SURVEY: Should we wear helmet riding bicycles and motorbikes? Why or why not?

Question

I am looking for other people's opionion for my report.

Answer 1

OF COURSE. Helmets protect cyclists from severe head trauma and potentially death when they get into an accident. Even the professionals wear helmets.

Answer 2

We should if we don't want to have to eat through a straw for the rest of our life if we hit something hard.

I think it's stupid not too, specially if you're on amotorbike for the speed, or a bike because you can travel in different terrain. You should see stories of people that crashed in conditions not extreme or risky, and also where a helmet really made a difference.

Of course there will be arguments that a helmet won't save you if a car crashes you, or that even sometimes a helmet might have caused an accident. But, regarding security, you have to play the numbers. In a car, it's safer using a seatbelt and having airbags and protective reinforcements on the main structure than driving without seatbelts. That doesn't mean that on some accidents if you weren't using a seatbelt you would have been thrown out of the car while the car dropped into a mile high cliff into rocks and the ocean, but it's just a lot safer using it than risking a more single accident.

A bike or motorcycle helmet won't make you invulnerable, just improve your chances of coming safer out of some crashes. In the case of having a car at 50 mph crashing into you a helmet won't make a difference, but at a lot of other accidents it could.

Answer 3

I had my bicycle slip on the wet leaves a few weeks ago and went down very hard on the road. I was wearing a good helmet but still hit my head hard enough that I had trouble remembering how to get back and did not remember well for a couple of days. I'm thinking that if I was not wearing the helmet that it may have been very serious. I do not think they should be made a law but I will continue to wear mine.

Answer 4

I have ridden both and have come off of both. During a drop, it is desirable to go floppy, rolling if possible, so that you do not do too much damage (This is why drunks do not tend to hurt themselves as much when they fall over).

When you are flying through the air, the same law that states that your toast will always land on the butter side (Since the butter adds extra weight to that side of the toast) will effect you. The heaviest thing on your body will be your head. You will not normally be awair of this but, having also ridden horses, I know that it is enough weight to change the direction of the animal simply by looking where you want to go.

So, there you are, over the bars, heading for that rocky bit and you are leading with your head. Why do you think a helmet would be a good idea?

Luck

Answer 5

I did a faceplant off a road bike at 35 mph when I hit a rock. I busted my four front teeth, but my helmet absorbed the majority of the impact. No doubt in my mind (or my doctor's), I'd have been dead without the helmet. Not only did I avoid skull damage, but my doctor said that as helmet struck, the foam core crushed and absorbed energy that could have snapped my neck or spine as I attempted to enter the earth face-first.

So I was fitted for tooth caps instead of a wheel chair or coffin.

That broken helmet sits on my shelf, with pictures of my kids on either side.

Answer 6

YES YES YES! I cannot say that enough. My dad is a police officer, my brother is a paramedic and my mom works for 911 and they have seen/heard some terrible accidents involving people without helmets. These people usually die or have lifelong problems due to their injuries.

The problem is that bicycles and motorcycles/motorbikes are a lot smaller than cars and are a lot harder to spot. Another problem is that accidents do happen - no one is perfect. If you rear end a car you might not injure anyone but if you rear end a motorcyclist you could kill them.

Answer 7

You should wear a helmet because it is obviously the right thing to do. There should not be a law requiring you to wear a helmet just so the "it's my right to kill myself" people will shut up. If you are not wearing a helmet and crash, you should be liable for the cost of the emergency medical care that you get.

HTH

Answer 8

If you have something to protect, yes.

If someone can look in one ear and see the sunset through the other, then no, don't bother. The species doesn't need you to reproduce.
--
M R, you've been incredibly lucky. Early judo training means I'm pretty good at taking falls without injury, but I still have a couple of broken helmets to show for my cycling passion. But no head injuries.....

Answer 9

Well -- I wear a helmet. It has protected my skull on a few occasions where my head hit the pavement (bicycling).

Should WE wear a helmet? Yes.

Should we have a law saying we HAVE to? No. I don't believe in laws to protect ourselves from ourselves. We should protect ourselves because we want to not because we have to.

Even oogleberry has the right to not wear a helmet (although I don't care for her dip comment), but she shouldn't ask for a handout when her brains get scrambled on the pavement either.

Answer 10

i follow the rule when i ride with a group. if i go by myself, i don´t. here is why, helmets decrease your vision, makes you less attentive and reactive, plus the chances of hitting your head are minimum. when people have died of bike fall is because they breay their necks, not so much the hit in the head.
finally there was study that show that motorist are more carfeul when they see a biker without a helmet, they are more agressive towards you if they see you are wearing a helmet
carlos
www.bikingthings.com
get fast, get fit, be happy