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Air of invincibility, definitely adds to stupidity, or is it just the feeling of security blurs your limits. Seat belt laws brought a rise in car accidents, cycle helmets lead to more two wheelers in hospital.

 

Not only does it blur judgement, I think they can often dull your senses. Once at the dojo, the Sensei decided we'd all spar with helmets for the session. We had a great time smacking each other in the head, unable to block many kicks and blows because of restricted peripheral vision and altered hearing/sensory input, and, maybe, the knowledge that we didn't have so much to lose letting the blows through anyway.

Walked away with a few more bruises than usual.

 

No-one used the helmets again.

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links are the pits sometimes! difficult to keep track of everything put on them.

 

what i think it probably relates to is this relative invincibility some wearing helmets seem to exhibit. i am certainly not aware of any cases worldwide where the helmet per se killed the wearer...there have been at least two cases where a helmeted skier hit someone else and one or other died...but given your skull is harder than a helmet its not surprising that the medical examiner ruled out the helmet playing a role in the mode of death. hit anything hard enough and its bad news....

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Miteyak - could you post the stats supporting your statement re. seat belts = more accidents and bike helmets = more hospitalization cases. Seems this has been flinging 'round for tooo long.

Most safety equipment in leisure or work environments are usually required for that totally unexpected "out of the blue" situation, which is statistically rare, but rarely foreseen.

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If simply wearing a helmet handicaps your senses to the extent that it causes you to have accidents, you were already riding outside the limits of control and deserve what's coming to you.

 

Let's hope it's a tree or lift pylon you hit, and not another person.

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If you wanna wear a helmet, go ahead. Looking at the stats, I see no need, only that helmet wearers have more accidents.

 

Hell, let's all where helmets! Really, the thousands who die in cars every year? If people in cars wore helmets many less would die. How about the pub on saturday night? I actually know of people who've died in pubs falling and banging their heads on the floor, others who have been crippled when drunken thugs kicked them in the head. Definitely a case for helmets there... (maybe some of these situations have a risk even greater than 1:1,500,000 user days!)

 

How about reading a report and allowing it to interact with your predisposition, to create a more rational response?

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I rode, I banged my head, it hurt, I got a helmet. Problem solved. If you don't bang your head, fine. For now.

 

But I think it's certainly your right not to wear a helmet. Personally, I don't wear a helmet when I ride a bike, because usually I don't bang my head (anymore). But of course 'for now' also applies here too.

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Do groomed slope boarders have a greater chance of bumping their head than groomed slope skiers?

 

(I dont mean fatal bumps, or even hospital bumps. I just mean good old fashioned head ache making thumps on the scone).

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Snobee, for starters...

 

Hospital Separations, injuries to NSW Cyclists under 16 (source NSW Dept. of health)

1991/2 (pre law)-1992-3 (post law)

 

NSW australia, post law head injuries rose 24%, non head injuries 68%...

 

When I have time, I'l get some more statistics.

 

Where a helmet... common sense, right?

Yep, the sense of a commoner.

 

Oh and why don't the figures go up more, because nearly 30 % stopped cycling!

That'll be good for the ski industry.

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You tend to catch edges more (or even exclusively) on groomers, so the thing where all your forward movement turns into a backwards or forwards hinge movement only really happens on groomed runs. In that case, you have no time to protect your head - it arcs down straight into the relatively hard surface - Woooomph. And gives you a headache that lasts for a day. This is more likely to apply to a beginner too. Now I can usually feel when an edge is likely to catch, and adjust in time.

 

In off-piste falls, you're more likely to have a chance of breaking an arm or leg, or spine through hitting a tree or landing badly.

 

...s'what I reckon anyway.

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Miteyak - that's an incredibly narrow focus for statistical backup. How about a 10yr. span covering ALL users. And the seat belts........?

Look I'm with you re. the free choice issue. Everyone has the right to pad themselves in as much cotton wool as they do or don't like. Trying to justify the choice with questionable statements tends to lend less weight to the argument. \:\)

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snobee, that was one fact from the very first link that came up on the search engine. I'm sorry I couldn't devote my afternoon to follow through, but where's your facts backing up the other side. All I here is your personal view that what i've stated is untrue.

 

The British government has seen fit to not to intro helmets, surely that says something. Doc Mikes links show no evidence of helmets increasing safety, c'mon, give me something more than the 'helmets are good 'cause I think so'

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It seems pretty obvious to me why more people in helmets who are skiing or snowboarding get serious injuries (head or other). Those wearing helmets tend to be engaged in more high risk activities (thats why they bought a helmet!!!). Trying to establish the fact that the helmet caused the dangerous behaviour is a bit dodgy. In the majority of cases the helmet wearer surely recognised that they were going to engage in a potentially hazardous action and therefore purchased the appropriate safety gear.

I do agree with the idea that it should be a personal choice though.Telling yourself you wont wear a helmet because its dangerous is just nuts though. Then again Charles Darwin may have been onto something with his natural selection theory.

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That's not the point of the reports now, is it. The point is that a helmet may not be doing the job you think it is, may not be making what you are doing any safer. Nobody's saying that wearing a helmet is dangerous, but thinking you can do more dangerous things because you're wearing one may be reading just a little bit too much into the capabilities of a helmet. Thinking a helmet is gonna help if you hit a tree head-on at forty miles an hour... I refer you to aforementioned comments on natural selection.

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Yep I got your point there. Must admit I was lazy and coulnt be bothered to read the report thingy cause Im pretty confident that wearing a helmet to do dangerous stuff is a good idea.

You are however quite right that a helmet is not a magic force field. Same goes for all safety gear, Avalanche beacons for example dont repell avalanches. All this stuff is just a back up to protct you after bad decisions have already been made. I just go for the gear because Ive been known to stuff up on the odd occaission.

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Miteyak - Who said "Helmets are good because I think so"??? You made the original statements, I just asked for clarification/support of those stated facts. I don't wear a helmet when skiing so I have no barrow to push. What's wrong with asking? ;\)

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  • 2 weeks later...

you dont think that the stats are influenced by the fact that the people that are likely to crash are gonna get helmets therefore a larger proportion of the crashing population were helmet wearers.

anyway K2 helmets are def the best for oval heads like me Giro are pretty good too. Red helmets arnt too bad and if your head is especially round it may be the only one that fits. Ski shops usually only have ugly racer boy helmets so snowboard shops may be a better bet. have a look at getboards.com or

d-structure.com as well.

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