cycle helmet

westy23

For those of you that do not wear a cycle helmet please read the following.
I was cycling along the main road and the next thing i know i am waking up in the back of a ambulance with a paremedic shaving my chest to fit a monitor on and the blue light going(very scary)
apparently i clipped the kerb and landed on my head splitting my cycle helmet in 4 places and my left knee,shoulder and hand are a mess.
it happened so quick i do not even remember hitting the kerb or falling to the ground, without the cycle helmet i am pretty sure i would be brown bread.SO GET ONE NOW AND WEAR IT.

darich

Good advice and glad you're on the mend.

I ALWAYS wear my helmet on the bike and it actually feels weird if I don't wear it.
Thankfuly I've never actually needed the helmet but I'd never not wear one.

It amazes me when I see people cycling on Aclass trunk roads competing with HGVs and 70mph traffic and they're wearing dark clothes and no helmet.
Pure madness!

Chippy_Minton_2

darich wrote: »

I ALWAYS wear my helmet on the bike and it actually feels weird if I don't wear it.

If you always wear one, how would you know?:p

Rolandtheroadie

westy23 wrote: »

For those of you that do not wear a cycle helmet please read the following.
I was cycling along the main road and the next thing i know i am waking up in the back of a ambulance with a paremedic shaving my chest to fit a monitor on and the blue light going(very scary)
apparently i clipped the kerb and landed on my head splitting my cycle helmet in 4 places and my left knee,shoulder and hand are a mess.
it happened so quick i do not even remember hitting the kerb or falling to the ground, without the cycle helmet i am pretty sure i would be brown bread.SO GET ONE NOW AND WEAR IT.

Just out of curiosity, how did you manage to clip the kerb?

This is not a troll or a dig, please dont take it as such, but most cyclists I see are quite a bit away from kerbs (as they should be to avoid drain covers etc).

The helmet avoided more serious injuries, but is there anything we can learn about the accident to avoid doing similar? Were there any witnesses that told you what happened after the event?

Hope you get back in the saddle soon.

Altarf

darich wrote: »

competing with HGVs and 70mph traffic and ... no helmet.
Pure madness!

You have faith that being hit by an HGV or a car at 70 mph, your head will be protected by a piece of polystyrene.

The only thing that a cycle helmet is any good for is a slow speed accident, where the cyclist has effectively just fallen off their bike and hit their head on the ground. i.e. what happened to the OP.

darich

Altarf wrote: »

You have faith that being hit by an HGV or a car at 70 mph, your head will be protected by a piece of polystyrene.

It's not the impact from a vehicle that worries me.....it wold be the draught and wind from the buses, lorries and high speed cars knocking me onto the kerb and falling....just like the op.

DaveMacD

Got to be honest, but I've never worn a crash hat on a push bike. I'm sure there are a million good reason to wear one, but I'm afraid I just don't want to. Do hope the OP is ok now though.

Chippy_Minton_2

darich wrote: »

It's not the impact from a vehicle that worries me.....

You're either hard or stupid.

44 tonnes of artic hitting you at 56-mph would worry most people.

GT60

my son had an disagreement with a car on thursday he hit the car on the side and went onto the bonnet and smash the windscreen.
when the ambulance came the crew could NOT find anything wrong with him except a cut on his knee.
All he had on was his school uniform and his ruck sack which they think saved him and took the force of the impact even his bike was ok, the car has a broken windscreen though.
On his way home from hospital though he was saying how bright people looked wearing hiviz jackets (something we try and get him to wear when out on his bike )But it is not trendy To quote the police officer.
His bike and his brothers are now grounded untill he wears his helmet and hi-viz vest both of which he refuse's to wear. Bloody teanager's.
Loads of people have said how thankful they are to bike helmets something i have never wore but i do put a hi-viz vest on and the difference it makes is amasing, the car drivers sometimes see you!!

biscuitdunker

My BIL is a neurosurgeon who has treated countless cyclists for head injuries. The difference in survival rates between a cyclist who wears a helmet and one who does not is huge. You can have all kinds of body injuries which can be overcome in time, but if your brain dies, that's it. There really should be a law requiring cyclists to wear helmets, hi vis and have lights on their bikes.

DaveMacD

Maybe a thought, but if he won't wear a hi-viz vest, how about hi-viz patches on his rucksack? And let's not forget, a good set of lights (preferably NOT set to flash) and reflectors. Maybe even a bit of reflective tape on the frame.