what I could tell) through some form of divine intervention. (There really is no other way to describe it.) There were no cars present. She wasn't distracted or disturbed by anything whatsoever. She wasn't even going fast, her speed was 0 when she fell. She simply failed to judge her own abilities properly. A fall like that can turn you into a human vegetable, if not kill you if you're really unlucky. Now, I'm no old lady and I'm a confident cyclist, but if a 300g piece of plastic can help me turn a possibly lethal accident into a harmless one, I'll wear it. Statistics don't protect my skull from the curb. There is also this classic. Not a cycling accident, but it demonstrates the described-above very well: ruclips.net/video/b9yL5usLFgY/видео.html
I think wearing helmets should be up to the individual. As an avid cyclist in California, I personally wear a helmet simply for both safety and also for it's visibility factor (I wear brightly colored helmets). Either way, making them mandatory won't stop tossers in cars from using their hand-held devices and ignoring cyclists altogether. 😂
that's the biggest problem with bikes sharing roads with other traffic.. if just one idiot driver isn't looking where he's going, that inattention can and has led to cyclists being struck and killed/injured.
It could make the size, weight, and therefore potential strike area of your head larger, making it more likely that you hit your head, it also has been shown in circumstances to make drivers take more risks around cyclists. Also when most mandatory helmet laws are brought in theres an impact on the number of people who cycle due to the added inconvenience of wearing/carrying one, which means fewer cyclist on the road which is linked to less driver awareness of cyclists, etc etc..
Don't just look at a personal level, but rather a whole society, like the population of a country: Wearing a helmet is a little inconvenient: you have to carry it, it costs money, it is ugly, it ruins your hair, and so on... It makes bicycling less attractive. That means less people will use a bicycle, and drive by car or public transport instead. That means less corporal activity and a less healthy lifestyle, resulting in less healthy society ( = more dangerous)
And on a personal level I forgot: when you wear a helmet drivers could be less cautious around you (because they rather thing you are safe anyway with your helmet...)
@@miguialvarez They drive more recklessly when they see you are wearing a helmet? Now that's a made up observation. Come to the Bay Area in California, USA. I guarantee you will see a majority of those drivers doing the same thing regardless if you were wearing a helmet or not.
I always wear a helmet when I ride. It's the "better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it" mentality. I don't have an issue with others not wearing a helmet unless it is on a ride that I had organized because I would feel an immense amount of guilt if someone joined my ride and had a bad accident resulting in injury or worse. If they wear a helmet and this happens they have a greater chance of surviving and so I require helmets on rides that I organize for this reason.
@@rob-c. no, because the chances that your head will hit the ground in an accident in a car is next to none while the chances of your head hitting the ground if you crash on a bike is much, much more.
@@rob-c. You should absolutely wear a seatbelt and have airbag turned on in a car, yes. Asking if you wear a helmet in a car is a disingenuous question, because the protective elements in a car are in fact designed to protect from head injuries in most collisions. While in a bike crash, all you got is you and your noggin - hence, the commenter you responded to, I and many others wear a helmet.
I used to not wear a helmet until a dog took me to the pavement. I landed on my head are shaved my scalp on one side. My hair never looked the same. And honest, it really hurt.
Regarding the roller warning device, I used a much simpler solution: I taped a (used) paper match a couple of inches from one end of my front roller, and two on the other end, 180 degrees from each other. This allowed me to watch TV while riding, as the matches would alert me to when I was getting too close to one side or the other. The frequency of the sound would let me know which direction I was drifting towards, so I could correct without having to look down.
Most annoying is people wearing helmets, but without the straps done up (usually dads with the kids). Don't want to get spotted and fined, but don't want to be told what to do!
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That’s the worst combination of both options. You still have to buy and wear a helmet, yet, it’ll be utterly useless. It’s like wearing a seatbelt and “buckle” it to the seat with clothes pegs.
It's weird in the Philippines. Lots of riders go around on their bikes with their helmets on it, but not on them. The helmet being strapped to the bike itself, usually the handlebars, but never strapped to the head of the user. I myself always go out with a helmet that has MIPs and nothing less.
Helmets are beneficial if you're prone to falling off and landing on your head. So young kids with soft head bones would be well advised to wear them. Competent adults shouldn't need them, unless they get knocked off by a "blind" pedestrian or a lump of speeding metal. In the latter case, it's more than your head at risk, so good luck with that! The medical profession seems to have a knee-jerk reaction to accidents when helmets are worn - "you'd be dead if you weren't wearing a helmet". For that to be provable you'd need to have exactly the same accident with and without headgear, and we know that can't happen. If helmets are so essential, tell me why we didn't have an epidemioc of cyclists dying back in the pre-helmet days? Not even many racing deaths back in the day from head injuries. I think car drivers want us to wear helmets because they know they can knock us off our bikes and we'll "be safe".. Helmet-wearing cyclists want us to wear helmets because they don't want us think they're wimps. And pedestrians can suffer head injuries when they trip on uneven pavements - where's the "pedestrians should wear helmets" campaign for that?
A helmet is just one tool to help riders avoid injury, and I think to argue for or against helmet use using accident statistics as if the helmet was the only difference is a little too simplistic. In occupational health and safety, four methods of control are examined to determine the best way to avoid injury, ie, a worker impacted by a hazard: 1. elimination or substitution 2. engineering controls; 3. administrative controls; 4. personal protective equipment. The first/best way (ie, eliminate all cars) is usually not feasible, so we move to the next. In this case, engineering controls such as designated bike lanes or bike-specific traffic lights at intersections. Administrative controls would be things like free bus passes to encourage people to not drive thier vehicles. Helmets are PPE, and the last/least effective control. I would argue that the countries with the lowest helmet use and lowest injury rates also have the highest number of car-free bicyle paths or are simply not as car friendly. The reason the US and Canada have much higher injury rates despite manadatory helmet laws is because they haven't dealt with the issue using the highest/most effective controls (although that is slowly changing), relying strictly on the cheapest (and consequently least effective) option.
Armorall protectant. This was originally used for your car interior and your tires. It makes plastic, vinyl, rubber, and leather look like new, and makes it easier to clean in the future. I use it on black plastic in my home. Helps to keep your car interior from drying out and cracking.
There IS an argument for wanting other people to wear a helmet. I know a driver who was in an accident with a road cyclist. The driver was not at fault but the cyclist died. But the outcome was that if the cyclist was wearing a helmet there was a 90% chance he would have survived and recovered. Unfortunately as the cyclist did not wear a helmet he passed away, and my friend has borderline PTSD and feels like a murderer even though it was not his fault. He wishes to this day that the cyclist was wearing a helmet....then just maybe....he could sleep properly at night again.
Trying to make sure all roads and conditions are sufficiently safe in order NOT wear a helment is nearly impossible. Approaching a solution that way is like wanting to stop rain rather than wearing a raincoat! I don't like raincoats, but.. what can you do?
I went OTB at a young age in the 80s (of course, with no helmet). My left arm ended up with a bad cut and road rash, which alone was bad, but my bike decided to catch up with me, whack me in the head, and cause a concussion. I am sure a helmet would have helped in that situation.
6:10 Yes, a helmet on top of your head can save your face! My case scenerio is a driver forcing the right of way. Final result - me hitting my forehead (helmet) the A-pillar of the car, blackout, "jumping out of my road shoes", (whatever happened next), hitting my head against the ground. Half year later learning to walk again... So yes, a helmet can keep you look pretty...
US cyclist here. I can attest that helmets have saved my noggin several times. I used to keep the ruined helmets as keepsakes. To be fair, only two have been from road riding, but my last crash resulted in me going over my bars and slamming the back of head at 18.1 mph(cause I was looking at the Garmin and didn’t see the mound of yard debris until too late). My fault entirely, and I was quite glad the helmet took the brunt of it as I recovered from the resulting concussion. The helmet requirement isn’t so much about saving you against a speeding three ton vehicle, but mitigating the damage for events whose severity don’t rise to such an extreme example. Nobody in their right mind is saying that piece of plastic and foam will save you from doing a header with a car, so let’s not only use that to characterize helmet requirements.
I always go with the Dumoulin story. He rides around in shorts and w/o helmet, but he trains in full kit. That´s a big difference, it all depends on how and what you drive it for. I never go on the road bike W/O helmet, but on the urban bike, I do all my errands without helmet.
Last year the helmet save me from a sure concussion. I was on a quite nice road smashing a descent when my front wheel washed off because of some dirt in the road on a corner. I always wear helmet and gloves, this is non negotiable. BTW I replaced the helmet, of course.
Chime in on this one. From the Mid-West rural US and I wear a helmet. I have had 3 significant accidents over the last 4 years, ALL "self inflicted" as I was either not respecting the road conditions (on 2 of them) or not aware if the danger inherent in the condition at the time - in other words, I just wasn't paying attention. NONE involved a motorist. In only one of the three did the helmet serve in any capacity to protect or reduce the severity of my injuries, though I was momentarily unable to make my limbs obey the commands the brain was sending I do not believe I ever lost consciousness, and other than some road rash, had no other significant injuries. The helmet was cracked in 4 pieces as a result of the impact on the road, so IT WORKED. The most serious accident occurred last summer when I was hurled over the handle bars at about 25kph, and the first thing that made contact with the tarmac was the left side of my face resulting in 3 factures requiring a bit of reconstructive surgery. The helmet didn't have a scratch on it, and was useless in this specific circumstance. So no, they are not the be-all and end-all for rider protection - but as the saying goes, better safe than sorry. But as they also say - The choice is yours!
Facial fractures. A few years ago, I hit a large hidden stone while cycling to work. My bike stopped and I went full superman. My helmet did its job and I came away mostly unscathed. One of my memories of this brief traumatic event was looking down at the pavement as I slid on the ground. The edge of my helmet held my face up and kept it from grinding on the asphalt. It may be anecdotal but my experience supports the statistic that helmets can prevent facial injuries. Thanks for bringing that memory back. :) Also... I always wear a helmet thanks in small part to this experience.
Having broken several helmets in crashes, I always wear one. These crashes did not involve motorists. Just my own fault. Modern helmets are so light and inexpensive, I do wonder why? when I see someone riding without one. Urban US mid-western rider.
My worst accident (head wise) was in my own freaking driveway at nearly zero mph... hit a rock/stick, the front wheel went hard over, and I went head first into the pavement without a helmet. Probably got a slight concussion and nearly got knocked out. Scary AF. 😨 I always wear a helmet now. Helmet is cheap, even if only needed once.
My daughter (8) came off her bike the other day. Cycling infrastructure had nothing to do with it and no cars or other people were involved. She just crashed, fortunately at low speed. She took the brunt of the fall on her helmet and then rammed her face into the pavement. I watched the whole thing from a few meters away. There was a lot of blood because she bit her lip and some nasty grazes. But there was no concussion and her forehead was untouched. Having seen the crash and the result of the secondary face impact, I personally am convinced that helmets are worthwhile. The staff who inspected her at the clinic certainly agreed. It's not just about death but also injury. And it's not only about cycling infrastructure, as important as that is. People fall off their bikes all the time without being hit by an SUV because there's no bike lane. Sometimes people just crash - they are inexperienced, learning to ride, or they momentarily lose concentration, or they hit an acorn, or any of plenty of reasons you can lose control of your bike even on the best bike path far from any car. Everyone would do well to remember that especially if they have kids. I'm very glad my kid had hers on this week when she crashed. With careful treatment, her face has already healed - i doubt we'd so quickly be clear of the effects of severe concussion had she not been wearing it.
My first half-decent crash involved the front wheel going sideways on gravel and me watching the road skim by millimetres from the tip of my nose while the rim of my helmet was abraded. When I came to a halt I had a light scratch on my chin and severe road rash all down one side. So they do help protect faces. I reckon that 90% of helmet rage comes from the implicit suggestion that non-wearers should feel guilty: basically, they're made to be defensive and they defend by attacking. Everyone should just shut up about it - life's too short (and maybe shorter if you're not wearing a... damn, what's the word again?)
I always wear a helmet, after watching a pro bmxer (scotty cramner) on RUclips for years he won x games medals and was at the top of his game , and whilst out in Las Vegas he was messing around with his friends, jumped over a small wall on his bike straight into a pot hole and caved the front of his skull in , he wasn't wearing a helmet at the time , and the images of his head have always stuck with me , and the fact if it can happen to a pro , means it can happen to anyone
A HELMET will NOT SAVE your life when an animal is in charge of a motor vehicle and it seems that UK has a high amount of animals in possession of driving licenses !!! I am a GERMAN ARAB chauffeur and cyclist living in London , so I should know !!! Sadiq and all his cronies at TfL should be doing a mandatory SIX months on a bicycle in London and another SIX months driving an Uber car and only then will they be able to understand !!! It should be a requisite for them to be "mayor" and/or employed by TfL !!!! That is just logical thinking of course which british establishment don't do !!!!
I’m in Nova Scotia. Helmets became mandatory a loooooong time ago. Police cracked down and handed out numerous tickets one month, then they promptly sent a notice to those ticketed stating the fine would be forgiven if they attended a seminar. The seminar was done with neurologists and surgeons about head injuries. We only get one brain.
Earlier in my career I worked as a trauma surgeon and for motor vehicle accidents, head injury was one of the top two causes of death if not the highest (supported by several studies). Theoretically then, helmets should prevent a decent number of deaths from cycling. The studies showing helmets do not reduce deaths are almost certainly not accounting for the other confounding variables (i.e., in car vs bike the discrepancy in mass is so large head injury is rarely the only injury, and multi-trauma is the rule rather than the exception- this would confound the helmet controversy). The idea that biking infrastructure reduces death rate is almost certainly true as well. Lower overall speed limits would reduce the death rate (I'm not sure how fast they drive in the Netherlands but here in the US everyone drives live they're F1 racers). Congestion would increase the death rate (the US has a very high number of vehicles per capita), etc. The truth lies between the two camps- with infrastructure playing a large role and helmets almost certainly saving lives. That said, I don't care at all if someone else is wearing a helmet or not, just as I don't care if someone smokes or eats too much.
I ride and race footbikes ( a sport that GCN should look at ). I was out training one evening and was stopped by a couple to question me about my unusual bike. Towards the end the conversation they then began to lecture me about my risky behaviour as I wasn't wearing a helmet, this was done whilst they were both taking a draw on their cigarettes!
Hysterical and it demonstrates the overwhelming propaganda campaign that's been waged against cycling. Pedestrians have the same risk of death for distance travelled as cyclists, but no-one demands walking helmets, or verbally attacks them for not wearing a helmet. Regular cyclists live two years longer than average and suffer less from all forms of illness, so it's actually more dangerous not to ride a bike than to ride one, but the media never mentions these facts, only seeking to portray cycling as incredibly dangerous.
Rural areas , where you're wider than the shoulder . Hugging the white line or finding roads where there are no cars. A helmet is the least of my problems 😂
I do not advocate for the use of bike helmets. It's a personal choice. Having said this, I will always wear one when riding my road bike. When I ride my city bike to do errands and shopping I will eschew the helmet. But if I ride on a hot day I will don the helmet as it is cools my head when riding.
Helmet is a must full stop! Regardless of the infrastructure. But more exciting news MTB races will be aired in GCN+. Finally!!!! Looking forward to it!!!
Here's the thing about helmets: they are not designed to save you from being hit by a motorist. What they are for is for protecting your head from the ground. Here's the physics. In the event that your head hits the ground after falling from the height your head would normally be above the ground whilst sitting astride a bicycle or motorcycle, the vertical speed ends up being around 13 miles per hour, which is enough to kill you. A helmet is good for that. If, however, an automobile impacts your head at 30 mph, no helmet is going to matter. Anecdotal evidence about individual crashes is not pertinent to aggregate statistical data. People who do not understand the science should refrain from commenting and defer to those of us who have bothered to make a study of it. If people really believe that helmets are important to wear, then they should wear helmets whilst walking. A pedestrian's head is high enough from the ground to cause lethal damage if one's head hits the ground from standing height. This is exactly the same argument that has raged for far longer over motorcycle helmets, and the data from motorcycle helmet testing is directly applicable to the same arguments being made for bicycle helmets.
Usually when a car hits you... you'll end up hitting the ground. The helmet isn't for the car impact, no amount of wearable impact protection will save you from that. it's for what happens AFTER THE CAR hits you. See, most of the time when you get hit by a car? Your head isn't hitting the car, it's yousually your pelvis, legs or abdomen taking the brunt of that hit, then you get thrown over or across the the hood, off the bike, and hit the pavement - and THATS where you hit your head.
Can definitely jump on the pro helmet bandwagon - after a fall in a bunch ride, my helmet saved the direct impact of hitting my head on the pavement. Helmet was broken - but head intact. And when talking with the ambulance paramedic afterwards, they recommended a MIPS helmet after seeing my beat up helmet due to holding up better in a crash - who would have thought they would see falls regularly enough to provide helmet recommendations. Safe to say - my new helmet is now MIPS.
MIPS is a great leap in Helmet tech 🙌 Do you think it will become the norm? Great to hear the Paramedics are tuned into this sort of thing... perhaps they were cyclists? 👀
6:35 obviously, because people don't enjoy something as much when they've got a nanny state breathing down their neck about it. Idc if helmets work or not, for what it's worth I usually wear one, but all safety devices except breaks in every aspect of life should be fully optional and nobody should ever be looked down upon because they choose not to do this whole safety thing
As an American in the United States, I can tell you that many of our cities have very poor infrastructure for cycling. I am glad that you mentioned that arguments on Twitter amount to nothing. I feel like those divisive arguments about all kinds of topics are greatly damaging our country. I don’t judge people either way weather they wear a helmet or not, get a vaccine or not, who they vote for are what they look like. I think all of us would appreciate that attitude toward ourselves. It is interesting that you pointed out that infrastructure is far more important than wearing a helmet.
As a senior cycling in a city with poor cycling infrastructure I wear a helmet just to get on my bike. With about 5 crashes, (my own fault) over the last ten years, I've had no head injuries and only minor face plants. Lasting injuries are in my shoulders which are now slower to heal. There are many here who cycle without a helmet and you can't be angry about it. It's their choice even though it's the law in Canada that you must ride a bike with a helmet. I envy the cycling infrastructure in North Europe, especially in The Netherlands and I think their low injury while helmetless numbers are a result of tremendous forward thinking local and national governments toward cyclist's safety and the education of cyclists and drivers alike. I took my driving lessons and tests in Canada and if the rest of North America is similar in philosophy and methods, we have a long way to go in the education of traffic safety concerning cars and bicycles. We're not even comfortable with cars and motorcycles yet.
I had a co worker in Seattle (a fairly bike friendly city by US standards) get hit in traffic. It wasn’t the car hitting him, but his head hitting the pavement that put him in the ICU. His helmet, broken in two pieces, saved his life. Helmets are no inconvenience for the level of safety they provide.
In Australia, where helmet use is mandatory, it's really easy for police to identify the bogan/chav element that ride (usually) stolen bikes because they never wear helmets, whereas law abiding cyclists always wear them.
Helmets, ofcourse, works if comes to securing head. But, as everyday commuter, I must agree with studies, that point, that people are more careles and drive unsafe way when wearing helmet. All best to my two favourite presenters: Simon and best version of Hugh Jackman that GCN could affort ;)
Do you always wear a helmet when cycling? 🚴👇
Always.
Yes, because safety, and it also makes me look faster than I am.
No and Yes. I live in the Netherlands and on my 'normal'' bike I don't. When I go out on my 'sport-bike' I do.
The difference is because of the speed (15-20 kmh to 25-45 kmh).
Yeah I love dressing up
Always
As far as Simon's question, yes, live and let live. If you get angry about someone living their life differently, the only thing that will happen, is that you will get upset.
The older i get, the more i realize that if you desire to be happy, you have to shift your focus of what's truly important.
Well put! We can't force people to make these sorts of decision, let it wash over you and go about your day 🙌
I'm not upset if someone decides to not wear helmet, as said, for long term is good for public health if ppl do ride a bike, and the more cyclist there is, the more pressure it brings on infrastructure, at least some countries. What I am upset about, is that people are against to wearing a helmet and make statements with loose aknowledge and bad understanding about statistics (or good knowing but bad meaning), so it's weird way to justify your personal choice when you just can say you don't care or you feel lucky. But hey, Twitter is going to it's lowest so everything explodes when it hits to bots and trolls, so maybe discussion there is pretty useless.
Well, in my country's 🇸🇪 tax and social security setup, just as with smoking, the downsides gets pushed towards all others when the hospitals fills up and taxes must be raised. I get that in other countries this wouldn't be such strong driver, maybe some insurance rates could be affected 🤔
I think I love you. I also think if you’re not here already, you’re 99% with that angry/aggressive behaviour is always the cause of accidents or bad incidents, no matter who has ‘right of way’. If we all used the roads consciously understanding that people are generally stupid and often make mistakes (often due to bad street planning). Always be prepared to be dropped in on and don’t let yourself get angry about it. Unfortunately there’ll always be stupidity but its ridiculously embarrassing to react to it with anger.
I'm 71 years old, and three times in my cycling life my head (in a helmet) has been the first thing to contact the pavement. Once at less than 10 MPH and twice at speeds greater than 25 MPH. I can tell you that I clearly remember the concussive force and sound of impact for each of them. Any one of the crashes could have been a life changing event, were it not for wearing a helmet.
I fell from my bike at about the same speed. My head hit the kerb of a pavement first and bounced. like you I can still recall the crack as my head hit concrete.I am convinced that without my helmet I would have suffered a serious head injury. So they may not save lives in all cases but they will certainly prevent a more serious injury. I never ride without a helmet. Glad your still riding I am 59 an look to continue on my bike for years to come. 👍🏻
Not everyone has the instinct to protect their head by putting out their hands when they fall. Not everyone has the strength to support their falling body with their hands. Some do. That is why a risk assessment is different for everyone and varies by age and environment.
Just because you sometimes faceplate does not mean everyone does.
@@cjreeve79 well even if one is strong enough to catch themselves if you get tipped over and fall sideways or backwards it might be impossible to catch yourself. I guess it's an easy way to protect yourself even if it just helps a little
@@Kellnax my experience is that falling sideways results in elbow grazes and the way the body rolls could result in a strain to the neck but unlikely to lead to hitting your head.
Falling back is unusual and the bum/back usually hits first and the risk of impact to the head is just from the height you fall not your forward motion. I have hit my head falling back on Ice on a board but although it felt like the world was ending I didn't even get concussion.
Riding straight into a brick wall is not recommended without a motorcycle helmet. There is little you can do about that.
@@cjreeve79 The only time I've hit my head during a cycling accident is when someone yelled at me from the pavement and I looked just as the car in front abruptly stopped and I went into the back of them at about 15mph.
My instinct is to always protect my head when falling, but there was so little time then from when I felt my wheel hit the bumper to when my head hit the tailgate, even with my sometimes cat-like reflexes, I don't think anyone could have put their arms up in time.
The mistake was letting a pedestrian distract me from looking where I was going, not failing to try to protect the head.
When my daughter was little and had a crash on her bike she went face first into the ground, I feel the helmet created a bit of space so she didn't damage her face as much as she would have without a helmet ........I believe this is what they are talking about in the report regarding facial bone damage.
One additional comment. I bought my 3 1/2 year old Grandson a balance bike for Christmas and of course I bought him a helmet with it. He hasn't touched the bike yet, but loves to wear the helmet around the house and even in the yard when he's playing. When he does start riding, the helmet will be natural.
I hope he will, but bike helmets should not be used when kids are on playgrounds, climbing frames etc. Kids wearing helmets are not considered in the design, so they might get stuck and get injured at the neck.
@@gubsak55 Indeed, neck-injuries are quite a noted injury resulting from helmets, accident or not.
Great example here of helmets reducing cycling 🙃
This is great to hear! Start then young 💪 Sounds like you've got a cycling prodigy on your hands 😂
As a kid, before I learned how to ice skate, I used to walk besides my parents on the ice while my sister was skating. I was aware of the ice being slippery and it worried me. So I told my parents that I wanted a helmet just to be safe. (This still amazes me, since I was 5 years old at most.)
They told me I'll get one once I start skating myself, and that I didn't need one for walking. On that same day, I slipped on the ice and fell backwards, smashing my head against the frozen surface. On the next day, my dad bought me a red hockey helmet and I loved it. 😅😅
One anecdote about why helmets prevents facial injuries. I have gotten thrown off my bike by a road crack "grabbing" my back tire. The Helmet Visor stopped my jaw smacking the ground and I ended up just scraping my nose. Without the helmet I am pretty sure I would have lost some teeth. So that visor sticking out helped me.
I'm actually surprised they even questioned that point, anyone who has ever tried to lie down or even lean/sit against a wall in a helmet would realise right away how it protects your face, IT'S WIDER THAN YOUR HEAD! 😆
Glad to hear you are safe! Do you think Helmets are must all of the time? 🪖
@@gcn I pretty much wear one (casual and touring cyclist) but it really is just reducing risk on some unlikely events. On a societal level I think they prevent a lot of injuries. I think the death rate thing is super misleading here - that is the low probability event. What about all the scrapes and concussions and tree branches hitting eyes or face, etc. These injuries I want to see the data on, but I never see that. It is probably really hard to get.
If I was going on an evening ride and couldn't find a helmet, I would still do it I guess, but i would find or get a helmet for the next time.
Couple of things to untangle from for instance the NL stats (and probably similar in other countries with good infrastructure/high daily bicycle usage); on touring bikes/city bikes on which you generally go up to 20km/h and you use it as a mode of transport to do your commuting/going to shops/pubs/school whatever literally no one wears a helmet, because you go slow, infrastructure is great and it is a huge hassle if you go somewhere and then you need to carry your helmet along the rest of the day. On a roadbike/mountainbike where you go >25km/h and you are more prone to go back and forth, almost 100% of the people wear a helmet despite the great infrastructure (dont think I've ever seen anyone without on a roadbike). So speed and the purpose of the ride play huge roles and it is weird to lump the different categories together.
Well said
I totally agree, it is not a hard thing to understand that when on a commuting bike you go much slower than on a race bike...
not factoring in the speed is ridiculous
Can you tell the pro-helmet people this. Thanks in advance
This is a great point Jasper! Whenever we kit up for a "propper" ride the helmet is just part of the process 🙌
Cycling infrastructure is somewhere between non-existent and insufficient in most of the US, I suspect those stats would be even more tragic without helmets.
Or maybe the shift in focus away from helmets would create more focus on building infrastructure. Personally I find the helmet discussion to be little more than a distraction from the actually-important discussion of bike infrastructure.
Cycled all around the World over my 5 decades... Now living in USA. My contrary example to it is that helmet wearing in USA is almost 100% but cyclist behavior is the worst in the World. Here is what I personally saw on Long Island, NY at traffic light crossing of 8 lanes super-highway (Sunrise Hwy) and small two way street in Massepequa (and this is typical): I was waiting for left turn light. Highway had green for through traffic. Small two way road had red. Typical adult American cyclist, in perfect fashionable gear and with helmet approached the intersection on two way road. 1) He was riding as if in UK on the LEFT side of two way street. 2) He did not even entertain stopping and looking at the traffic light, he proceeded through 3) As he drove through, several highway speed driving cars needed to brake as mad and avoid killing him (helmet wouldn't help). Behavior, refusal to obey any traffic rules or signalization is what kills USA cyclists on average, helmets are not a factor in either direction.
My favorite infrastructure design, in the US, is when parking is allowed IN the bike lane. Especially along roads with high speed limits for cars. Ye, it does defeat the purpose of a bike lane. 8(
@@cumpootuhruser9355 with outstanding infrastructure, accidents will still happen. Even if it's bike to bike or bike to pole. A helmet is going to be better than no helmet.
@@dusanmal Without bike infrastructure you're basically asking for only the most daring risk-takers to ride bikes. It should be no surprise that the countries with the least consideration for cyclists also have the worst-behaved cyclists.
What people seem to miss when talking about helmet wearing is it's not always about someone else knocking you off your bike some times you fall off your bike for what ever reason,mabye a pot hole or some other obstacles,if you land on your head surely it's better to have a helmet on isn't it??
You are right, it really is that simple. I've no idea why people over complicate the topic.
I totally agree. I have had 2 accidents on my bike. Both times the bike helmet cracked, not my head. Once I just rode too close to a gutter (footpath riding is legal where I live and I was riding over a narrow vehicular bridge.) and one wheel slipped and I fell sideways from footpath onto the road and hit my head. Helmet cracked in half and I dont remember falling, due to concussion. The second time I was hit on a roundabout by a car trying to cut across a lane. Flew through the air and cut my leg and cracked my helmet when I hit the tarmac. I truly think I would have head injuries without a helmet both times.
Its not hard. I live in Au with 35 degree summers and most of us still wear helmets as our cycling infrastructure is a bit rubbish, and they are compulsory.
@@gregwilson3159 bc somehow they have a fool proof model with the perfect assumptions of when, where, how the accident will happen and at what speeds, and the ragdoll physics model to predict that said collison will magically under no circumstances have their head take the brunt of the trauma
@@verityviolet This is a very individual point of view. As Dan & Si said, making helmets compulsory decreased participation in cycling and thus is bad for society as a whole. Nobody is interested in Tom, Dick or Harry falling off or cracking a helmet. They crack easily. When riding in NZ (I got fined by a UK policeman for having my helmet around my handlebars; it was a desolated beauty spot road with zero cars) my helmet got a crack from simply dropping at handlebar height. They are not even close to how hard your skull is.
@@zero5uk I think this vastly depends on the quality of your helmet, obviously a cheap helmet isn't as strong as your skull, or any helmet really, but if I had to choose between my helmet absorbing 40% of the impact or my skull taking 100%, it's an easy choice.
Living in Belgium, I never wore a helmet since growing up in the 70's-80's, commuting 20km a day to school. When I took up cycling again at the end of 2019, subsequently buying my first race type bike in the summer of 2020, I consciously made the choice to begin wearing a helmet because the speed I'm riding at now is often quite a lot higher than it was way back when, and traffic has gotten a lot more dense and dangerous as well.
Context is everything. The hosts discussed this with their own sense of need per application or not, and handled the discussion well.
Let's flip this over for a sec (pun fully intended). How about gloves? Helmets may or may not be beneficial in *some* albeit thankfully few accidents. Gloves offer protection in the vast majority of accidents, and yet even those wearing gloves often wear flimsy Lycra fashion statements. They days of gloves offering substantial protection (crochet backed and heavily padded/proportioned palms) are almost long-gone. You can find some if you order on-line, very hard to find.
So all those riders who don't use gloves....why not? Your hands are very delicate and highly needed. And unlike helmets, they don't restrict latitude of vision, and force your spectacle lenses to impact directly into your eyeballs in a head-on collision (happened to me, I've never worn a helmet since).
And give your MCM joints (a very common cyclist effected malady) some consideration! You wouldn't cycle in sandals, would you?
@@stephensaines7100 Glove shirking regarding phone use has to by why, paired with the ease at which gloves are to simply vanish, and then one must inevitably adapt to the loss. The feel of bar tape barehanded finds to be preferred to rubberized mtn bike grips as well.
You’d be happy to receive something people had told you would save your life. Might have been less bothered if they’d not been given a biased argument all they lives.
Thanks for commenting Bart! We are the same, if the lycra goes on so does the helmet. Are you now wearing a helmet for casual rides to? 🚴
@@gcn I do. Running small errands around the town I live in involves a very busy main road, so better safe than sorry.
Went over the handlebars a month or two ago , happened so quick didn’t have time to even use arms to break the impact. Face planted the concrete however, felt the force of the impact go through my helmet , was quite surreal . It saved me from a very significant head injury.
I went over the bars when I was 14, landed on my chin. Helmet wouldn't have saved my life then, even if they were available back in the 1960s. Had a couple of stitches in my chin and nobody said I should have been wearing a helmet. Greatly overrated safety item.
@@stevemawer848 Well yeah because you didn't land on your head dumbass. Obviously head protection gear won't save your chin LOL.
@@stevemawer848 I slid off my bike seat onto the family jewels when I was a kid; wasn't wearing a helmet, but even if I had worn one, I would have still spent several minutes writhing in agony; clearly, helmets are pointless for rider health and safety..
Are you still riding now? We hope you recovered well 🙌
@@stevemawer848Did you actually read the OPs comment? You certainly didn't digest that the helmet saved them from significant injury. Every accident is different.
One note, when I worked in public health, we had a grant to give out helmets to kids and show them how to fit and wear it. Not one child refused a helmet and they all seemed genuinely happy to get one. Whether they wore it or not after the events is another question. 8)
My kids would always wear their helmets, .... unless one of their peers decided not to, then, it became a thing of 'coolness' or 'rebel-ness', and then they wouldn't, until they were by themselves or not with that person again. Peer pressure is as strong as the Force.
I makes much more sense for children because they are simply not experienced and stable enough to ride safely. Similar for weaker, older riders.
We love this ☝ That sounds like a great scheme, do you know if it is still running?
@@TomK32 I've seen plenty of World Tour riders come off their bikes without interference from anyone else. They're pretty experienced, strong and young. Anyone can come off a bike.
They will, and they take it easier for an habit when they get older, that's what happened to me at least. :)
I had a friend that refused to wear a helmet until he saw an accident in front of him where the helmet was split down the middle and the rider was able to get right back on the bike. We were on fast single track. I was the rider. We went straight to a bike shop where we both got new helmets.
An important point in your story is: you went straight to the show, on the very moment…
I for example crashed my bike, and my head hit the pavement quite hard. Lucky me nothing really bad happened, and I Promissed myself I’ll buy a helmet: tomorrow. And tomorrow became tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow ,… amd now # 3 years later, - I’m still driving around without helmet…
@@miguialvarez Bro go buy a helmet, pleaseee
@@bullerfugl dont worry about him, the damage has clearly already been done
Snap,👍🏻👍🏻👌
"fast single track" is the key here, if you increase the risk of having an accident you should increase your protection.
When I was a teenager I fell off a bike and suffered a concussion. No one hit me and I wasn't riding fast, it was just bad luck. My chain snapped, got tangled up in my back wheel and I landed on the left side of my head. This was ages ago but I have never ridden a bike (or motorcycle) without a helmet since that point. I don't care if others want to wear it or not, but I am definitely wearing one. That doesn't mean that I think wearing helmets are more important than separated bike paths or that this helmet will protect me from a 2 ton truck.
This is exactly my opinion too, the helmets aren't going to do anything when a 2 ton truck hits you (or any vehicle really) but they certainly will save you from head injuries in solo crashes which otherwise could cause head injuries. I fell on a gravel trail at walking speed going around a corner and my front wheel slipped in deeper gravel than expected. My head hit the ground relatively hard and afterwards there was a small dent in the side of my helmet where it hit a rock. That little dent in the foam could have been a fracture in my head. This was on a dedicated cycling path in the woods with no vehicles around. So yes, of course cycling infrastructure saves lives but so does helmets, they just save lives in different ways. I think an equivalent comparison would be that you wouldn't stop wearing a seatbelt because your car has air bags or vice versa.
As privileged Dutch cyclist I would like to add that is not only the infrastructure which benefits the number of injured/fatalities, there is also the subject of education. Children from very young age learn to cycle but also learn to "read" the traffic. And of course soon-to-be motorist are also trained from the first driving lesson to take cyclists in account, because there are so many of them😊
Until I was 50, I would never wear a helmet on my bike. I used my bicycle every day for transport and I have come off my bike maybe 50 times (including dooring), and every winter I would of course fall at least once due to snow and ice, but being an observant rider (and at times very lucky) I never broke any limbs in such accidents.
I had a helmet in Denmark for my moped when I was young (speed limit 30 but it did about 45 km/h) and after a minor crash I did not feel comfortable without it - mostly because you cannot hear a thing, with or without a helmet, on a moped.
For just riding a bike, at that time I did not think it was necessary to wear one. But as I moved from the flat landscape of Denmark to the hilly landscape of Luxembourg and Germany things changed. On almost any longer trip I suddenly was rolling steep downhill with 50-60 km/h, and I got a feeling of being vulnerable. For the last 15 years I will hardly go anywhere without my helmet - not even to our neighbor village 1,5 km away. I would never get a job if my brain was damaged in a crash, so I wear a helmet.
I don’t think a bike helmet saves lives, but that is a very bad measurement for the positive effect it has on the risk of concussions and brain damages.
There is a Danish study of 25 deadly accidents in Denmark (2010-2015) where the cyclist was run down from behind. 18 of these accidents happened outside cities and 6 of the accidents happened at night. In 5 of these 6 accidents the bicycle had no light on.
15 of the 25 dead cyclists were more than 62 years old and only 7 of the dead cyclists wore a bike helmet. Two of the dead cyclists were drunk while also two of the drivers were drunk and one was under influence of narcotics. 3 were speeding (going more than 80 km/h).
All 18 accident outside cities happened on straight roads with narrow or no painted side lines for cyclists. 3 accidents happened on roads with wide painted lines for cyclist and 4 happened where there were cycle lanes or similar.
19 of the 25 accidents were caused or partly caused by the motorist (cars and vans) and 10 of the accidents were partly caused by the cyclist.
Of course, in Denmark cyclist also get killed under turning lorries but then a helmet won’t do you much good either.
No, protecting your brain in a simple crash is the reason why you should always wear a helmet on a bicycle - just as we teach the kids.
I had an accident going downhill too fast into a 90. Lost control landed on my left side head slamming into the ground. Luckily, I had started wearing a helmet 2 weeks before because of someone else. That impact would have killed me. As it was I walked away with a broken collarbone and concussion.
Exactly, I don't wear a helmet to save me from cars, I wear it in case 1 of 1 million things goes wrong and I crash/fall off.
Much better to hit concrete/asphalt with your helmet than your skull lol.
Nasty! Good to hear you could somewhat walk away, has it put off riding a bike? 🚴
@@gcn No. I love to ride, but I am a helmet pusher, now. Before the accident I thought it was kind of dumb.
I would be curious to find out how many head injuries there were in the pro peloton before helmets were required and after?
Great question.
Eeeeeeeeeeeh, they don't have to fight with cars...............................maybe you forgot !!!! And there has been a few famous crashes back in the yesteryears !!!!
@Septic Whelk You sound like the prejudiced one - prejudging why you think someone asks a reasonable question.
Great question! Maybe we should do some digging 👀
@@gcn Content for the next episode 😂
Regarding the helmet question; 1) I was riding in a group (about a year ago), cross wheeled the rider in front of me, crashed and went down very hard. I broke my helmet, and my collar bone, but 6 weeks later I was back on the bike with my friends. I have no doubt that without the helmet I would have had a very serious head injury if not died. The helmet also prevented my face from hitting the pavement hard, to Si's comment, if the helmet isn't there it's likely that you face will hit the ground along with your skull. 2) Cycling infrastructure in the US is very poor, but what is worse is the number of drivers that are distracted by their mobil phones. The problem in the US has more to do with attitudes toward cyclists and distracted driving than infrastructure. I always ride in a group with my club because there is safety (or at least visibility) in numbers.
Great to hear that you got back on the bike so quick! Thanks for sharing with us. Do you think the infrastructure/attitudes questions should be a separate conversation. In reality is there a place for both better cycling infrastructure and helmets?
Distracted driving and negative attitudes toward cyclists are only possible because the infrastructure is designed to be as forgiving as possible to motorists. Roads in the United States are designed to shield motorists from the consequences for their own mistakes. Wide, forgiving lanes; large buffers; highway-spec road design even in the middle of a city. Traffic calming is a form of infrastructure, and with proper traffic calming it becomes impossible for people to be using their phones while driving. And with protected bike lanes, when a motorist does mess up it doesn't end up killing cyclists. But the way it is currently, aside from the occasional ticket (which motorists more commonly blame on the presence of a cop than their own bad driving), there's nothing to provide feedback that they're actually driving unsafely. Roads need to be designed to make safe driving feel comfortable, and to make unsafe driving feel uncomfortable. This is why speed bumps and roundabouts work so much better than signs and enforcement campaigns.
- You Can't Just Lower Speed Limits ruclips.net/video/fb2cpjlYLfE/видео.html
Attitudes toward cycling naturally improve as cyclists become more common. It's hard to hate cyclists when you actually know people who ride bikes. It's easy for people to not care about cyclists when nobody they know actually is one. Because North American bike infrastructure is so hostile, people can hate cyclists simply because there are so few of them.
- I am not a "Cyclist" (and most Dutch people aren't either) ruclips.net/video/vMed1qceJ_Q/видео.html
The following video discusses the myth that visibility is the problem that leads people to get hit. It specifically discusses pedestrian safety, but it's also applicable to cyclists:
- Crossing the Street Shouldn't Be Deadly (but it is) ruclips.net/video/_ByEBjf9ktY/видео.html
I wear a helmet by default. It did save my face once when I was cycling to school before my A-Level exam. 50m from my drive I went flying over the handlebars and landed face first onto the pavement. The helmet protected my forehead which took the brunt of the impact and my chin was badly grazed. My teachers were concerned when I arrived at the exam hall with a chin covered in blood, but I went on to score 100% on that paper.
Caption: Gotta feel for Wout and Ganna. So near, and yet sofa
Good one
Great stuff... remember to use #captioncompetition
Winner, winner, chicken dinner.
I’m an experienced rider. Anything can happen on a bike. I once caught a streetcar track at 12-14mph but still hit the deck in a microsecond. Surprisingly, I got up rather quickly but when I reached for the bike there were two to choose from. After a few minutes my head was clear and I was able to ride the 10 miles home though the headache lasted the rest of the day. I’m convinced the helmet, which slightly cracked, prevented a concussion or something more serious. My attitude remains to each his own.
Willing to bet you had a concussion.
If there were two bikes to choose from you did not avoid concussion.
If you were seeing double, you had a concussion, could well have been worse without the helmet.
@@peterleffler2062 No, but helmets are not designed to prevent concussion, they are designed to prevent Traumatic Brain Injury or death.
Tim, I did this exact thing (it was a crane track in an industrial shipyard). I did get concussed, but was not as lucky as you because my front wheel was taco'd, and my helmet was cracked. But I can buy a new wheel and a new helmet, but not a new brain.
Since getting getting daytime running lights, I always ride with a helmet. The helmet (Bontrager Circuit) has mounts for them, and it makes it was easier to be seen and get the attention of drivers at cross streets.
In the U.S., we're so far away from having safe infrastructure, I'd still wear a helmet even doing non-sport cycling.
I've been on the ground 5 times (single bike / my own fault) in nearly 40 years of riding. In the most minor of those incidents, I whacked my helmet on the ground and would likely have had a concussion without it. With the helmet, I had a scraped up hand as the worst injury. The worst one (header into the ditch at 23MPH), one of the ER staff's first questions was "where's his helmet?" (to see where it might have hit), then "thank you for wearing one." No visible damage to helmet, but broken collarbone, two ribs, and messed up rotator cuff.
I make my living with my brain. I fully intend to protect it.
I've been a cyclist for more than 50 years and always swore that if helmet wearing was made compulsory I'd stop cycling. Then I entered for a cycling event where a helmet was mandatory so with much grumbling I purchased a helmet , I was delighted to find how light they are and really no inconvenience to wear at all I've used one ever since, great show.
They can say what they like but I have been knocked off my bike twice once by a car and once by a cat. The helmet saved my life on both occasions the impact was on my temple. The second time I was wearing a cheap helmet which broke but still did the job. I would advise you spend as much as you can on a helmet and wear it every time you ride.
I'm glad that you were okay in the end, but the helmet saved your life, it didn't save you from being hit. And that's the root problem.
@@timrathbone The thing is that literally no one says that helmet will save you from crashing. In perfect world cars would not need seatbelts and airbags, but crashes do happen and that's why those safety features are there. Same applies to helmets - it won't prevent crash, but you'll be happy to wear one if you happen to crash.
@@timrathbone You can't always control the 'root problem' so wear a lid and increase your chances.
@@timrathbone well phrased!
My theory is that people who are most insistent that others wear helmets have either suffered massive injuries themselves, or have had close friends or family suffer from them. Most people I know that don't wear helmets have never been in a serious crash. They think they're invincible.
Why don't you wear a helmet in a car? Never seen or been in a serious car crash? Trauma and damage to the head, especially the brain, are the most common fatal injuries in car accidents.
But what Si said is still right: it's not your business. Whether close to home or not. I've had people from cars and bikes point at me, repeatedly point at their head, and then even sake their head. It's probably the only thing that makes me truly angry on the road.
Fair point. Thought from my limited personal examples. I went for a club ride up the Wirral a couple months ago and spotted Chris boardman out riding without a helmet on, who’s mother was killed by a car whilst cycling in 2016. Really surprised me of all people he wouldn’t be wearing one. To each their own though.
@@CoolStoryStudio Because cars have airbags and seatbelts and are specifically designed to protect the occupants in the event of a collision. Don't be such a dolt.
@@itsP0rky I know this is difficult, but read these words. Trauma and damage to the head, especially the brain, are the most common fatal injuries in car accidents. Fact. Wearing helmets in cars would save way more lives than wearing helmets on bikes. Fact.
I wear a helmet every time I cycle (I cycle almost daily as someone who can't drive) because, well, I don't really want to die if I'm going to be honest. Life is so precious. I don't know why I would be putting myself at higher risk when there really is no issue for me wearing a helmet - it really is not that inconvenient.
I would like to mention, my city has cycle paths everywhere, I do not ride on the road (but these cycle paths do cross at intersections).
Strangers not wearing helmets certainly doesn't make me angry. When friends don't wear helmets, though, I am... I'm not sure exactly what the emotion is, but I am scared for them. I wouldn't want to lose a friend because they didn't want to wear a helmet.
Lloydie's pronunciation of "ARMOR ALL" makes me believe he has never used it before. 🤣
Personally I wear a helmet as do all of my friends, many of our partners believe we should as well. I have worn helmets since the 1980s. I have been knocked off and crashed through my own fault and trashed 11 helmets. I am thankful for the helmets I have worn - that includes the variety of clothing Lycra or for work. I don’t care about stats - a helmet does work, I am still alive without a kerbstone imprint in my skull and functioning as a half decent human being
Sounds like all the reasons you would ever need! 🙌
If you crash so many times, you need to address your riding, not wear a helmet because you can't ride safely.
@@richardburton8387 that’s over 45 years of cycling! Everyone makes mistakes unless you are perfect - get real!
As a road cyclist who has logged more than 35 years of distance cycling adventure I would like to reveal are two significant crashes (out in the country away from any notable traffic) that in retrospect brought in the usefulness of helmets. In both incidents I noted, after recovery, that I would probably be dead had I no been wearing a helmet. Simply put, helmets saved my life, twice
Glad youre still with us!
Great to hear you are still riding 🙌 Did the crashes make you think twice about riding a bike?
@@gcn Never have I considered ending my riding life. If anything, my crashes keep me going only with a few new acks and pains.
What really got me was all the backlash that one guy got who calmly explained his preference for NOT wearing helmets based on statistics.
Anyway: no, i don't always wear a helmet. I habitually put one on, but sometimes i forget. Only if i'm planning to exert myself do i actually care enough to go back and get the helmet in that case.
Just casually riding around in nice weather, i don't feel that cycling is any more dangerous than walking or jogging. And i certainly don't see anyone wearing a helmet to walk across the street.
people are retarded. group think. helmets statistically have been proven over and over again to provide no significant protection for riding a road bicycle. wearing a condom to walk around all day in provides more protection statistically against getting a uti then a helmet does in a non technically challenging riding environment
"What really got me was all the backlash that one guy got who calmly explained his preference for NOT wearing helmets based on statistics." It's a psuedo religious thing: they believe it, so not only is it true, but you have to believe it too, and anyone who questions their belief is a heretic. 99% of helmet believers refuse to look at the evidence that shows that their belief is just that, belief, not fact.
I have said this to so many people when asked if they should wear a helmet or not. "Just like seat belts, it doesn't matter how safe you are, what matters is how unsafe everyone around you is."
thats what you say until you meet a pothole
Well said!
'You're only as safe as the nut behind the steering wheel'.
well said. After a car knocked me off the cycling lane taking a wrong turn, I can confirm. And riding in a big city, there is these tense situations at every corner and you think you can foresee danger and react in time. But it does not always work like that. And same like with the seat belt, once you get used to it right away and do not even think about not using one, it does not bother me at all. I feel naked without one. It does not make me feel so much safer. Just the least I can do as a soft meat-bag in traffic versus persons with lack of sleep and driving skills, picking up kids from the kinder-garden in a a 3,5 ton SUV and similar potential disasters.
I always wear a helmet, and I'm glad I do because the last time I came I landed headfirst and I managed to get up and walk away. If I hadn't been wearing it I think I would have ended up in A&E.
I think I may be in the 31% who was saved from facial fracture by a helmet. I was in collision with a car which pulled out from a side street and stopped. I ended up with the brow of my helmet and my chin on the tarmac. The helmet was a write off with a huge crack in it but I got away with a slight bruise on my forehead and a grazed chin, It's not a very pretty face but it is the only one I have, so I am grateful to Messrs Giro & co.
Thanks for sharing! Sounds like a nasty accident, has it put you off riding?
@@gcn My steel frame was also destroyed, top tube bent and down tube concertinaed, absorbing much of the impact. Claimed on driver's insurance and upgraded 😀
Concerning wearing a helmet, I can tell you that, living in The Netherlands, I always wear a helmet (on my road bike ánd my single speed) and that this saved my life several times.
If I was that accident prone I wouldn't be biking period. Helmet or no helmet. You must have broken a lot of bones in all these accidents. Do you wear more protection or do you just care about your head?
@@topd0wn agree with you. I don't know where this delusional 'I would have died several times over' nonsense comes from but you see it quite a bit. If I have an accident every 5 years I'd be disappointed and would look into what I'm doing wrong.
@@zero5uk I couldn't agree more.
Ride slower.
@@zero5uk I've had 2 serious falls from my bike in my entire life of riding, both times would've been significantly more severe without a helmet.
Hello from Bulgaria.Wearing a helmet is important to me besides, it also protects me well from the strong sun on hot days.Even when I ride my bike to work, I wear a helmet.But enforcing them by law is bad as you mentioned.And I don't think people should be forced to wear helmets but rather be shown the benefits of wearing a helmet.Undoubtedly, a good infrastructure helps a lot, which here in Bulgaria is quite scarce.And I don't get mad when someone doesn't wear a helmet.I have friends that I ride with and they don't wear helmets and I don't have a problem with that, the heads are theirs.I also have friends who wear helmets and it has saved their head.
True, helmets are solely about one self's safety, unlike proper lights, brakes etc. It doesn't make much sense to enforce it by law. I don't really care what other people are doing on their bikes as long as it doesn't put me in danger. It's their responsibility.
Thanks for the comment! It's our body at the end of the day! People will make up their own mind. Great point about the Sun protection, there are many other reason to wear helmet aside from crash protection! 🙌
A helmet saved my life turning a corner once. If not for the lid, my head would have gone right into the very edge of the curb and I’d have brain damage now… so I always wear one as protection to and from myself.
Whilst I'm reasonably ambivalent about helmet wearing, I do get a bit annoyed when I see people cycling on the road in the dark, wearing dark clothes and no lights. I guess that if people choose not to wear helmets, then they are accepting some responsibility for what may or may not happen in the event of an incident. But if people choose not to make themselves visible at night, it's the other road users who may have some responsibility in the event of an incident.
Any cyclist riding in the dark or fog without lights is a fool and will be liable if hit by a vehicle.
Preach it, Brother.
I am angry when someone tells me I should wear a helmet.
Why? Don't you have a brain to injure?
Dan said it best @8:42 > it comes down wt personal choice. Individually assessing the need for a helmet/ or not.. I personally would hate to see the helmet made mandatory. I think it will only take people off the bike and back in their cars.. Probably not the desired outcome considering all aspects of modern congection and pollution issues.
Mandatory helmets would certainly see a decline in cyclists! Do you think the question around better infrastructure is a separate point? Should we not have both?
@@gcn
I think that, as is normal in the workplace, all effort should be on eliminating external dangers and threats. This will provide us with true safety. Only when this is done sufficiently look at PPE’s.
As you can see in the chart provided in this episode, when cars and bikes are separated real safety comes naturally. As demonstrated in the Netherlands and Denmark. The remaining deaths are usually user error, like running a red light or freak accidents.
Bike helmets work best when cyclists are putting themselves (willingly) in danger. For example, riding fast road bikes or fast e-bikes. For crashing on the pavement or riding against a stationary object, the helmet provides a real and measurable benefit. For headbutting a 2-Metric-ton car driving at 35 Mph, the helmet does not so much.
Coming from the Netherlands it might be easy to say, but I do believe it comes down to a simple choice. On one hand a future with tax generating cars and an unhealthy and non-active population, or a little less tax income and healthier and mostly happier population. Therefore, it becomes a moral choice. I don’t believe I have to sight any research for this argument. It has been covert many times, also on this channel. To strengthen the argument, we have real world working examples in the Netherlands and Denmark. So non willing politicians should be held responsible for every preventable death of cyclists. Final thought. When you separate bike and care lanes. Frustration and anger between the different road users also declines substantially.
Thank you for making this subject a regular item on your show. I think change is happening as you can see by the number of new cyclists. Your government will have to respond to new demands concerning road safety. Just keep up the good work 😊
Hi GCN, thanks for using my Intro! Makes me really happy. I am watching your videos, especially the GCN Show, for many years now. Thanks❤️
We couldn't not use that intro! What an epic place to ride 🙌 Thanks for the submission
Yankee here. Never thought about helmets like this before. I don't feel safe with out my helmet. Never had an accident or hit my head (yet) but I still feel a bit better with it. Many drivers in the States are not fond of cyclists since we frequently share the road and it disrupts traffic. Dangerous for everyone. A lot more ways to die in a traffic/biking accident than a head injury too. That said, I wouldn't force anyone to wear one if they really don't want to unless it was my kid.
You guys are awesome, keep it up.
I always wear a helmet if I am going to be anywhere near a vehicle. Unfortunately where I am that means all the time 😞I wouldn't wear a helmet on a bike if I could avoid the cars through better infrastructure, although my local laws mandate helmets... Interestingly, I never wear a helmet on my long-board despite riding it the same places I bike.
I've never wiped out on my bike (not counting being a child) and I think that goes for most people, my only concern is not becoming a speed bump for an F-150
Interesting that you say you would not wear a helmet if you are away from cars. Do you think they are the only danger? How about falling off yourself? ... we all do it
@@gcn I'm not typically riding fast enough to be in any danger if I was to fall off. I do think with the right infrastructure wearing a helmet is largely unnecessary. If you are particularly prone to falling off your bike, or are a more fragile rider then wearing a helmet is a good idea. Most people in the Netherlands don't wear helmets and they are usually not going very fast.
It doesn't anger me if someone doesn't wear a helmet, it's their head to lose. It does anger me when they say helmets don't save lives using some false equivalency like that graph. As someone who had their front wheel get twisted sideways by hitting a rut I couldn't see, and being thrown head first over the bars into the ground where a small stone dented and cracked my helmet, I don't know where I'd be if it wasn't for the helmet.
So people aren’t allowed to use ‘false equivalency’ but you can use a single anecdote?
I'm so hyped for the MTB races to feature on GCN+. I initially came to GCN from the GMBN & EMBN side of the community and gained back the love for road racing that i lost a few years ago after traditionally watching the Tour every summer with my dad. I fell out with that side of biking after moving out and missed pretty much everything since 2011. "Luckily" last summer, i caught some random virus going around and had to be confined, just as the Tour started and found your channels around the same time.
All of that to say, i feel like it has come full circle and i'm so looking forwards to the future !
We love to hear it! It's going to be a very big year on GCN+, have you subscribed to the new GMBN Racing channel? 👉www.youtube.com/@gmbnracing. It's great to hear that you've fallen in love with road cycling again, are you stilling riding both off and on road? 🪨
Me too!
I find it interesting that always the number of deaths is brought up, like either you die or just walk away, no Inbetween :D
While we exactly know from boxing, american football and wrestling that concussions are a huge problem.
Great point David! Do you think Helmets have saved many serious head injuries?
@@gcn I don't know. But I think, the cyclist-to-cyclist collisions, or simple things, like tram rail accidents (not to mention the embarrassing no-unclip-in-time) are just overlooked.
Helmets were sold to us on the promise that they would save lives. Now it's been proved that they don't, the helmet promoters move the goal posts and pretend they never said that. And helmets don't prevent concussion.
NFL helmets cause more deaths, due to traumatic brain injury. Without helmets, people wouldn't tackle like they do.
I wear a helmet when cycling. When younger, I played baseball in the summer and ice hockey in the winter. I wore a helmet for those two activities also. If you've ever seen someone get hit in the head by a fastball, or get tripped and slide headfirst into the boards, or slam their head in the pavement after a bike crash I would think you'd understand why wearing a helmet is a good idea. It's also a good idea for insurance premiums where everyone has to absorb the cost of care for everyone else.
Involved in a crash recently in the Netherlands. Car apparently didnt see me when it crossed a double bike lane. I was going around 20, car around 5. Pushed my across 2 car lanes and ended with my head against the pavement. Got away with some neck pain and bruises. Helmet saved me from a visit to the hospital
I wear a helmet on all my rides. Not going to save me from getting hit by a vehicle but if I do happen to hit my head in the fall I think wearing one increases my chances of surviving. Started out mountain biking without a helmet and after coming off my pedals over a small rise and almost running straight into a tree, figured the helmet was a good idea.
Helmets when mountain biking are a must... maybe it's just us roadies, but we are always falling over 😂
As a Seattleite, the reason for repealing the rule was not safety. It was that the law was being enforced disproportionately on the people with the fewest resources. People who rely on their bike as their only transportation were being ticketed while people on electric rental bikes were being ignored.
get rid of a law because police enforce it badly; use that principle for all laws and you'd have no laws left..
Living in Australia, helmets have been mandatory since I was a child, though some people still choose not to wear them (and sometimes get fined). I think they're good for the individual rider (less chance of significant injury etc.) but they do make cycling seem more dangerous, so less people do it, which makes cyclists unusual on the road, making it less safe. From a personal perspective, my partner dropped her bike going round a roundabout after rain. Her helmet hit the grass and whilst she got mild bruising to her face and a sore jaw, no head injuries. My guess is that the extra bulk of the helmet meant her face didn't hit as hard as it otherwise would, reducing the facial damage.
In terms of the economic argument that helmets are an added expense and prevent people from riding, you can get a cheap helmet for A$10, and whilst it's not one that you'd use racing at speed, if it's just to be compliant whilst you ride to and from places at a more sedate pace it does what it needs.
Thanks for commenting Greg! Do you think the mandatory rule has meant less people are cycling? Great to hear that your wife is relatively unharmed, Is she now wearing a helmet 100% of the time? 👀
@@gcn Cycling numbers dropped with 25% when they made helmets mandatory in Oz. 🤔
@@gcn she's a few years younger than me, so helmets have been mandatory for all of her life (at least all that she remembers) so it's what she's always done. Besides, it's the law (unless you're on private property) so she always has. She hasn't made it back onto a bike since the accident, but when/if she does, it will be with a helmet regardless of where she is riding. She's also a nurse, and early in her professional career came along a cyclist who'd split his helmet in two in an accident, but suffered no brain injury, or even serious head injuries, so she's an advocate for them in any case.
As for reduced numbers, as @Hendman says, 25% drop when the law came in, and I believe participation numbers are lower in Australia than in similar countries without mandatory helmets. Anecdotally, I know people who won't ride to work because it messes up their hair having to wear a helmet. Like many places there was a jump in COVID, especially in Melbourne during lockdown. We were allowed 1 hour of outside exercise per day, within a 5km radius, and most cars were off the roads, making it easier and safer. There were still some bad drivers around who'd refuse to use a reasonable passing distance on multi-lane roads, but it was generally better. Some of that increased participation has continued since, but there are more cars on the road than in 2019 (people not wanting to use public transport) combined with resistance from car drivers who'd lost lanes for protected cycling infrastructure, so some of those have been removed, making it more dangerous. I think we have a cyclist die every 10 days in Australia at the moment, so the risks are definitely there. Almost all (if not all) of those fatalities are people wearing a helmet - as Si (almost) says, against a 10 ton truck, the helmet makes no difference.
I went out the door the other day while talking on the phone on a topic that took all of my limited abilities. I was twenty seconds into the ride when I noticed there was less noise than what I am use to. It was then that I realised I had forgotten my helmet. Turned around got my helmet and then I was off and riding. I felt naked without it.
I've done the same thing. Got started on the ride and something just felt off, took me a bit to work out that it was the missing helmet.
I was hit by a car in a bike lane , and my head hit the road. I had a headache & the helmet was a good quality $200 + that came with a 2 year replacement warranty if you damaged it in an accident . I have no doubt that if I wasn't wearing that helmet i would be pushing up daisies now.
Instead of the dumb helmet vs. no helmet, can someone tell me the downsides of choosing to wearing one? I don't see why people are against it? (I'm not arguing if they should be enforced - that's different). Also, the argument about good cycling infrastructure is a totally parallel discussion (that everyone will agree is a good thing).
Hair disruption
Bingo!
It depends on the helmet. Most people only grudgingly spend money on one, so they get a cheap-o from Dick's or Target, then hate it the whole time.
I have a Specialized, top of the line carbon fiber shell/kevlar skeleton helmet that provides better airflow for cooling than not wearing a helmet at all. It hardly weighs anything so I don't mind having it on. Funny thing is, people will spend tens of thousands at a university to stuff an education into their noggin, then not spend $300 on a good helmet to protect their own brain. That never made sense to me.
I'm not against wearing a helmet when the circumstances make it sensible. I'm opposed to being told that I HAVE TO wear a helmet.
It genuinely seems superflous. It's like carrying an umbrella on a dry day; I wouldn't carry one just in case someone throws water on me. Similarly I'm not cool with adopting the risk aversion duties of others.
I also don't agree with a lot of cycling infrastructure (that we have here in the UK at least). I think it's often designed to remove cyclists established rights of way to the road. I also find it discourages attention to other road users from all parties who are just trusting in the infrastructure instead of their surroundings. Studies have found drivers pay more attention to this if the visual cues about a road seem less safe. They feel less comfortable and pay more attention. Most sadly is that bike lanes give inexperienced cyclists a naive trust that they are always safe in a bike lane, when often, they would be better placed away from car doors, gutters, and cars eager to squeeze by. I'd much rather claim my primary position and then encourage overtakes when I think is safe!
In 2019 I was in pretty serious bike accident. If it wasn’t for my helmet which was cracked. I wouldn’t have made it, I was unconscious and nonresponsive for 16 minutes. The only reason why I’m still alive is because of the helmet and the paramedic that was on our ride. So YES, wear a helmet.
Wow thanks for sharing Robert! Sounds like it could have been a lot worse! Do you think it should be a legal requirement?
@@gcn legal requirement I believe gets sticky. People in general will rebel against and either not ride or ride without a helmet anyways. I believe everyone has the choice to ride with or without a helmet. I gave an experience that was personal, for context. When I ride my road bike I wear a helmet. When I ride with my kids around the neighborhood they ride with helmets. I wouldn’t mandate anyone to wear a helmet. Just my .2 cents.
Of course, we only hear from people whose 'helmet has saved my life'. The ones it does not, are not heard from. Good luck for the future!
A helmet is more aero and as the tech guys like to prove quiet often: Aero is King 😌
And yes adding safety is a nice side effect 😄
The performance point is valid! For those looking to to compete a helmet is a must !
No less than 5 people I know, residing in different parts of the US, have all but given up the idea of riding out on the streets due to the lack of cycling infrastructures in their respective areas. Their decisions had nothing to do with helmet usage. They simply didn't feel safe using the same roads as other cars and trucks. On a personal note.. I avoided serious injuries when I landed on my head after a crash some years ago. My Giro ended up with a 3 inch crack, RIP... but my head didn't. So yes, I choose to always wear a helmet anytime I get on a bike.
On Helmets:
I saw an older lady once (probably around 60) who was struggling to climb a short but steep incline. Someone teach people to use their gears.
Anyway, almost at the top she refused to give up and when almost falling over due to slowing down too much, she frantically tried to get off the saddle and with her feet on the ground. She was not quick enough, lost her balance and fell like a sack of potatoes down the incline, backwards. Almost hit her head on the curb. Probably hit her head hard on the asphalt. She was uninjured (from what I could tell) through some form of divine intervention. (There really is no other way to describe it.)
There were no cars present. She wasn't distracted or disturbed by anything whatsoever. She wasn't even going fast, her speed was 0 when she fell. She simply failed to judge her own abilities properly. A fall like that can turn you into a human vegetable, if not kill you if you're really unlucky. Now, I'm no old lady and I'm a confident cyclist, but if a 300g piece of plastic can help me turn a possibly lethal accident into a harmless one, I'll wear it. Statistics don't protect my skull from the curb.
There is also this classic. Not a cycling accident, but it demonstrates the described-above very well: ruclips.net/video/b9yL5usLFgY/видео.html
I think wearing helmets should be up to the individual. As an avid cyclist in California, I personally wear a helmet simply for both safety and also for it's visibility factor (I wear brightly colored helmets). Either way, making them mandatory won't stop tossers in cars from using their hand-held devices and ignoring cyclists altogether. 😂
that's the biggest problem with bikes sharing roads with other traffic.. if just one idiot driver isn't looking where he's going, that inattention can and has led to cyclists being struck and killed/injured.
Do you think that if they made helmets mandatory it would put people off cycling all together? 👀
@@gcn not in Australia, despite the claims of anti-helmet activists..
How in the world could you be "less" safe wearing a helmet?
It could make the size, weight, and therefore potential strike area of your head larger, making it more likely that you hit your head, it also has been shown in circumstances to make drivers take more risks around cyclists. Also when most mandatory helmet laws are brought in theres an impact on the number of people who cycle due to the added inconvenience of wearing/carrying one, which means fewer cyclist on the road which is linked to less driver awareness of cyclists, etc etc..
Don't just look at a personal level, but rather a whole society, like the population of a country:
Wearing a helmet is a little inconvenient: you have to carry it, it costs money, it is ugly, it ruins your hair, and so on... It makes bicycling less attractive. That means less people will use a bicycle, and drive by car or public transport instead. That means less corporal activity and a less healthy lifestyle, resulting in less healthy society ( = more dangerous)
And on a personal level I forgot: when you wear a helmet drivers could be less cautious around you (because they rather thing you are safe anyway with your helmet...)
You've got a strap round your neck for instance.
@@miguialvarez They drive more recklessly when they see you are wearing a helmet? Now that's a made up observation. Come to the Bay Area in California, USA. I guarantee you will see a majority of those drivers doing the same thing regardless if you were wearing a helmet or not.
I always wear a helmet when I ride. It's the "better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it" mentality. I don't have an issue with others not wearing a helmet unless it is on a ride that I had organized because I would feel an immense amount of guilt if someone joined my ride and had a bad accident resulting in injury or worse. If they wear a helmet and this happens they have a greater chance of surviving and so I require helmets on rides that I organize for this reason.
Do you apply this to when you’re in a car?
@@rob-c. no, because the chances that your head will hit the ground in an accident in a car is next to none while the chances of your head hitting the ground if you crash on a bike is much, much more.
@@rob-c. You should absolutely wear a seatbelt and have airbag turned on in a car, yes. Asking if you wear a helmet in a car is a disingenuous question, because the protective elements in a car are in fact designed to protect from head injuries in most collisions. While in a bike crash, all you got is you and your noggin - hence, the commenter you responded to, I and many others wear a helmet.
I used to not wear a helmet until a dog took me to the pavement. I landed on my head are shaved my scalp on one side. My hair never looked the same. And honest, it really hurt.
Regarding the roller warning device, I used a much simpler solution: I taped a (used) paper match a couple of inches from one end of my front roller, and two on the other end, 180 degrees from each other. This allowed me to watch TV while riding, as the matches would alert me to when I was getting too close to one side or the other. The frequency of the sound would let me know which direction I was drifting towards, so I could correct without having to look down.
Genius 💡
Most annoying is people wearing helmets, but without the straps done up (usually dads with the kids). Don't want to get spotted and fined, but don't want to be told what to do!
That’s the worst combination of both options. You still have to buy and wear a helmet, yet, it’ll be utterly useless. It’s like wearing a seatbelt and “buckle” it to the seat with clothes pegs.
I always scratch my head (through the vents in my helmet) when I see a family out on a ride where the kids have head protection and the parents don't.
And often the kids will look at you amazed and think: Wow, he has a helmet on as well and he is much older than my father.😁
It's weird in the Philippines. Lots of riders go around on their bikes with their helmets on it, but not on them. The helmet being strapped to the bike itself, usually the handlebars, but never strapped to the head of the user. I myself always go out with a helmet that has MIPs and nothing less.
Helmets are beneficial if you're prone to falling off and landing on your head. So young kids with soft head bones would be well advised to wear them. Competent adults shouldn't need them, unless they get knocked off by a "blind" pedestrian or a lump of speeding metal. In the latter case, it's more than your head at risk, so good luck with that! The medical profession seems to have a knee-jerk reaction to accidents when helmets are worn - "you'd be dead if you weren't wearing a helmet". For that to be provable you'd need to have exactly the same accident with and without headgear, and we know that can't happen. If helmets are so essential, tell me why we didn't have an epidemioc of cyclists dying back in the pre-helmet days? Not even many racing deaths back in the day from head injuries. I think car drivers want us to wear helmets because they know they can knock us off our bikes and we'll "be safe".. Helmet-wearing cyclists want us to wear helmets because they don't want us think they're wimps. And pedestrians can suffer head injuries when they trip on uneven pavements - where's the "pedestrians should wear helmets" campaign for that?
A helmet is just one tool to help riders avoid injury, and I think to argue for or against helmet use using accident statistics as if the helmet was the only difference is a little too simplistic. In occupational health and safety, four methods of control are examined to determine the best way to avoid injury, ie, a worker impacted by a hazard: 1. elimination or substitution 2. engineering controls; 3. administrative controls; 4. personal protective equipment. The first/best way (ie, eliminate all cars) is usually not feasible, so we move to the next. In this case, engineering controls such as designated bike lanes or bike-specific traffic lights at intersections. Administrative controls would be things like free bus passes to encourage people to not drive thier vehicles. Helmets are PPE, and the last/least effective control. I would argue that the countries with the lowest helmet use and lowest injury rates also have the highest number of car-free bicyle paths or are simply not as car friendly. The reason the US and Canada have much higher injury rates despite manadatory helmet laws is because they haven't dealt with the issue using the highest/most effective controls (although that is slowly changing), relying strictly on the cheapest (and consequently least effective) option.
Armorall protectant. This was originally used for your car interior and your tires. It makes plastic, vinyl, rubber, and leather look like new, and makes it easier to clean in the future. I use it on black plastic in my home. Helps to keep your car interior from drying out and cracking.
There IS an argument for wanting other people to wear a helmet. I know a driver who was in an accident with a road cyclist. The driver was not at fault but the cyclist died. But the outcome was that if the cyclist was wearing a helmet there was a 90% chance he would have survived and recovered.
Unfortunately as the cyclist did not wear a helmet he passed away, and my friend has borderline PTSD and feels like a murderer even though it was not his fault. He wishes to this day that the cyclist was wearing a helmet....then just maybe....he could sleep properly at night again.
I don’t know if the helmet saved my life, but judging from the scratches it got, I am happy they are on the helmet and not my head
Trying to make sure all roads and conditions are sufficiently safe in order NOT wear a helment is nearly impossible. Approaching a solution that way is like wanting to stop rain rather than wearing a raincoat! I don't like raincoats, but.. what can you do?
I went OTB at a young age in the 80s (of course, with no helmet). My left arm ended up with a bad cut and road rash, which alone was bad, but my bike decided to catch up with me, whack me in the head, and cause a concussion.
I am sure a helmet would have helped in that situation.
6:10 Yes, a helmet on top of your head can save your face! My case scenerio is a driver forcing the right of way. Final result - me hitting my forehead (helmet) the A-pillar of the car, blackout, "jumping out of my road shoes", (whatever happened next), hitting my head against the ground. Half year later learning to walk again...
So yes, a helmet can keep you look pretty...
US cyclist here. I can attest that helmets have saved my noggin several times. I used to keep the ruined helmets as keepsakes. To be fair, only two have been from road riding, but my last crash resulted in me going over my bars and slamming the back of head at 18.1 mph(cause I was looking at the Garmin and didn’t see the mound of yard debris until too late). My fault entirely, and I was quite glad the helmet took the brunt of it as I recovered from the resulting concussion.
The helmet requirement isn’t so much about saving you against a speeding three ton vehicle, but mitigating the damage for events whose severity don’t rise to such an extreme example. Nobody in their right mind is saying that piece of plastic and foam will save you from doing a header with a car, so let’s not only use that to characterize helmet requirements.
I always go with the Dumoulin story. He rides around in shorts and w/o helmet, but he trains in full kit. That´s a big difference, it all depends on how and what you drive it for. I never go on the road bike W/O helmet, but on the urban bike, I do all my errands without helmet.
Last year the helmet save me from a sure concussion. I was on a quite nice road smashing a descent when my front wheel washed off because of some dirt in the road on a corner. I always wear helmet and gloves, this is non negotiable. BTW I replaced the helmet, of course.
All true, apart from the fact that helmets don't prevent concussion.
Chime in on this one. From the Mid-West rural US and I wear a helmet. I have had 3 significant accidents over the last 4 years, ALL "self inflicted" as I was either not respecting the road conditions (on 2 of them) or not aware if the danger inherent in the condition at the time - in other words, I just wasn't paying attention. NONE involved a motorist. In only one of the three did the helmet serve in any capacity to protect or reduce the severity of my injuries, though I was momentarily unable to make my limbs obey the commands the brain was sending I do not believe I ever lost consciousness, and other than some road rash, had no other significant injuries. The helmet was cracked in 4 pieces as a result of the impact on the road, so IT WORKED. The most serious accident occurred last summer when I was hurled over the handle bars at about 25kph, and the first thing that made contact with the tarmac was the left side of my face resulting in 3 factures requiring a bit of reconstructive surgery. The helmet didn't have a scratch on it, and was useless in this specific circumstance. So no, they are not the be-all and end-all for rider protection - but as the saying goes, better safe than sorry. But as they also say - The choice is yours!
Facial fractures. A few years ago, I hit a large hidden stone while cycling to work. My bike stopped and I went full superman. My helmet did its job and I came away mostly unscathed. One of my memories of this brief traumatic event was looking down at the pavement as I slid on the ground. The edge of my helmet held my face up and kept it from grinding on the asphalt. It may be anecdotal but my experience supports the statistic that helmets can prevent facial injuries. Thanks for bringing that memory back. :)
Also... I always wear a helmet thanks in small part to this experience.
Having broken several helmets in crashes, I always wear one. These crashes did not involve motorists. Just my own fault. Modern helmets are so light and inexpensive, I do wonder why? when I see someone riding without one. Urban US mid-western rider.
My worst accident (head wise) was in my own freaking driveway at nearly zero mph... hit a rock/stick, the front wheel went hard over, and I went head first into the pavement without a helmet. Probably got a slight concussion and nearly got knocked out. Scary AF. 😨 I always wear a helmet now. Helmet is cheap, even if only needed once.
My daughter (8) came off her bike the other day. Cycling infrastructure had nothing to do with it and no cars or other people were involved. She just crashed, fortunately at low speed. She took the brunt of the fall on her helmet and then rammed her face into the pavement. I watched the whole thing from a few meters away. There was a lot of blood because she bit her lip and some nasty grazes. But there was no concussion and her forehead was untouched. Having seen the crash and the result of the secondary face impact, I personally am convinced that helmets are worthwhile. The staff who inspected her at the clinic certainly agreed.
It's not just about death but also injury. And it's not only about cycling infrastructure, as important as that is. People fall off their bikes all the time without being hit by an SUV because there's no bike lane. Sometimes people just crash - they are inexperienced, learning to ride, or they momentarily lose concentration, or they hit an acorn, or any of plenty of reasons you can lose control of your bike even on the best bike path far from any car.
Everyone would do well to remember that especially if they have kids. I'm very glad my kid had hers on this week when she crashed. With careful treatment, her face has already healed - i doubt we'd so quickly be clear of the effects of severe concussion had she not been wearing it.
My first half-decent crash involved the front wheel going sideways on gravel and me watching the road skim by millimetres from the tip of my nose while the rim of my helmet was abraded. When I came to a halt I had a light scratch on my chin and severe road rash all down one side. So they do help protect faces.
I reckon that 90% of helmet rage comes from the implicit suggestion that non-wearers should feel guilty: basically, they're made to be defensive and they defend by attacking. Everyone should just shut up about it - life's too short (and maybe shorter if you're not wearing a... damn, what's the word again?)
I always wear a helmet, after watching a pro bmxer (scotty cramner) on RUclips for years he won x games medals and was at the top of his game , and whilst out in Las Vegas he was messing around with his friends, jumped over a small wall on his bike straight into a pot hole and caved the front of his skull in , he wasn't wearing a helmet at the time , and the images of his head have always stuck with me , and the fact if it can happen to a pro , means it can happen to anyone
A HELMET will NOT SAVE your life when an animal is in charge of a motor vehicle and it seems that UK has a high amount of animals in possession of driving licenses !!! I am a GERMAN ARAB chauffeur and cyclist living in London , so I should know !!! Sadiq and all his cronies at TfL should be doing a mandatory SIX months on a bicycle in London and another SIX months driving an Uber car and only then will they be able to understand !!! It should be a requisite for them to be "mayor" and/or employed by TfL !!!! That is just logical thinking of course which british establishment don't do !!!!
I’m in Nova Scotia. Helmets became mandatory a loooooong time ago. Police cracked down and handed out numerous tickets one month, then they promptly sent a notice to those ticketed stating the fine would be forgiven if they attended a seminar. The seminar was done with neurologists and surgeons about head injuries.
We only get one brain.
Earlier in my career I worked as a trauma surgeon and for motor vehicle accidents, head injury was one of the top two causes of death if not the highest (supported by several studies). Theoretically then, helmets should prevent a decent number of deaths from cycling. The studies showing helmets do not reduce deaths are almost certainly not accounting for the other confounding variables (i.e., in car vs bike the discrepancy in mass is so large head injury is rarely the only injury, and multi-trauma is the rule rather than the exception- this would confound the helmet controversy). The idea that biking infrastructure reduces death rate is almost certainly true as well. Lower overall speed limits would reduce the death rate (I'm not sure how fast they drive in the Netherlands but here in the US everyone drives live they're F1 racers). Congestion would increase the death rate (the US has a very high number of vehicles per capita), etc. The truth lies between the two camps- with infrastructure playing a large role and helmets almost certainly saving lives. That said, I don't care at all if someone else is wearing a helmet or not, just as I don't care if someone smokes or eats too much.
I ride and race footbikes ( a sport that GCN should look at ). I was out training one evening and was stopped by a couple to question me about my unusual bike. Towards the end the conversation they then began to lecture me about my risky behaviour as I wasn't wearing a helmet, this was done whilst they were both taking a draw on their cigarettes!
Hysterical and it demonstrates the overwhelming propaganda campaign that's been waged against cycling. Pedestrians have the same risk of death for distance travelled as cyclists, but no-one demands walking helmets, or verbally attacks them for not wearing a helmet. Regular cyclists live two years longer than average and suffer less from all forms of illness, so it's actually more dangerous not to ride a bike than to ride one, but the media never mentions these facts, only seeking to portray cycling as incredibly dangerous.
Rural areas , where you're wider than the shoulder . Hugging the white line or finding roads where there are no cars. A helmet is the least of my problems 😂
I do not advocate for the use of bike helmets. It's a personal choice. Having said this, I will always wear one when riding my road bike. When I ride my city bike to do errands and shopping I will eschew the helmet. But if I ride on a hot day I will don the helmet as it is cools my head when riding.
Helmet is a must full stop! Regardless of the infrastructure. But more exciting news MTB races will be aired in GCN+. Finally!!!! Looking forward to it!!!
Here's the thing about helmets: they are not designed to save you from being hit by a motorist. What they are for is for protecting your head from the ground.
Here's the physics. In the event that your head hits the ground after falling from the height your head would normally be above the ground whilst sitting astride a bicycle or motorcycle, the vertical speed ends up being around 13 miles per hour, which is enough to kill you. A helmet is good for that. If, however, an automobile impacts your head at 30 mph, no helmet is going to matter. Anecdotal evidence about individual crashes is not pertinent to aggregate statistical data. People who do not understand the science should refrain from commenting and defer to those of us who have bothered to make a study of it.
If people really believe that helmets are important to wear, then they should wear helmets whilst walking. A pedestrian's head is high enough from the ground to cause lethal damage if one's head hits the ground from standing height.
This is exactly the same argument that has raged for far longer over motorcycle helmets, and the data from motorcycle helmet testing is directly applicable to the same arguments being made for bicycle helmets.
Usually when a car hits you... you'll end up hitting the ground.
The helmet isn't for the car impact, no amount of wearable impact protection will save you from that. it's for what happens AFTER THE CAR hits you.
See, most of the time when you get hit by a car? Your head isn't hitting the car, it's yousually your pelvis, legs or abdomen taking the brunt of that hit, then you get thrown over or across the the hood, off the bike, and hit the pavement - and THATS where you hit your head.
Can definitely jump on the pro helmet bandwagon - after a fall in a bunch ride, my helmet saved the direct impact of hitting my head on the pavement. Helmet was broken - but head intact. And when talking with the ambulance paramedic afterwards, they recommended a MIPS helmet after seeing my beat up helmet due to holding up better in a crash - who would have thought they would see falls regularly enough to provide helmet recommendations. Safe to say - my new helmet is now MIPS.
MIPS is a great leap in Helmet tech 🙌 Do you think it will become the norm? Great to hear the Paramedics are tuned into this sort of thing... perhaps they were cyclists? 👀
6:35 obviously, because people don't enjoy something as much when they've got a nanny state breathing down their neck about it. Idc if helmets work or not, for what it's worth I usually wear one, but all safety devices except breaks in every aspect of life should be fully optional and nobody should ever be looked down upon because they choose not to do this whole safety thing
As an American in the United States, I can tell you that many of our cities have very poor infrastructure for cycling. I am glad that you mentioned that arguments on Twitter amount to nothing. I feel like those divisive arguments about all kinds of topics are greatly damaging our country. I don’t judge people either way weather they wear a helmet or not, get a vaccine or not, who they vote for are what they look like. I think all of us would appreciate that attitude toward ourselves. It is interesting that you pointed out that infrastructure is far more important than wearing a helmet.
As a senior cycling in a city with poor cycling infrastructure I wear a helmet just to get on my bike. With about 5 crashes, (my own fault) over the last ten years, I've had no head injuries and only minor face plants. Lasting injuries are in my shoulders which are now slower to heal. There are many here who cycle without a helmet and you can't be angry about it. It's their choice even though it's the law in Canada that you must ride a bike with a helmet. I envy the cycling infrastructure in North Europe, especially in The Netherlands and I think their low injury while helmetless numbers are a result of tremendous forward thinking local and national governments toward cyclist's safety and the education of cyclists and drivers alike. I took my driving lessons and tests in Canada and if the rest of North America is similar in philosophy and methods, we have a long way to go in the education of traffic safety concerning cars and bicycles. We're not even comfortable with cars and motorcycles yet.
I had a co worker in Seattle (a fairly bike friendly city by US standards) get hit in traffic. It wasn’t the car hitting him, but his head hitting the pavement that put him in the ICU. His helmet, broken in two pieces, saved his life. Helmets are no inconvenience for the level of safety they provide.
In Australia, where helmet use is mandatory, it's really easy for police to identify the bogan/chav element that ride (usually) stolen bikes because they never wear helmets, whereas law abiding cyclists always wear them.
Helmets, ofcourse, works if comes to securing head. But, as everyday commuter, I must agree with studies, that point, that people are more careles and drive unsafe way when wearing helmet. All best to my two favourite presenters: Simon and best version of Hugh Jackman that GCN could affort ;)
Living off my bike for over 3 years now, you just described me. As I put on safety gear I take on significantly more risk.