Saturday, July 14, 2012

Why?

I'll start off by saying, I am an absolute believer in wearing helmets, young and old.  I think it's especially important to teach children to wear them, both by having them wear it, and role modelling by wearing one yourself.

Having said that, I have an excellent ability to see both sides of a situation.  Even though, I disagree with the logic, I can somewhat understand the reasoning behind not wearing a helmet.  Perhaps it's too hot?  Too expensive?  Not cool enough?  You just don't think you'll ever fall, and therefore it's not necessary?

In places without helmet laws, this is still the choice of the individual.  I might disagree with the reasons, but I can at least understand where the thought is coming from.

What I don't get is why people bother to wear a helmet with the chin strap undone?  This is something I noticed while running on the paths yesterday.  There were numerous inline skaters, and a couple cyclists doing this.

Okay, so you have everything that might be considered a downside of wearing a helmet, but with the chin strap undone, none of the upside - such as saving you from brain injury or death.

Why?  This, I just don't get.


8 comments:

  1. That one I don't get either. Related is hanging the helmet off the bike handlebars. I'm guessing there that the parent sent the kid out wearing the helmet, but the child took it off as soon as they were out of sight of the house.

    I've sometimes wondered about the helmets, but I have to say that my one major crash it was a good thing I was wearing it. The problem is that if that very slow speed crash is a reason for wearing one, then we should be wearing one all the time we are walking too, since that's about how fast I was going. And, I'm sorry to say, I have experience in keeling over. I'm just glad the people on the other side of the elevator door mostly caught me, but I still chipped a tooth and had a bump on my head. Even so, I don't want to walk around with a helmet on.

    As for the high speed stuff, I'm under no illusions that the helmet will do much for me if I crash at 80+ Kph.

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  2. i totally don't understand not wearing the chin strap if you've got the helmet on your head...but i actually don't really understand not wearing helmets. i know it's up to the person and it's a choice, but isn't a helmet basically the same thing as a seat belt? i know there is something going on (dang, my memory is SO bad!) where people were protesting mandatory helmet laws and i didn't understand the perspective of those who opposed wearing helmets. but then again, i don't cycle so maybe that's why i don't get it.

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  3. You'd be amazed at how many people don't know how to wear a helmet because they never learned. They often wear them too far back on their head or have the straps undone.

    I used to coach newbies to cycling and started the sessions with proper helmet fit. So many people were not aware of the right way.

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  4. I like having personal choices. Its called freedom. I, for one, choose to always wear my helmet for both riding my bike and my motorcycle. Anyway, if one chooses to wear a helmet... well, FASTEN THE DARN THING!

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  5. Lost my stepbrother in 1986 in a relatively low speed bicycle/car accident = broken leg and head injury. Removed him from life support two days later. My dad and stepmom were never the same (happened 2 days after they married). Wearing a helmet isn't even an option for my kids (or myself) and because I've always insisted, it is just standard to them. They don't even question it even when they see others not wearing them. They sometimes comment that they think it is stupid NOT to wear one. God bless them! Sometimes laws have to be in place to protect the stupid. I'm sorry that it limits freedom, but to me - it really shouldn't be an option. It is my tax money that will pay their disability when they suffer trauma.

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  6. Working in a Trauma Intensive Care Unit I get to see first hand the results of people not wearing helmets. There is absolutely no acceptable reasons to not wearing a helmet. I agree with TriMoEngr, I think they should be mandatory. The cost of treating head injuries is astronomical. Then again, I should not argue for helmets, in a way these people are job security.

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  7. I totally agree!! When we were in Europe, and used the bike system there no one wore helmets (including us). It felt very weird! That being said, we weren't going nearly as fast as we do on road bikes (those bikes are heavy!), a lot of the time you have your own bike lane and lights and the drivers are extremely courteous to cyclists because they genuinely believe that everyone shares the road. I'd be interested to see what the bike accident/head trauma numbers are there versus here.

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  8. Sort of like bringing a life jacket out on a boat and then leaving it in the deck box where it does zero good when the boat capsizes

    -Patrick
    http://responsibility199.wordpress.com

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