Biking Without A Helmet

  Bikers Carrying Luggage Ahead 
  Originally uploaded by oybay.

Is fucking crazy

I did my regular ride up and back down the west side bike path today.

I saw a bunch of people riding without helmets. So I started counting.

Almost 50% of the bikers I saw today were not wearing helmets.

And that is in the wake of a death earlier this summer on the exact stretch that I saw so many people riding without helmets. That 56 year old cyclist wasn't wearing a helmet either.

Biking is dangerous.

Urban biking is more dangerous.

Urban biking without a helmet is suicidal.

Comments

[Rick]

I'll add that rollerblading (aka inline skating) should also be done with a helmet.

Too many folks go without helmets while blading. Same height off the ground as cycling, and similar speeds.

[Lau T.]

Here in Denmark, there have been quite a lot of accidents where bicyclists are hit by trucks that turn right. The trucks don't see the bikers.

Of course the truck drivers should be responsible and see where they are going. But bikers can also avoid accidents like that, by being alert and not assuming that truck and car drivers have seen you and are going to yield. There is no point in holding on to following the rules, when you are dead.

The way to aviod those kind of accidents is by assuming that everyone drives like an idiot. Don't rely on the rules. Reality overrides the rules.

I ride my bike alot. Sometimes 30km a day or more. I don't wear a helmet. But in Copenhagen, there are dedicated bike lanes and lots of bikes. Some places even trafficlights for bikes only. So everyone is used to the bikes.

I try to avoid needing a helemet in the first place by not falling. I got hit by a car once because he didn't see me. I should not have assumed that he saw me. It wasn't bad, I got knocked off the bike and I didn't hit my head. I hit my leg, but it wasn't too bad - no bleeding or anything.

In some US cities riding a bike might be crazy, helmet or not. But not here.

If I rode a motorcycle I would not only wear a helmet, but protection for my back, legs, hands, wrists, feet etc. A helmet won't stop you from getting your spine ripped and getting paralyzed.

[Allyson]

Great post - my brother uses the West Side Bike Path all the time and I have been on his case to get a helmet and wear it - thanks for giving me additional ammo, I just emailed him the link.

[Bob Boydston]

My cousin just last week ended up in ER after a biking accident. He was not wearing a helmet. He hit a curb and while tumbling down he hit his head on the curb. He's ok but I do believe the injuries would have been a LOT less had he been wearing a helmet.

[Brian]

You say, "Urban biking without a helmet is suicidal."

What about urban biking WITH a helmet but ignoring EVERY STOP SIGN and EVERY RED LIGHT, just riding through them deliberately, brazenly, utterly disregarding the law?

What about when almost, not all, but almost every bicyclist on the road does this? What then?

This is the situation in San Diego at least. It's incredible. The most amazing incidents are the ones where a parent, with helmet of course, is riding a bicycle with a child trailer attached (with an infant inside), and this parent approaches intersections and sails right on through, directly in front of oncoming traffic that has a green light or has right of way at the stop sign.

No law enforcement anywhere. Nobody cares. If you complain, bicyclists flip you the finger, yell at you like they're animals, and continue sailing down the road, looking for more opportunities to flagrantly break the law.

Fred, and any other bicyclists reading this, I am curious. When you ride a bike, on a city street, and you come to an intersection with a red light or a stop sign, do you come to a full stop? If not, and be honest, why not?

[Dave]

Not to disagree or anything but a helmet only lessens the risk of trauma. It can't eliminate it, anymore than a seatbelt eliminates the risks inherent in driving.

Having a false sense of security about using bike helmets is like a drunk saying "well, I'll buckle up, so it'll be all right if I drive."

Nothing is more dangerous than a false sense of security.

[g]

I'd add biking with headphones to the list. Not quite as suicidal as riding sans helmet, but foolish nevertheless.

[nono]

I think urban biking is suicidal!!!

I have been hit in the bike lane before... once by someone that could not see out of their front windshield.

I ride without a helmet, but only in areas where there are no cars and very few people. I only wear a helmet when I hit the mountains.

[Peter Windridge]

Biking with headphones: do you consider driving a car with the windows shut and your radio on to be suicidal?

Not all cyclists jump red lights and disregard other traffic laws. In fact most of my cycling friends are keen to stick rigidly to traffic laws to create a good impression.

In the UK, I believe the proportion of motorists routinely speeding is higher than the proportion of cyclists who jump red lights.

FYI: I always wear a helmet when riding on mountains but on the road I have only ever been hit by other vehicles /while I have been riding sensibly and within the law/. In all of those "accidents" (not my choice of word) a helmet would have been useless.

[wa]

I really want to comment on this...really badly...because I agree with a lot of what you write…but I have chosen to take residence recently (and only intermittently) in a state (Florida) that has no helmet laws for motorcycles.

What right would I have to doubt the majority vote or a governor’s swift pen and comment on the insanity of not wearing a helmet on a bicycle? There once was a helmet law here. However, it in 2000 it was repealed and signed off on by the governor.

Sometimes I take residence in the great state of California, which does have bicycle helmet laws. As a matter of course we...oops I am not living there this quarter...Californians basically gave the world Mountain Biking, a sport which in order to get to those mountains in many parts of the Golden State lends to a mandatory urban ride.
I do recall using helmets pedaling those apparently cozy and safe neighborhood streets on the way to treacherously difficult rides (but still some of the most stunning and scenic in the country) up and down Mount Tamalpais or the Santa Monica Mountains where a wrong move could throw you hundreds of feet off a cliff from a road or trail.

You see on the left coast you never want to forget certain things. Things, which I am sure, are not so different in right coast urban settings either. One that stands out clearly is how many Sunday morning Starbuck fans actually get in the SUV and drive to their first cup of coffee; kids, pets and pods assaulting the senses...all before that first cup of coffee. The second might be the lunatics that are commuting to work and are busier doing anything other than paying attention to what is directly in front of them. Maybe that is why insurance rates are so high in Manhattan. Maybe that is why helmets are law on the left coast…I don’t know…

Therefore, who am I to agree, when the state I am in now deems it unnecessary to wear helmets on motorcycles (even though motorcycle deaths increased 81% in the two years following its passage vs. the two years prior) that not wearing it on a bicycle is f-cking insane?

Thank you for the opportunity to ramble and I remain

Helmeted in Dixie.

p.s.:
Actually, my wife has just informed me there are helmet laws in Florida, but only for kids up to the age of 18. I guess if it is okay to send them to foreign places where they wear helmets because they are being shot at by the time they are 18, it would make no sense to have them wear head cover on roads here at home where the only insurgents to be found would be those lobbying against such laws.

[Gwin]

Lau T: you say you "avoid needing a helmet by not falling" -- but you yourself mention accidents caused by other vehicles. You can't predict everything and in truth, one should wear a helmet even when on dedicated bike paths since a collision with another bike could also cause you to hit your head.

Brian: there is certainly a good amount of disregard for red lights etc. by bikers here as well. I often find myself staring in disbelief at the risks taken by other bike riders (especially when they are doing so in a way that endangers pedestrians in addition to themselves).

Peter W.: biking with headphones is suicidal because when you're on a bike, you rely a great deal on your hearing for cues which aren't provided by sight (traffic coming up behind you, for example). I suppose the same case could be made for driving while playing music, but only if the music is so loud that it blocks out every bit of external sound stimuli.

[simon]

in australia its the law to wear a helmet, unless you wont the $60au fine

[Geoffg]

Ever since a close friend of mine was killed, when falling off his bike here in Cambridge UK and afterwards hearing about all the other brain damage cases in the local hospital I've worn a helmet. Here is the poem his widow read at his funeral http://www.geoffjones.com/id4.html

[Geoffg]

Ever since a close friend of mine was killed, when falling off his bike here in Cambridge UK and afterwards hearing about all the other brain damage cases in the local hospital I've worn a helmet. Here is the poem his widow read at his funeral http://www.geoffjones.com/id4.html

[Lau T.]

Gwin: Crashing in to other bikes in a way that would cause me to hit my head is a very, very, very small risk. You can't avoid risk all-together.

It is true that accidents can be caused by other vehicles. But you can reduce that risk by being alert, and taking precautions.

In the crashes I have been in, I know that both I and the other party involved could have been more careful and probably avoided the crash.

[Tanya]

Actually biking is a very safe activity, and when compared to other activities for time exposed it is safer than swimming, car riding etc. While a helmet can help reduce head injuries, it cannot prevent death in many cases. It is much more important to bicycle defensively in traffic to avoid getting into accidents in the first place.

[Marco Barulli]

Hi Fred,
maybe you are interested in reading this recent BBC News article:

"Wearing helmets more dangerous"
Cyclists who wear protective helmets are more likely to be knocked down by passing vehicles, new research from Bath University suggests.
The experiment, which recorded 2,500 overtaking motorists in Salisbury and Bristol, was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/5334208.stm

And please, remember your readers that biking is much safer and healthier then driving!

Regards,
Marco