Comments on: Don’t Need It ‘Til You Need It

By: Julie

Julie — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 01:36:13 +0000

I’m late in reading this, but for me it wasn’t getting in an accident myself that gave me “helmet religion,” it was friends and especially my daughter. If you’re interested, you can read about it here, http://my45thyear.blogspot.com/2007/07/less-than-6-degrees-of-separation.html.

By: Commuting 101: Get a Helmet at Commute by Bike

Commuting 101: Get a Helmet at Commute by Bike — Tue, 08 May 2007 13:52:48 +0000

[...] is a lot of debate about whether or not you really need to wear a bike helmet; personal experience has shown myself and other readers of this site that you do. If you don’t have a helmet, or [...]

By: Mendota Meets Mud at Commute by Bike

Mendota Meets Mud at Commute by Bike — Fri, 04 May 2007 22:30:10 +0000

[...] tires did fairly well through puddles and on wet pavement. I was a little concerned about the slick mud patches that did me in March — so I was riding with a bit more care this morning. Compared to my slicks, these tires did [...]

By: Superfluous at Commute by Bike

Superfluous at Commute by Bike — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 13:34:36 +0000

[...] an answer to the question I posed on March 14th: “Why would anyone NOT want to wear (a bike helmet)?” Well, it looks like sometimes a [...]

By: Rico

Rico — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 04:45:31 +0000

I don’t know what motorcycle rules but I shake my head if I see someone on a motorcycle not wearing a helmet; and often, sure it looks like something you’d see in a movie; but you’ll see the passenger female not wearing one either. One a friend told me he witnessed a rather horrifying aftermath of an accident by exactly that kind of couple.

I’m not perfect in wearing the helmet; but it is getting to that; once I spent money on a really good one. Before, they’d get banged around and I did not take great care with them, now it comes in the house with me. Reading the comment above about the foam not being as good once it crashed interested me; because some of my older helmets I think got banged around a lot, not on my head, but just through general use.

By: John

John — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 05:46:57 +0000

I had a friend in college who was a Cat III road rider and one day he was on his way to visit a friend on his road bike and hit a patch of sand. He didn’t have his helmet on and hit his head on the pavement. Luckily he lived, but he wound up partly paralyzed on his right side. He never rode a bike again either for fun or competition.

By: Rico

Rico — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 01:45:01 +0000

The old adage is and I concur; “wear your helmet but don’t use it.”

By: James

James — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 14:22:57 +0000

I crashed on a very rainy Cleveland morning 17 years ago when my wheel slipped into an expansion joint on a high level bridge. It was like slow motion, I remember thinking “keep your head up, tuck your chin to your chest.”. I tumbled twice and slid. I didn’t hit my head, fortunately, and I had to walk the rest of the way to work bleeding, carrying my bike because the front wheel was bent. That afternoon, I walked to the nearest downtown bike shop to fix my wheel and bought my first helmet. I have never ridden without one since.

By: Fritz

Fritz — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 03:44:41 +0000

Ah, I posted links to several documents with statistics, but it was flagged by WP as spam (because of excessive links). Google for NHTSA traffic safety statistics and you’ll find plenty, I’m sure.

By: Jett

Jett — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 01:11:33 +0000

Hey Fritz, I like your points on risk of brain trauma in a car vs. on a bike. I’ve heard similar stats, but haven’t been able to put my finger on those stats. Could you tell us the source of your data?