Posted on 06/01/2014 8:12:08 PM PDT by Huntress
Road safety campaigners have accused a leading neurosurgeon of putting lives at risk after he claimed cyclists who wear helmets were wasting their time.
Henry Marsh, who works at St George’s Hospital in Tooting, London, said many of his patients who had been involved in bike accidents had been wearing helmets that were “too flimsy” to be beneficial.
Mr Marsh cited evidence from the University of Bath which suggested that wearing a helmet might even put cyclists at greater risk.
It showed that drivers got around three inches closer to cyclists who wore helmets because they perceived them to be less fragile.
But campaigners said his remarks, made during a discussion with Ian McEwan, the author, at this year’s Hay Festival, were “disappointing”.
Kevin Clinton, head of road safety at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), said helmets were an important part of cycle safety. But said they should not be compulsory in case it put would-be riders off.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
I’ve had my share of head to earth encounters on my mountain bike and the helmets have done their job everytime. Had a Bell helmet that took the full of impact of an OTB at over 25 mph...the whole right side of the helmet was crushed...I was wobbly (concussed) and had a broken collarbone, but that was the best $45 I ever spent.
I learned a long time ago as a dirt and street biker to wear them and to not forego wearing one.
Btw, would you please add me to your bike ping list?
:^)
Alec Trebec - The answer is "It's made of 65 cents worth of plastic, and $1.10 in labor, the packaging costs75 cents and the liability insurance costs $4.40 yet sells for between $30 and $130"
contestant - "What is a bicycle helmet?"
Alec - "Correct!"
PS- welcome to the FR Peloton - TdF just one month away
Sure, people are injured and killed in auto accidents but at least they had some protection from the size and enclosure of the vehicle. With motorcycles you have no protection unless you think that helmet is going to save your butt. Maybe it does help a bit but the rest of you, well...
Comparing motorcycle accidents to sports injuries. Please. No comparison.
I’ll go with the odds and the odds say you’re safer in a car or truck. But, hey, it’s our a@@, not mine.
Motorcycling is a great sport, The Obama Economy forced me to sell my latest one, after more than 30 years of owning a cycle.
I miss it every day.
Forgot to add, seldom rode with a helmet. It interferes with the enjoyment of the countryside and exposes me to becoming a quadriplegic.
Ahh, let’s not forget the design, testing and subsequent certification costs...
Thanks!
I knew a youngster, who grew up with my sons, that misunderstood the protection a helmet could afford. He had a dirt bike. On his 14th birthday he got a new state of the art helmet and proceeded to go out later in the day and attempt to street race another kid who was in a car. He lost it on the road and died, probably thinking his new helmet made him safer.
Over 25 years ago and I remember it all too well.
Sad...I just don’t know what else to say to that, except there are crashes where even a suit of armor might not be enough.
As is done with all Gyro helmets, I sent the pieces back and it was promptly replaced by the company. As much as I didn’t like them at first, I may not be sitting up typing right now, had I shunned wearing one.
Same experience with them when I did a double thumper head bang on the road. Split the thing in two, but fortunately nothing like your experience.
Glad the helmet worked, and you are here to keep up the always informative threads and commentary.
I have to say I've never come upon a bicyclist and thought, "Oh look, he's got a helmet on, let's just see how close I can edge my car to him." Usually I'm trying to give the person as much room as possible in case they're one of the crazy people that suddenly jerk their front wheel over in my direction.
But, when Eddie Merckx put one on, things changed fast even though they didn't appear as if they would be much help in asphalt contact.
Then those ugly styrofoam buckets appeared ...
They were horrid but the safety factor was obvious, especially after a few people hit the road and were able to count the fingers being held in front of them.
That opened the flood gates. Safety soon morphed into style and function into fashion...
(not that there's anything wrong with that!)
There’s not much else that can compare to riding behind a fit and toned female cyclist...
It’s why I almost finished last in my category at Sea Otter a few years back...
Oh, and thanks for the cycling helmet history.
That was always one of the enjoyable aspects of the Saturday Morning Lodge Ride through Pebble Beach ... at least until the pace picked up and egos took over. When I lived there that ride often drew 50 or more riders.
Road rash is a scalp injury, not a “head injury”.
Bay,
Thanks for the post.
Any insights/commentary on Bradley Wiggins not being selected to be part of Tour team.
Correct me if I’m wrong, am going from a brief blurb in our local Fla paper sports section.
Bradley Wiggins confirmed this morning that he will not be riding the Tour de France if the defending champion Chris Froome holds his form up to the start of the race in Leeds on 5 July. “As it stands I won’t be there,” the 2012 winner told BBC Breakfast. “The team is focused around Chris Froome who has got a chance of winning his second Tour and it’s been decided to base the team around him.”
“I’m gutted,” Wiggins added. “I’ve worked hard all year for this, I went to California and won that, I feel I’m in the form I was in 2012, but I understand that cycling is a team sport and at the end of the day it’s about the team winning; at the end of the day it’s about Chris winning.”
Indeed the writing appeared to be on the wall recently when both the Sky head Dave Brailsford and Froome dismissed the idea of Wiggins riding as No2 to last year’s winner, while Wiggins’s non-selection for the key Tour buildup race, the Dauphiné Libéré, where Froome will ride with his right-hand man Richie Porte, confirmed he was not in Sky’s core Tour de France squad.
I forgot to add that I heard talk about this some weeks ago. Velo News, I think. They made it clear that Wiggins and Froome don’t get along well. I’d bet there are teams who might be looking at making Wiggins a deal. But cyclists are a finicky lot and bringing in a new leader this close to the tour would probably not go over well, even with a second tier team.
From the Guardian:
Bradley Wiggins confirmed this morning that he will not be riding the Tour de France if the defending champion Chris Froome holds his form up to the start of the race in Leeds on 5 July. “As it stands I won’t be there,” the 2012 winner told BBC Breakfast. “The team is focused around Chris Froome who has got a chance of winning his second Tour and it’s been decided to base the team around him.”
“I’m gutted,” Wiggins added. “I’ve worked hard all year for this, I went to California and won that, I feel I’m in the form I was in 2012, but I understand that cycling is a team sport and at the end of the day it’s about the team winning; at the end of the day it’s about Chris winning.”
Indeed the writing appeared to be on the wall recently when both the Sky head Dave Brailsford and Froome dismissed the idea of Wiggins riding as No2 to last year’s winner, while Wiggins’s non-selection for the key Tour buildup race, the Dauphiné Libéré, where Froome will ride with his right-hand man Richie Porte, confirmed he was not in Sky’s core Tour de France squad.
Thanks Bay for this and the other comment on their not liking each other.
Still hard to believe that a tour winner from only 2 years ago wouldn’t be on the team...
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