It was always shocking to me when those awful green scooters appeared in our town (it’s so nice to go to other parts of the lake and not see them laying all over the paths, walkways and sides of streets like litter!) then people started crashing on them in large numbers with no head protection. We were hearing from friends working at the local emergency rooms that they were so busy with these scooter crashes that they could have created a whole new ward at the hospital just for them! Well guess who reportedly has surpassed those injury numbers, yep, e bikes.
It is absolutely no surprise when you see the number of people on these “mopeds” going so fast down highway 50, all the backstreets, a few days ago I saw a lady flying down Pioneer trail, like many of the others, with no helmet on! Perhaps we just have to chock it up to some sort of social Darwinism, some will hit their heads, hard, therefore removing some of the dumb ones from the gene pool…and the bike lanes.
There aren’t many reasons not to wear a helmet these days. It’s not like the days of the old heavy, hot, kinda ugly helmets that were actually rather hard to wear. The price of a helmet cannot be that much of a factor because they have really come down in price at the more basic levels. Of course you can pay an arm and a leg for something really nice, but it is still less than the cost of a few stiches in the noggin.
It is always pretty entertaining at the shop when we rent bikes to people who chose not to wear a helmet. The excuses; I don’t want to mess up my hair, (5 stitches or maybe brain surgery will mess your hair up a whole lot more), oh we are only going slow on the bike path, (yeah but not everyone else is), the kids will take them but we don’t need them, (way to set an example Mom and Dad). Just a few days ago I had a guy rent a bike, his friends were going to take him on a trail, “Helmet? I offer him, they are free and you might as well wear one.” No, he says, I don’t think I’ll need it, I think you do, just try this one on. He takes it and goes out for his ride. Several hours later he returns and slaps the helmet and a fat tip on the counter. “Not even a full minute out the door,” he says, “I went off the curb, grabbed the wrong brake and went over the bars…hard, thank you!” And yes, he offered to pay for the helmet too since once you really hit your helmet on the ground, it is done, replace it.
People often claim that helmets are too hot. Well they are hotter than not wearing a helmet for sure, but that same person will be wearing a baseball cap all the time outside or a hat for sun protection, those aren’t hot? One of the major costs of a good helmet is the fact that they are made with lots of ventilation, simply put, the technology costs more to make a helmet with more open holes and still keep it safe.
Speaking of technology, there have been some big advances in how to protect our heads, specifically our brains. In recent years some if not most manufacturers have been replacing the EPS foam inside the helmets with a material called MIPS; multi-directional impact protection system. This technology helps to protect the brain during a very common “angular” impact which causes the brain to stretch and twist inside our skull which can cause bleeding and swelling…not that fun! MIPS will allow the head to rotate with the impact about 10 to 15 mm inside the helmet, sort of a rotational shock absorber. There are a few other branded solutions to address this brain slipping around in our skull problem as the technology gets better. I think we really need to learn something from the Woodpeckers out there because evolution may take a bit longer than most of us have.
Safety ratings on helmets vary between Europe and the US, and also for different uses. Street motorcycle helmets for instance have to meet the DOT standard which makes them heavier but better for crashes with multiple tumbles and harder hits.
One of my very good friends recently had a serious crash, big air to boulder to the face! Horrible, but he had decided to wear his full face DOT helmet more often…that saved him. HE still had a mild concussion and possible fractured cheek bone, this was bad but mild compared to what could have been with a lesser helmet. Ahh what’s a few brain cells anyway, we have plenty.
It is so hard to understand why someone would not wear a little bit of protection for their skull and brain – while we do a whole lot of silly things in our daily lives. I’m pretty sure people do more to protect their computers and cars than their heads. Choices right? And then we are glad the long arm of the government doesn’t make us protect our own brains either when we are on our bicycles and mopeds.
I think I’m going to stay inside where I am safe!