Safety precautions while riding a bike

[hubbardalicia]

Hey guys,
I wanted to share something out of an experience that I had last month. Are you guys concerned about your safety while traveling on a bike? I always asked my brother to wear a helmet while going out for rides. He used to ignore me and told me that he won't be able to see things properly, and that girls won't notice him if he wore a helmet. Last day, he met with an accident. Luckily, his life was saved. But, his face is totally bruised. He broke his front teeth and had to undergo an emergency dental treatment from Toronto. If he wore a helmet, then this would have never happened.
So boys, please be safe and consider your health first. Make sure that you wear a helmet before riding a bike.

 

[Peter Polling]

In Holland there is a discussion about helmets. Most people don't wear them. I only wear a helmet on my S-EBIKE, over 35 kpu. On my normal bike I don't.

 

[Over50]

...boys, please be safe and consider your health first. Make sure that you wear a helmet before riding a bike.

I guess I'm of the age I don't much care how dorky I look (wearing a helmet, lights, reflective gear...). And at least in my area there just a few too many folks that don't much care for bicyclists that ride on the streets (as I found out in my first commute to work last week). I use the helmet even if I'm just going a mile down the road to the grocery store.

 

[Hugh]

I agree with Over 50. I always wear my helmet, in fact i just recently replaced my old one with a new version using the MIPS system. And often use a reflective vest. As for lights front and back well I dont leave home without the red rear light set to flash, day or night. Bicycling is great and safety is paramount.

 

[Al P]

I always wear a helmet, and I am sorry that your brother had to got through that trauma, and I hope he heals up quickly. Mmost bike helmets do not protect your face. Some motorcycle helmets do, but most of us wouldn't wear one. I think he would have lost those teeth with or without a helmet.

 

[supramax]

I wear a seat belt in a car. I wear a helmet when I ride my bike. I've heard people say that helmets make you look stupid. For me, people that don't wear helmets, look stupid, like people smoking cigarettes.

 

[Peter Polling]

I dont agree. I dont wear a helmet, and that has nothing to do with looking stupid (or not). In Holland averyone is aware of bikes on the roads or on bike-paths, we all ride bikes here. Helmets protect, specially y high speeds. Holland is flat, on a normal bike my speed is around 20-22 kmph. I fell a few timens, injured my shouder and my hand, never my head.
But this forum is a E-bike-forum, and I do wear my helmet on the E-bike.

 

[McApple]

I have worn a helmet for over 40 years, back in the 70's I had a red plastic flag attached to the rear rack that stuck out about 12" to the left; it was great for increasing my personal space. Now I use a flashing led, I have one and so does DW, they are great, but I almost find them too bright if I am following DW, if we are forced to ride single-file for any length of time, the lead rider switches off their light. I carry spare batteries in my bike bag.

 

[supramax]

I dont agree. I dont wear a helmet, and that has nothing to do with looking stupid (or not). In Holland averyone is aware of bikes on the roads or on bike-paths, we all ride bikes here. Helmets protect, specially y high speeds. Holland is flat, on a normal bike my speed is around 20-22 kmph. I fell a few timens, injured my shouder and my hand, never my head.
But this forum is a E-bike-forum, and I do wear my helmet on the E-bike.

Excuse me for not excluding Holland! Apparently, the stat is that a typical Dutch cyclist can expect a "head/brain injury" once every 90 lifetimes.

 

[supramax]

I have worn a helmet for over 40 years, back in the 70's I had a red plastic flag attached to the rear rack that stuck out about 12" to the left; it was great for increasing my personal space. Now I use a flashing led, I have one and so does DW, they are great, but I almost find them too bright if I am following DW, if we are forced to ride single-file for any length of time, the lead rider switches off their light. I carry spare batteries in my bike bag.

I started wearing a helmet in the 70's, too. I use a superflash on the back of my bike, a wheel magnet powered flash at the back axle and a flash on the back of my helmet. See pic:

 

[Embra]

I used to wear a helmet about 25% of the time I would go riding. One day I wasn't paying quite as much attention to where I was going as I should have, and my front wheel slipped off the edge of a paved road with no shoulder. I reflexively turned back to the road, but the 2-inch dropoff caused the bike to slam me (and in particular, my head) into the pavement. Luckily this was a time when I had my helmet on. So instead of a debilitating head injury, I only sustained a minor scrape that allowed me to hop back on my bike and resume my ride. There's nothing like a close call to give one religion.

Cementing that impression was being introduced to my friend's father-in-law. The gentleman had been a nuclear engineer, but a brain injury from a bike accident (no helmet) left him a shell of his former self requiring near-constant supervision. In a sense, he portrayed my path not taken if I had been unlucky enough to not have my helmet on the day I fell.

I'd never tell anyone else what they should do. But my personal decision was that there are some risks worth taking, and other risks where the gains aren't worth the possible losses.

 

[Lost]

My brother commutes on his bike, fell and hit his head on a curb stone. Split the helmet outer layer in two. Walked away from it.

 

[Deleted member 803]

ATGATT........if you do not know what the acronym stands for you should. Reminds of a beautiful young blonde, named Brittany Morrow who went for a ride with her boyfriend on the back of his bike. He low sided going down a steep hill. The girl is perfectly fine except for one side of her that has no skin and no breast....................ATGATT no matter where you ride

 

[tomjasz]

ATGATT with bicycling is pretty impractical. In order to have rear protection for the areas most easily and often damaged in a crash involving a head require full face. I've never found one large enough and not designed for kids. Same goes for riding jackets. Running my vespa at 55MPH with a vented armored jacket was much more comfortable than on a 18MPH bike. It would be unbearable. Rumored trousers too> I mean All The Gear All The Time makes sense on PTW's but bikes? Sorry I can't be any further away from agreeing.

 

[tomjasz]

I dont agree. I dont wear a helmet, and that has nothing to do with looking stupid (or not). In Holland averyone is aware of bikes on the roads or on bike-paths, we all ride bikes here. Helmets protect, specially y high speeds. Holland is flat, on a normal bike my speed is around 20-22 kmph. I fell a few timens, injured my shouder and my hand, never my head.
But this forum is a E-bike-forum, and I do wear my helmet on the E-bike.

Much of mitigating risk has to do with awareness of surroundings. Some data indicates helmet wearers tend to take more risks. I wear them to encourage the neighbor kids and support their parents. There is NO bicycle awareness in much of the USA. We're DECADES, multiple decades behind the Dutch.

 

[tomjasz]

Count the percentage of zones not protected. Also consider SHARP the UK testing for PTW helmets and how many helmets in that world are complete failures. There is no system of review for bike helmets. ZERO. Again. I wear them religiously in winter on ice and snow and around the neighborhood to encourage kids and support parents. Otherwise I find it mostly futile, except in heavy cage traffic. Bike paths? Nah! Risks can be mitigated by being aware and calculating risks. But here's another thought. This subject is so volatile that almost every scooter or motorcycle forum, PTW's, BANS the discussion of helmets. It seems we can't agree and actually often become hostile and demeaning over the subject.

 

[Deleted member 803]

Much of mitigating risk has to do with awareness of surroundings. Some data indicates helmet wearers tend to take more risks. I wear them to encourage the neighbor kids and support their parents. There is NO bicycle awareness in much of the USA. We're DECADES, multiple decades behind the Dutch.

Protective gear saves injury and in some instances lives. Sometimes we get someone who wants to take a test ride on one of our demo bikes and refuses to put on a helmet. We graciously decline to put them on a bike.

 

[Lost]

Hey man! Job security! (I'm an ambulance pilot)

 

[mrgold35]

I always wear a bike helmet and eye protection just like I always wear my seatbelt in a car. That is why they are called "accidents" because they are mostly unpredictable unplanned events. Have you ever heard a person say; "I'm planning to have an unavoidable accident on my bike on Tuesday at 3:14pm, traveling westbound at 12 mph at the corner of 5th and Main. So I need to wear my helmet heading home.". They wouldn't be accidents if we could control the events, they would be called "on purpose".

I ended up taking a spill on a little muddy single track trail on a tight turn. It happened so fast I didn't have time to do anything other than flip over the bike and bounce off the ground. I ended up breaking two of the upper bolts that secure my handlebars to the stem. My head did make contact with the ground and most likely the helmet saved me from a concussion +4 miles from home. I just had to ride the +4 miles home with a floppy handlebar and covered in mud instead.

My philosophy is it doesn't matter if it is an "accident", "on-purpose", "bad luck, or just "right place, wrong time"; the bike rider is 99% of the time the only one that is getting hurt. I just want to put the odds in my favor to tell my family about it and have a good laugh at my expense.

 

[tomjasz]

Protective gear saves injury and in some instances lives. Sometimes we get someone who wants to take a test ride on one of our demo bikes and refuses to put on a helmet. We graciously decline to put them on a bike.

That's a very different situation. Any dealer that wouldn't insist would be taking a ridiculous risk, but it's certainly no ATGATT! I am suggesting if the motorcycle helmet data for protection zones and zones were the most damage is likley that bike helmet only provide 50% protection. I'd wear a full face all the cold months when cages least expect a bicycle to be out. And conditions truly elevate the risk.

An old friend, and safety officer, wrote,
"Gear will protect you within the gear's design limitations. Just keep in mind that it cannot protect you against forces for which it wasn't designed, or from forces which exceed its design limits. As long as you limit your mishaps to ones which limit the forces involved to the design limits of your gear, you will be in tall cotton. If you figure out how to do that, let me know."

"Full Gear is a great "Survivability" practice, but it contributes nothing to "Safety", as it does not prevent mishaps. Further, an armored jacket provides little or no protection to internal organs from rapid deceleration g forces, so don't forget gear limitations. Yes, it is worth wearing, but from a "Survivability" standpoint only. The question we must always ask ourselves is whether our own actions make the need for Full Gear more necessary or not. If the answer is "yes" then we are a safety hazard, not only to ourselves, but to anyone else we involve in our own mishaps.