Helmets...Wear Them!!!

DDBB said:
Some people end up breaking their necks because they were wearing a helmet ( or so the choice crowd says) so no-one should ever wear one because this happened one or two times? Support choice? If you choose not to wear a helmet, you should also choose a very good insurance policy so taxpayers don't end up footing the bill for your years on life support as a vegetable. I also feel sorry for the EMT's that have to deal with the brain matter scattered all over the pavement from people who crash on two wheels w/o wearing any head protection.
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By that logic drivers shouldn't have to pay taxes to cover any of your bike injuries because biking is more dangerous per mile traveled than driving. Where does it end?
People are terrible at interpreting actual risk, and the reality is we all insure each other against what we may think are unreasonably risky choices.
 
Those pesky facts, "A Harborview Medical Center study discovered that the percentage of motorcyclists who relied on public funding for medical treatment (63.4%) was actually lower than that of the general population (67%). Similarly, the University of North Carolina’s Highway Safety Research Center found that 49.5% of injured motorcyclists had insurance to cover their medical costs, were nearly identical compared with 50.4% of other road trauma victims."
 
Thomas Jaszewski said:
Those pesky facts, "A Harborview Medical Center study discovered that the percentage of motorcyclists who relied on public funding for medical treatment (63.4%) was actually lower than that of the general population (67%). Similarly, the University of North Carolina’s Highway Safety Research Center found that 49.5% of injured motorcyclists had insurance to cover their medical costs, were nearly identical compared with 50.4% of other road trauma victims."
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Well if you're just gonna keep bringing up facts dammit... then I'm not gonna keep arguin'!
 
BBassett said:
Well if you're just gonna keep bringing up facts dammit... then I'm not gonna keep arguin'!
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I'm always amazed by these threads. There is no win. Not unlike politics. Someone inevitably reduces it to name-calling, social shaming, or outright angry posts. Wouldn't we be better served by a thread reviewing which helmets provide the best protection? BUT my experience on MC forums reveals the argument then becomes the full face, modular, 1/2, or 3/4 coverage and which is the better argument. Lets put our helmets on, or not, and go for a damn ride.
 
Thomas Jaszewski said:
I'm always amazed by these threads. There is no win. Not unlike politics. Someone inevitably reduces it to name-calling, social shaming, or outright angry posts. Wouldn't we be better served by a thread reviewing which helmets provide the best protection? BUT my experience on MC forums reveals the argument then becomes the full face, modular, 1/2, or 3/4 coverage and which is the better argument. Lets put our helmets on, or not, and go for a damn ride.
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I CAN'T GDI! MY BIKES STILL DOWN!!!!!!
 
Thomas Jaszewski said:
I'm always amazed by these threads. There is no win. Not unlike politics. Someone inevitably reduces it to name-calling, social shaming, or outright angry posts. Wouldn't we be better served by a thread reviewing which helmets provide the best protection? BUT my experience on MC forums reveals the argument then becomes the full face, modular, 1/2, or 3/4 coverage and which is the better argument. Lets put our helmets on, or not, and go for a damn ride.
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Everyone knows 3/4 is better, nothing to argue about.
 
BBassett said:
When I got my present bike I was 5'10" 308 lbs. After a few years and over 10K miles I have had to ride the couch 3 or 4 times for up to weeks at a time due to injuries. Palms of both hands, massive impact bruise to my left chest (couldn't cough or sneeze for almost 2 months without my eyes leaking), my right knee seems to take an unusual pounding for some reason, and oddly... it also stands a 44% greater chance of sustaining an injury while riding if it's already wounded and still in the ever slowing process of healing. My current recovery project is my right shoulder and it's going slow. But if I stayed off non-paved surfaces I would cut my riding in half. I do everything I can do to stay away from traffic. I wouldn't abandon riding where ever you want just ride something better able to handle uneven surfaces, especially if you aren't riding 50 or more miles a day. Try riding a bike with larger and larger tires until you almost feel invincible and stop there. If you want to ride in sand and snow look at 4" fat bikes with a large enough frame to hang a 30 Ah triangle lithium pack then mount a BBSHD. If you want to make it even better use a Rohloff Speed-hub. One of the best aspects of riding an ebike for me is that I can crawl along very slowly and very much in control even with heavy loads. If it's the height of the bike rather than the speed you can always move to a three-wheel recumbent. Using a strong mid-drive will take them places I can't ride my bike fully loaded. Now three years later I'm 5' 9 1/2" (age or impact... not sure why) and 182 lbs. Not so much the bike as just eating properly for the 1st time in 45 years but riding daily has undoubtedly helped... even if it does hurt at times.
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Congrats! Ride to Live... Live to Ride ;)
 
BBassett said:
When I got my present bike I was 5'10" 308 lbs. After a few years and over 10K miles I have had to ride the couch 3 or 4 times for up to weeks at a time due to injuries. Palms of both hands, massive impact bruise to my left chest (couldn't cough or sneeze for almost 2 months without my eyes leaking), my right knee seems to take an unusual pounding for some reason, and oddly... it also stands a 44% greater chance of sustaining an injury while riding if it's already wounded and still in the ever slowing process of healing. My current recovery project is my right shoulder and it's going slow. But if I stayed off non-paved surfaces I would cut my riding in half. I do everything I can do to stay away from traffic. I wouldn't abandon riding where ever you want just ride something better able to handle uneven surfaces, especially if you aren't riding 50 or more miles a day. Try riding a bike with larger and larger tires until you almost feel invincible and stop there. If you want to ride in sand and snow look at 4" fat bikes with a large enough frame to hang a 30 Ah triangle lithium pack then mount a BBSHD. If you want to make it even better use a Rohloff Speed-hub. One of the best aspects of riding an ebike for me is that I can crawl along very slowly and very much in control even with heavy loads. If it's the height of the bike rather than the speed you can always move to a three-wheel recumbent. Using a strong mid-drive will take them places I can't ride my bike fully loaded. Now three years later I'm 5' 9 1/2" (age or impact... not sure why) and 182 lbs. Not so much the bike as just eating properly for the 1st time in 45 years but riding daily has undoubtedly helped... even if it does hurt at times.
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I appreciate the encouragement. Congrats on the weight loss, that and the exercise is great for your health. Be careful and enjoy yourself.
~Lee
 
In the article on biking in the Netherlands...interesting things about helmet-less biking among other things

www.newyorker.com

How I Learned to Cycle Like a Dutchman

In the bike-friendly Netherlands, cyclists speed down the road without fearing cars. For an American, the prospect is thrilling—and terrifying.
www.newyorker.com www.newyorker.com
 
If you ride a bike (motor or no motor) you will eventually dump it. If you can't accept that fact I suggest that you don't ride. When you high-side off your bike it's highly probable that your noggin will make contact with something. If you think you can prevent that, while flying thru the air, I suggest that you don't ride.
 
I don't think people lecturing and preaching to other forum members will encourage anyone who isn't wearing a helmet to wear one. I wear one because it saved my skull many times when I used to compete in mountain biking, not because know-it-all forum members tell me to.

I also always wore a helmet riding motorcycles not because of the law or people telling me to but because a saw what my helmet looked like after I would inevitably crash while I was racing. This thread is three pages of forum members telling other forum members what to wear while riding an ebike, get over it.
 
The tone seems to be that wearing a helmet is somehow infringing on personal rights. I wouldn't tell anyone what to do but I do suggest a good medical insurance policy if you ride w/o a helmet, one that covers long term care
 
DDBB said:
The tone seems to be that wearing a helmet is somehow infringing on personal rights.

I wouldn't tell anyone what to do but I do suggest a good medical insurance policy if you ride w/o a helmet, one that covers long term care
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I agree, however, those that choose to ride without a helmet and suffer a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) will increase medical insurance costs for everyone.

The truth will set you free. ;)
 
A musical friend of a friend just died from head injuries on his Harley last week.
When I rode motorcycles I wore helmets. Full face always.
I wear helmets on my acoustic and ebike.
If it keeps me 2% safer or better it's worth it for me.
What anybody else does is their business.
I wish my musical friend of a friend was wearing a helmet.
 
Mitigate risks. Funny, but every “wear a helmet” high-grounder wants me to believe they are in a position to manage my ability to safely pursue my daily living skills.

helmet threads suck. highgrounders want to be “Father Confessor.”
 
How do you manage your ability to safely pursue anything when you are in the air falling off your bike? Your daily living skills will be dramatically compromised with traumatic brain injury. No "high ground" here, just common sense
 
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