WEAR YOUR HELMET
Thread started by
zeepenguin at 01.29.11 - 6:24 am
i got hit by a car on my way home from a ride early Friday morning, i had my helmet with me but i was NOT wearing it. I WAS LUCKY ,
and it seems even though it was in my backpack it absorbed the impact of my back hitting the windshield as it is cracked. my body is a mess right now and it looks as though i will not be riding for a long time but at least IM ALIVE. i never thought it would happen to me so i only wore my helmet when convenient...
DONT BE A FUCKING IDIOT WEAR YOUR HELMET! IT CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE
BE SAFE & RIDE ON!
-Matt Reyes
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There is no solid evidence that helmets prevent injury.
You know what protects cyclists? A road design scheme and legal protections that keep cars from hitting and maiming people. The problem is not the goddamn helmet! The problem is: YOU GOT HIT BY A CAR DUMBASS.
DON'T GET HIT BY CARS! IT CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE.
BE SAFE 7 NOT CONTROLLED BY A CULTURE OF FEAR.
-Deez Nutz.
ubrayj0201.29.11 - 8:32 am
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"DON'T GET HIT BY CARS! IT CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE. "
I can't wait to see that poster campaign...
Joe Borfo responding to a
comment by ubrayj02
01.29.11 - 8:44 am
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"There is no solid evidence that helmets prevent injury."
What are you smoking?
I have 3 cracked helmets and an intact noggin that says they do.
What solid evidence do you have that says helmets don't prevent injury?
Of course we don't cycle in a perfect world for bikes, and people will occasionally be hit by cars and we must do everything we can to change the paradigm so bikes are better protected by laws, educated drivers and better infrastructure. Maybe that will happen in a few decades. Meanwhile I'm wearing a helmet.
Creative Thing responding to a
comment by ubrayj02
01.29.11 - 9:14 am
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Glad you're relatively okay. Did you file a police report? Did you put the incident on the LA Bike Map?
http://www.bikesidela.org/labikemap/
Heal up fast.
champagne01.29.11 - 9:59 am
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will a helmet spoil the aesthetics of a $1200 dutch bike?
how is someone a dumbass for something they couldn't help?
*NEWSFLASH*
we live in a car dominated culture, so
A road design scheme and legal protections that keep cars from hitting and maiming is just a pipe dream that will take more than a decade to enact. i'd rather protect my brain with a helmet than with idealism.
coldcut01.29.11 - 11:12 am
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you're a fucking idiot.
matt, glad to hear you're okay.
KiMS1 responding to a
comment by ubrayj02
01.29.11 - 11:52 am
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Josef can be a douche sometimes and he often is right, but it doesn't matter how "right" his statistics are, riding with a helmet in this city is a good idea. And I think the DUMBASS in car hits cyclist scenario is 99% the person in the car.
sack or crack you choose responding to a
comment by ubrayj02
01.29.11 - 11:58 am
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First off: Matt, I'm glad you're ok. It's sad to find out that this can indeed happen to anyone once it happens to oneself, but it does happen and quite regularly too. At one point or another, on a long enough time line... everyone will be hit by a car. Only thing that will vary will be the extent of the accident. I wish you a speedy recovery.
Second: How insensitive must you be to spit the BULLSHIT you just wrote to another fellow cyclist? It could have easily been you. Oh, because you practice great riding techniques and have been riding for X amount of years it won't happen to you? Get over yourself. We can practice safe riding techniques but still can not be in control of what another human being can and will do. ASSHOLE.
July responding to a
comment by ubrayj02
01.29.11 - 12:21 pm
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@Creative Thing
that's called a sample size of one. when you do look up the safety council research and those proposing helmets by cyclists you see that the funding derives from car manufacturers and bicycle accessory companies. there is, however, no scientific independent research that can conclusively say that wearing your helmet will save your life.
helmeted riders die just as frequently as non-helmeted riders. a helmet is designed to protect the top half of the cranium, but it does not and will not protect you from breaking limbs or your neck, which is arguably just as important as your cranium.
cars kill bicyclists, stupid bicyclists that make dumb moves kill themselves. helmets aren't the complete answer to this problem, its as you stated: laws and education.
now my sample size of one is my friend from chicago. he got ran into by a car running a light and he doesn't wear a helmet. his bike is bent, but he's alive, whereas his friend is neurotic about wearing helmets he got hit and was put in the hospital with a concussion in the cranium.
but, like i said a sample size of one. sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. i think it's just up to you if you want to wear one and if you do, there's nothing wrong with it and if you don't same thing. either way you can still be hit and you can still die.
icarus responding to a
comment by Creative Thing
01.29.11 - 2:32 pm
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and btw i do wear a helmet on longer trips, short 1-2 miles trips i don't.
so it depends on the person.
icarus01.29.11 - 2:34 pm
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@July
you are completely right, we cannot control what a driver will do, especially if they're angry or impatient. and, most of the time they don't see us.
icarus responding to a
comment by July
01.29.11 - 2:35 pm
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I didn't say a helmet would save your life.
In my case, in three separate situations, a helmet did in fact prevent a worse injury.
It's not just me. Other riders have their own stories and cracked helmets from crashes that would have been much worse if the helmet didn't do it's job.
A helmet won't prevent a crash, or protect 95% of the body, but it has an important role to play if the bean comes in contact with a hard surface. It can make a huge difference.
I didn't vote for the mayor to advocate a mandatory helmet law for L.A., but I will always voluntarily wear one.
Creative Thing responding to a
comment by icarus
01.29.11 - 5:48 pm
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Glad you are alright Penguino!!!! Fuckin Pudgy Baastaad ride will ensume when you are better!!
FIXMYLIFE01.29.11 - 5:56 pm
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First off I Wanna say, glad you're okay.
Now onto the other dumb shit that's been spouted in this thread. I've read some dumb shit in my days but some of the things being said in this thread may trump all of that.
No proof that a helmet saves lives? what dumb theory is that?
There's no proof that jumping out a plane with a parachute at 13,000 feet is the reason you survived and landed back on earth safely. Oh wait! Helllooooo!!!
Helmet and parachutes are worlds apart but I bet you anyone with half a brain, would not jump out of a plane without one. Point being, the helmet has nothing to do with living or dying. The helmet is there to give you a chance at living. There's a remote chance that your parachute might get tangled and drop you 6,000 feet like a rock but I bet you wouldn't jump without one.
Why ride a bike through the L.A. streets without a helmet? That question is always asked until a rider has an accident.
ridetime01.29.11 - 9:02 pm
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Ubrayj02 has some valid points, and I understand his feelings about helmets. However, every time someone posts about how they feel it now important to wear a helmet, Ubray's gotta preach his counter-schpeal about the insignificance of helmets, which I feel is even more annoying.
If I were in Denmark I would probably always ride without a helmet, but most of the time when I ride in LA I choose to wear one... And I don't feel bad about myself for doing so.
I mean, if you're gonna SELL the darn things why would you make such a stink about helmets publicly? Go figure.
Fucking Armadillos.
Joe Borfo01.29.11 - 9:48 pm
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Leslie, I've also cracked three helmets and have to admit that none were the result of car traffic. In fact, two were mountain biking crashes.
mk4524 responding to a
comment by Creative Thing
01.29.11 - 11:00 pm
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It's your choice to wear or not. I usually don't, only when I'm racing or riding trails with new people or riding new trails with a fast group, otherwise no. Why? because I don't like how they feel, no other reason.
Now, helmet wearer you may think that by telling another rider to wear a helmet is concern, it's not, you've just drank the Kool-aide. Wearing a helt is a choice. Do you stop smokers on the street and tell them not to smoke, or tell people in cars to buckle up? I doubt it. Wether I wear one or not is none of your fucking business, you should just butt the fuck out of it.
I've been hit 7 times by cars and have had so many crashes, I've lost count. I have hit my head a couple of times but I've walked away from every one. The last one my face was the part of my body that contacted the car that ran into me, the helmet won't help you there. Now, we can go round and round on this subject and there are valid points in both courts, the real point is however is you have the right to chose, so keep your ideas to yourself and let people make thier own choices.
rev106 responding to a
comment by mk4524
01.30.11 - 6:35 am
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I'll pretty much second everything Leslie said. I'm another one of those guys that landed on his head and I'm pretty sure that wearing a helmet saved me from a serious injury. But that's just my experience.
http://www.midnightridazz.com/viewPhoto.php?artistId=71&galleryId=36063&pgnum=1
It's your choice, though it does make me cringe a little when I see bareheaded riders.
mr rollers responding to a
comment by Creative Thing
01.30.11 - 10:52 am
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There is no solid evidence that helmets prevent injury.
This info could have helped my self esteem in my preteen years; thanks mom and dad.
markd responding to a
comment by ubrayj02
01.30.11 - 11:38 am
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HELMETS ARE JUST ANOTHER WAY FOR THE MAN TO GET YOU TO CONFORM...
FUCKING CONFORMIST...
DIRTY HIPSTER01.30.11 - 7:09 pm
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im alive and your alive hey if your reading this your alive, way to all be the same thing guys. matt you should died so you wouldnt be like all of us conformests here. you know what fuck bikes your all dong and more are coming ima unicycle from know on or fruit boot.
matt im happy your still with us. message me your address and ill bring you some edibles
dudebra420 responding to a
comment by DIRTY HIPSTER
01.30.11 - 11:29 pm
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