[sanjuro]

Liberal Media... http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/10/magazine/10bike.html

Bicycle Helmets Put You at Risk
By CLIVE THOMPSON

For years, cyclists who ride on city streets have cherished an unusual superstition: if they wear a helmet, they are more likely to get hit by a car. “I belong to an e-mail list for cyclists, and they complain about this all the time,” says Ian Walker, a psychologist at the University of Bath who rides his bike to work every day. But could this actually be true?

Walker decided to find out — putting his own neck on the line. He rigged his bicycle with an ultrasonic sensor that could detect how close each car was that passed him. Then he hit the roads, alternately riding with a helmet and without for two months, until he had been passed by 2,500 cars. Examining the data, he found that when he wore his helmet, motorists passed by 8.5 centimeters (3.35 inches) closer than when his head was bare. He had increased his risk of an accident by donning safety gear.

Why? You might suspect that cyclists wearing helmets are more prone to take risks. But studies have found otherwise. The real answer, Walker theorizes, is that helmets change the behavior of drivers. Motorists regard a helmet as a signal that the cyclist is experienced and thus can be approached with less caution. “They see the helmet and think, Oh, there’s a serious, skilful person,” Walker says. “And you get hit.”

Walker will publish his findings next year in the journal Accident Analysis & Prevention. After a preprint of the article was circulated to colleagues, he was flooded with angry e-mail. Wasn’t he giving cyclists a green light to doff their headgear? Walker takes a more diplomatic approach. The mere fact that drivers are responding to a helmet means that they are making judgments, however unconscious, about cyclists. That means a government advertising campaign could retrain drivers to make the opposite judgment: a helmeted rider deserves just as much space.

Then again, Walker himself has a dim view of pro-helmet laws and rarely wears a helmet when he rides. But at least now he has an excuse. During his study, he was struck by a truck and a bus — both times, of course, while wearing a helmet.

 

[Total Heckler]

I think that was posted on here a while ago. Interesting.

I'm fine wearing my helmet thanks.

 

[BikeMike]

Then again, Walker himself has a dim view of pro-helmet laws and rarely wears a helmet when he rides. But at least now he has an excuse. During his study, he was struck by a truck and a bus — both times, of course, while wearing a helmet.

That there's a conflict of interest if I've ever seen one. Media--they're always attacted to sensational studies, regardless of the real value of the information.

Who on earth is going to publish a "study" like this? I guess you can get just about anything published these days...(see Rooter: A Methodology for the Typical Unification of Access Points and Redundancy)

 

[Random]

How close to the edge did he ride when he wore his helmet and when he didn't? Seems like a pretty weak way to do a study

 

[LordOpie]

Take the lane.

 

[OGRipper]

So, no helmet might mean a slightly better chance of avoiding a crash. It also definitely means hugely increased odds of ending up with dain bramage, or death, if you get hit.

I think I'll keep my helmets.

 

[Westy]

I'll wear my helmet but if I pull my mullet through the vent holes drivers might not be able to tell I'm sporting a lid.

 

[DRB]

So, no helmet might mean a slightly better chance of avoiding a crash. It also definitely means hugely increased odds of ending up with dain bramage, or death, if you get hit.

I think I'll keep my helmets.

But the study says......

 

[OGRipper]

But the study says......

Did you read this on a plane or something? I read it. If it's true, it means you slightly increase your chances of getting hit by wearing a helmet. What it does not explore is how much worse you can get jacked if you're not wearing a helmet in the unlikely event you get hit.

 

[DRB]

Did you read this on a plane or something? I read it. If it's true, it means you slightly increase your chances of getting hit by wearing a helmet. What it does not explore is how much worse you can get jacked if you're not wearing a helmet in the unlikely event you get hit.

But the study says that motorists treat me better if I don't have a helmet. So I got nothing to worry about.....

What it doesn't say is that motorists were driving close to him to see what the idiot had on his head.

 

[greenhood]

I wouldn't ever ride on Seattle city streets without a helmet

 

[LordOpie]

New study shows that men without condoms have a higher chance of getting laid by chicks with AIDS.

Turn Up The Awesome!

 

[SpikeJones]

What he found is true to me where I reside. I commute helmetless and get a bigger berth than when out on my road bike all geared up.

As far as a helmet saving my life in the event I get hit by a car, that's pretty laughable. A helmet is designed to prevent minor injuries, not major ones.

 

[BIRDMAN111]

yeah been posted, but i still ride with a helmet

 

[H8R]

If you ride with chaps you're way more likely to get raped.

 

[OGRipper]

A helmet is designed to prevent minor injuries, not major ones.

Can you elaborate on that one? I mean, bike helmets are not the same as moto helmets, etc., but...?

Also, it seems pretty "laughable" to suggest that a helmet won't help you if you get hit by a car. I have very vivid images of sliding along pavement on my helmet after one of the times I've been hit.

 

[sanjuro]

What he found is true to me where I reside. I commute helmetless and get a bigger berth than when out on my road bike all geared up.

As far as a helmet saving my life in the event I get hit by a car, that's pretty laughable. A helmet is designed to prevent minor injuries, not major ones.

Not worried by a minor head concussion? Just major ones?

I just cannot find any validity to bigger berth/no helmet theory. It is hard for me to know though, considering the only time I go out helmetless is to the bar, and my perceptions cannot be trusted them....

 

[H8R]

As far as a helmet saving my life in the event I get hit by a car, that's pretty laughable. A helmet is designed to prevent minor injuries, not major ones.

Brain damage is pretty fvking major, right?

 

[DRB]

Brain damage is pretty fvking major, right?

All depends on where you start.

 

[zedro]

A helmet is designed to prevent minor injuries, not major ones.

no, its designed to make a potentially major one into a minor one. Try body slamming your head into the pavement in both circumstances....

 

[OGRipper]

Try body slamming your head into the pavement in both circumstances....

Hmm, actually it kinda sounds like he already tried.

 

[H8R]

All depends on where you start.

I love lamp.

 

[Jeremy R]

All depends on where you start.

Some people could use a chromosome knocked out of them.

 

[johnbryanpeters]

Getting hit by a car is not the only thing that can slam your head into the pavement. A mechanical failure serves very nicely. Take it from one that knows and now wears a helmet.

 

[skinny mike]

a few years back a family friend survived because of his helmet when he turned a blind corner and ended up going through some old lady's windshield.

 

[bikenweed]

A friend won't let anyone ride his motorcycle who has a helmet on. It makes sense. His bike is a super motard, and without a helmet you're not gonna try a quick stoppie or a full throttle wheelie. You'll ride it normally. Sure, there's risk, but there's also risk walking down stairs in the rain. Heck, my computer could catch on fire right now, burning my grandkids straight off. Danger...

 

[OGRipper]

A friend won't let anyone ride his motorcycle who has a helmet on. It makes sense. His bike is a super motard, and without a helmet you're not gonna try a quick stoppie or a full throttle wheelie. You'll ride it normally. Sure, there's risk, but there's also risk walking down stairs in the rain. Heck, my computer could catch on fire right now, burning my grandkids straight off. Danger...

No, it doesn't make sense. Many accidents are caused by other people, and they take out responsible people who are "riding normally" all the time.

I don't really care if someone chooses to not wear a helmet - it's their call, even if it can effect other people in their lives - but I will continue to disagree with weak attempts to justify it.

 

[sanjuro]

No, it doesn't make sense. Many accidents are caused by other people, and they take out responsible people who are "riding normally" all the time.

I don't really care if someone chooses to not wear a helmet - it's their call, even if it can effect other people in their lives - but I will continue to disagree with weak attempts to justify it.

Even if statistically cars drive 3 inches closer, the other percentage to examine is survival and injury rate of riders without a helmet. I bet that would shake up helmet analysis.

 

[Mad Dog]

eight years as a bike courier, four times hit by cars, concussion helmetless on mtb ride, just wear your damn helmet.

 

[mastercycleman]

I think that was posted on here a while ago. Interesting.

I'm fine wearing my helmet thanks.

Yeah, this was posted a few months back. I think i will keep the helm

 

[Reactor]

I was hit my a motorist who claimed not to have even seen me, and If not for a helmet I'd be dead instead of mildly brain damaged. The motor officer responding said the last three cyclists he'd seen hit died at the scene.

 

[BMXman]

that study has so many holes in it....I can't believe anyone would take it seriously.
1. Depends on where you're cycling.
2. Depends on the experience of the cyclist.

I was so glad to find out up here it's against the law for ANYONE to ride without a helmet....not like in Cali where all you have to be is over 18 cand you can ride without one....D

 

[Reactor]

that study has so many holes in it....I can't believe anyone would take it seriously.
1. Depends on where you're cycling.
2. Depends on the experience of the cyclist.

Not to mention he could be subconciously or deliberately riding closer to traffic when he isn't wearing a helmet. And then, 3" isn't much of a difference if most motorists are passing you three feet away. Not to mention, his ultrasonic sensor has a considerable margin of error. In lab probably a .5-1", in real life probably several inches.

 

[Tattooo]

So when I wear my helmet on the road I am justified in carrying a hammer for cars that come too close?

I'm getting a hammer mount welded to my road bike tonight!

 

[sanjuro]

I was hit my a motorist who claimed not to have even seen me, and If not for a helmet I'd be dead instead of mildly brain damaged. The motor officer responding said the last three cyclists he'd seen hit died at the scene.

I bet they were all wearing helmets...