I remember about 10 years ago, I went into a grocery store and there was a guy roaming around in there wearing a motorcycle helmet with the visor pulled down over his face. When I looked at him, he yelled at me, "What you looking at, Azmo?" So I guess I must have been the weird one.
I've always thought helmet use should be mandatory. My wife never likes riding with one, but I insist, at the very least if she's on a ride with me, for her to wear one.
Recently she bought a new bike and with it a helmet. I haven't gone riding with her for several years (she just bought the new bike a few months ago, and the old bike was broken for a few years) but I do see her helmet hanging off the handlebars when it's in the garage, so she probably wears it, which is good.
As for me, I feel completely naked without one. My new helmet (the one I bought after my last accident) is more of a "skateboard helmet" design, not exactly my liking, but it has one uber-cool feature I couldn't pass up - on the back of the helmet (along the bottom), there's a jack to plug a male-male audio cable into, one end in the helmet, the other into your iPod (or other music device, in my case, my PDA (Sony Clie)) so you can listen to music while you're biking. It doesn't seem to be very loud (I usually have problems hearing it on busy streets), which is probably deliberate so that you're more focussed on the road, but I love the feature so much. (The sound doesn't come out of ear buds, but out of tiny speakers in the helmet, just above the ears (almost obscured by the foam padding that one adds to make the fit more snug))
For motorcycles some states do have helmet laws (http://www.iihs.org/laws/HelmetUseCurrent.aspx) though many states only have it for those below a certain age. I don't see any state with a universal law (covers all riders) for bicycle helmet usage.
For me it's just another part of defensive cycling, and just another thing like using a seatbelt in a car. Even with no law, it's a Good Idea. I have a few relatives who have worked or do work in hospitals. My housemate was an EMT ("In 17 years of volunteer EMS, there was almost an exact 1-to-1 correspondence in my experience between whether the [motorcycle] rider was wearing a helmet and whether he lived."). I don't need to hear any stories from them, but I'm sure they all have them.
I suspect many places might either include a helmet with the bike purchase (a helmet is cheaper than a lawsuit about there not being a helmet), or at the very least strongly suggest such.
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no subject
Date: 8 Aug 2008 01:49 (UTC)no subject
Date: 8 Aug 2008 01:55 (UTC)no subject
Date: 8 Aug 2008 02:16 (UTC)Recently she bought a new bike and with it a helmet. I haven't gone riding with her for several years (she just bought the new bike a few months ago, and the old bike was broken for a few years) but I do see her helmet hanging off the handlebars when it's in the garage, so she probably wears it, which is good.
As for me, I feel completely naked without one. My new helmet (the one I bought after my last accident) is more of a "skateboard helmet" design, not exactly my liking, but it has one uber-cool feature I couldn't pass up - on the back of the helmet (along the bottom), there's a jack to plug a male-male audio cable into, one end in the helmet, the other into your iPod (or other music device, in my case, my PDA (Sony Clie)) so you can listen to music while you're biking. It doesn't seem to be very loud (I usually have problems hearing it on busy streets), which is probably deliberate so that you're more focussed on the road, but I love the feature so much. (The sound doesn't come out of ear buds, but out of tiny speakers in the helmet, just above the ears (almost obscured by the foam padding that one adds to make the fit more snug))
no subject
Date: 8 Aug 2008 02:44 (UTC)For me it's just another part of defensive cycling, and just another thing like using a seatbelt in a car. Even with no law, it's a Good Idea. I have a few relatives who have worked or do work in hospitals. My housemate was an EMT ("In 17 years of volunteer EMS, there was almost an exact 1-to-1 correspondence in my experience between whether the [motorcycle] rider was wearing a helmet and whether he lived."). I don't need to hear any stories from them, but I'm sure they all have them.
I suspect many places might either include a helmet with the bike purchase (a helmet is cheaper than a lawsuit about there not being a helmet), or at the very least strongly suggest such.
no subject
Date: 8 Aug 2008 04:28 (UTC)