100%. When one of the cons is no meaningful protection against injury, a helmet should be a huge pro. It absolutely saves lives.
Comment on Pros / cons of riding a bike?
LordCrom@lemmy.world 3 weeks agoNope, always wear the helmet. To not wear one is just stupid.
hangonasecond@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Waryle@jlai.lu 3 weeks ago
Guess dutch people are stupid, but at least they have way less death per kilometer while cycling ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
MolochAlter@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Ikr, I live in the Netherlands and not only do i not wear a helmet myself but I’ve seen dutch people ride with no hands, holding an umbrella and a phone, with bikebags full of groceries, in the rain.
That shit is close to a circus act, istg.
Railcar8095@lemm.ee 2 weeks ago
For an outsider, it was very funny to see women fully dressed for a night out, riding with an umbrella and speaking on the phone at the same time.
imaqtpie@lemmy.myserv.one 2 weeks ago
Could be even lower if they wore helmets though. I don’t even wear a helmet myself, but it’s objectively smart to do so.
My friend went got something caught in his front wheel and went over the handlebars at 30mph. Could have been turned into a vegetable if he wasn’t wearing a helmet.
Waryle@jlai.lu 2 weeks ago
And we could save a lot of people if they put on helmets to walk down stairs, and yet I don’t see anyone saying that people are stupid not to wear them.
And your friend, if he drives at 30mph, of course he has to wear a helmet, but the subject is not a sporty practice of cycling, but bike commuting. And helmets does not protect you from a shitty infrastructure and tank-like cars that run you over, so maybe it would be good to stop insulting people and bring some nuance to this debate.
imaqtpie@lemmy.myserv.one 2 weeks ago
I’m not insulting anybody. I’m simply stating the fact that it’s smart to wear a helmet, because if you hit your head on the ground, you could die. That’s all.
dream_weasel@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
A guy in my lab in his early 50s went over and busted his neck and is now a quadriplegic. He WAS wearing a helmet.
I’m not saying don’t, I’m saying if the universe wants you, it’ll get you.
MonkRome@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
A helmet is only needed if you intent to spend significant time in traffic. Most of the world doesn’t use one.
The math behind using one is a lot more on the margins than people realize. In order for it to save you, it first has to prevent a head injury, and then prevent one that is in the range of severity that makes it useful. The vast majority of bike injuries won’t fall in that range, they’ll either be related to another part of the body, or in the case of high speed crashes from a car, too severe for a helmet to matter. But helmets do give people a false sense of security. Statistically people ride faster and take more risks with a helmet on. Lastly, again statistically, the visibility gear you put on yourself while riding does more to keep you safe in traffic than a helmet. Lights, reflectors, reflective vest, etc.
All this to say, the religiosity with which people proselytize helmets is misplaced. I still wear one, but I don’t judge people who choose not to.
commandar@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
A helmet is only needed if you intend to spend significant time in traffic.
The worst wreck I’ve ever had on a bike was without a single car in sight. Pinch flat while carrying speed through a steep downhill curve. I split an expensive MIPS helmet in two and still hit hard enough that I had a minor concussion, road rash up one side of my body, and cracked the face of a week old watch just to pour salt in the (metaphorical) wound. I mostly landed on my head at north of 30 MPH and that helmet is the reason I didn’t have drastically more severe head injuries.
Helmets aren’t just for traffic.
MonkRome@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I don’t doubt anything you are saying, but it’s worth mentioning that (iirc) 80%+ of severe injury and death on a bicycle is caused by motor vehicles, or complications of motor vehicle involvement. People very rarely have severe injury or death on dedicated bike infrastructure. The primary risk on bicycles is motor vehicles. If you remove motor vehicles, there is still risks, but someone might decide that risk is low enough to forgo a helmet. I don’t feel those people should be called stupid for their choice.
There is considerable evidence that everyone wearing a helmet in a car would save vastly more lives, and yet pretty much no one even considers that as a normal thing to do.
I still use a helmet, and more importantly, visibility gear, on my bicycle in 100% of my rides.
AchtungDrempels@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
There is also this interesting dutch study, where somehow helmeted cyclists were 25 times more likely to end up in a hospital. Of course the reason for that never comes up as something problematic from the side of our solely safety concerned citizens, they will congratulate you for your new speed record down that hill.
commandar@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
80%+ of severe injury and death on a bicycle is caused by motor vehicles, or complications of motor vehicle involvement.
Which would mean ~1 in 5 have absolutely nothing to do with a motor vehicle. That’s significant.
There is considerable evidence that everyone wearing a helmet in a car would save vastly more lives and prevent severe head injury
Then that should be an easy [citation needed] for you because my searches are coming up blank for actual studies. Lots of assertions of it, but I’m not finding anything in terms of actual data.
It’s very easy, on the other hand, to find comprehensive meta analyses on the efficacy of helmet use.
It’s also worth noting that the introduction makes a point of calling out another common online assertion that you repeated – that helmets make people engage in more risk-taking behavior – as false:
There has already been an extensive peer-reviewed literature review conducted by Esmaeilikia et al.5, which found little to no support for increased risk-taking when cyclists use helmets and if anything, they cycled with more caution.
I don’t feel those people should be called stupid for their choice.
I don’t think they’re stupid. I think they’re bad at risk analysis. That’s a pretty inherent feature of humans. It’s the reason I want to see actual data.
AchtungDrempels@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
the religiosity with which people proselytize helmets is misplaced.
It’s feel very much religion like, but also an online phenomenon only. IRL the helmet discussion goes like this for me: “You don’t wear a helmet?” “No.”
The topic coming up is super rare too, while on every picture of a cyclist without a helmet on the internet you got all these comments from helmet fundamentalists going nuts over it.
Nighed@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
Personally, I have cracked open a helmet once. On a quiet country lane, with no traffic. Pot holes can catch you any time.
That is what makes me tell people to wear helmets.
AchtungDrempels@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
And your friends don’t get annoyed?
I hope you also posted one of those wonderful “today the helmet saved my life” topics on reddit so the community could get together for their daily service.
imaqtpie@lemmy.myserv.one 2 weeks ago
You make some good points.
I don’t wear one and I judge myself for not doing so 🤷
Complicated issue.
AchtungDrempels@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
No it’s not. Believing the helmet is the sole saviour is stupid.
LordCrom@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The helmet is not the sole saviour. But If I can eliminate or even highly reduce any risk, especially high risk brain injuries just by wearing a helmet, why wouldn’t you?
Seems silly to tempt fate when a helmet is so easy and mitigates a lot of risk.
AchtungDrempels@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I also don’t wear a helmet when i walk down the stairs of my appartment. Is that stupid and silly too, or for some reason just fine? I don’t think riding a bicycle, which you learn at three years old, is necessarily a dangerous activity.
LordCrom@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Not if you are taking a nice leisurely ride by yourself around rolling hills and the occasional butterfly.
No I’m talking about riding a bike into town with a dozen other riders, pedestrians who dont look, dogs that’ll just wander in front of you, cars passing 1 foot too close over the line… Ya, not exactly how I learned to ride a bike. I’ll wear the helmet in the risky situation.
Bahalex@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I don’t disagree. I’ve worked on an ambulance, I’ve seen what the results of improper protection does to a person. But also how it affects everyone else involved- from the people scraping you off the street to the family that has to take care of you. The unseen injuries of head trauma. At the end of the day, it’s a personal choice- just think about the possible consequences to yourself and those around you.
Think of it this way- don’t wear a helmet because you ride a bike, wear a helmet because everyone else is in a car… they don’t look for you, they don’t care about you. Only you can care about you. It’s car culture pushing the responsibility of safety onto the cyclists to avoid culpability.
Two fairly interesting videos arguing each point and may help yall convince others to wear a helmet better than calling them stupid.
youtu.be/rhzH6mEpIps?si=UGH6OVQVYDOH7oLf
youtu.be/1JfbTwrtOWU?si=WF7RlOLg4h_uv58e
Be safe, anything can happen. Wear a helmet, even for the ‘safe’ rides so it becomes second nature.