Helmetless

Tony Raven said:

maybe that feeling of insecurity is what makes it safer.

That's it! Someone here called it a 're-calibration' of your
risk awareness.

"Tony Raven" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:2heojsFcahefU2@uni-
berlin.de... .

Quoted message said:

I spent much more time checking traffic and being
cautious.

That's what us helmetless people do all the time.

--
Simon M.

Tony Raven said:

Since all the hullabaloo over helmets and coming to the
realisation that what I had always assumed to be self
evident wasn't, I have taken to riding on road sans helmet
(still wear one off-road). Today was my first big
helmetless excursion in London on the Brommie and I have
to say it felt most insecure. I spent much more time
checking traffic and being cautious. Maybe years of
conditioning are hard to get rid of or maybe that feeling
of insecurity is what makes it safer.

That feeling of insecurity is good. If only motorists had
the same thing.

Tony Raven said:

..... I spent much more time checking traffic and being
cautious.

rather than, I'll be OK if I get hit, I'm wearing my helmet.

On Mon, 24 May 2004 18:10:10 +0100, "Tony Raven"
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
<[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

Today was my first big helmetless excursion in London on
the Brommie and I have to say it felt most insecure. I
spent much more time checking traffic and being cautious.

And thus your nothelmet Saved Your Life[tm] ;-)

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
chapmancentral.co.ukchapmancentral.co.ukOpen ↗

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

Tony Raven said:

I spent much more time checking traffic and being
cautious. Maybe years of conditioning are hard to get
rid of or maybe that feeling of insecurity is what makes
it safer.

But will it last? Or will you gradually feel more secure as
you forget all about the helmet?

~PB

In message <[email hidden]>, Simon Mason
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

"Tony Raven" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:2heojsFcahefU2@uni-
berlin.de... .

Quoted message said:

I spent much more time checking traffic and being
cautious.

That's what us helmetless people do all the time.

Hmm, I sometimes ride with a helmet and sometimes, don't
(approx 50/50 ish) I can't say I've noticed any difference,
but then, maybe I'm just used to both.
--
Chris French, Leeds

"Zog The Undeniable" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:40b231c7.0@entanet...

Quoted message said:

Tony Raven said:

Since all the hullabaloo over helmets and coming to the
realisation that

what

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I had always assumed to be self evident wasn't, I have
taken to riding

on road

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

sans helmet (still wear one off-road). Today was my
first big

helmetless

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

excursion in London on the Brommie and I have to say it
felt most

insecure. I

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

spent much more time checking traffic and being
cautious. Maybe years

of

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

conditioning are hard to get rid of or maybe that
feeling of insecurity

is

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

what makes it safer.

That feeling of insecurity is good. If only motorists had
the same thing.

A very good point.

Too add to this, I work at a kart track, and I find it most
amusing (and slightly worrying) when the driver of the car
which happily did 50mph + on the road to the circuit (not
necessarily dangerously) is absolutely terrified of doing
25mph in the low-end karts we use at the circuit -
presumably partly because of the lower seating position
(which gives more of an impression of speed), and partly
because of the lack of car-style safety devices (seat belts,
crumple zones and so on).

"Trevor Barton" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Nathaniel Porter said:

"Zog The Undeniable" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:40b231c7.0@entanet...

Quoted message said:

Tony Raven wrote:

> Since all the hullabaloo over helmets and coming to
> the realisation

that

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

what

Quoted message said:

> I had always assumed to be self evident wasn't, I
> have taken to

riding

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

on road

Quoted message said:

> sans helmet (still wear one off-road). Today was my
> first big

helmetless

Quoted message said:

> excursion in London on the Brommie and I have to say
> it felt most

insecure. I

Quoted message said:

> spent much more time checking traffic and being
> cautious. Maybe

years

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

of

Quoted message said:

> conditioning are hard to get rid of or maybe that
> feeling of

insecurity

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

is

Quoted message said:

> what makes it safer.

That feeling of insecurity is good. If only motorists
had the same

thing.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

A very good point.

Too add to this, I work at a kart track, and I find it
most amusing (and slightly worrying) when the driver of
the car which happily did 50mph +

on

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

the road to the circuit (not necessarily dangerously) is
absolutely terrified of doing 25mph in the low-end karts
we use at the circuit - presumably partly because of the
lower seating position (which gives

more of

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

an impression of speed), and partly because of the lack
of car-style

safety

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

devices (seat belts, crumple zones and so on).

Oh, I dunno. I've been karting a couple of times (and I'd
greatly reccommend it as great fun) and the lack of belts
etc didn't worry me at all - I reasoned that it must be
pretty safe without them otherwise they'd be fitted either
by legislation of by the owner's fear of being sued. That,
and the "Ah well, it's not my kart if I break it" led to
me winning on one occasion!

Absolutely.

But some a surprising amount of people do seem genuinly
terrified when doing a speed in a kart in controlled
circumstances which they would consider a crawl if they were
doing it in their car on the public highway

Just zis Guy said:

On Mon, 24 May 2004 18:10:10 +0100, "Tony Raven" <junk@raven-
family.com> wrote in message <2heojsFcahefU2@uni-
berlin.de>:

Quoted message said:

Today was my first big helmetless excursion in London on
the Brommie and I have to say it felt most insecure. I
spent much more time checking traffic and being cautious.

And thus your nothelmet Saved Your Life[tm] ;-)

Just like this lady's notseatbelt saved hers:

topgear.com03Open ↗

Natural selection must have been looking the other way.

Not that I am in any way advocating the non-wearing of
seatbelts - you won't catch me without mine!

--
Mark.

Pete Biggs said:

But will it last? Or will you gradually feel more secure
as you forget all about the helmet?

That's what's happened with me as I've been wearing mine
less and less. Of late I'll only wear it on the Muni, though
it would be on if I was MTBing too. My first big helmet free
excursion in years was the shakedown cruise of the
Streetmachine. Turned up at Ardrossan for the Arran ferry
with the bike in the back of the car, took out the bike,
luggage, and... damn! forgot my lid! Should I carry on?
Didn't come all this way to turn around, rode for years
without one, let's just get on with it... Quite odd at
first, as Tony reported, but going up 1000' of continuous
climb on a May day I ended up rather glad I'd forgotten it.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext.
33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177
Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email hidden]
dundee.ac.uk~pjclinchOpen ↗

"Tony Raven" <[email hidden]> wrote:

| Since all the hullabaloo over helmets and coming to the
| realisation that what I had always assumed to be self
| evident wasn't, I have taken to riding on road sans helmet
| (still wear one off-road). Today was my first big
| helmetless excursion in London on the Brommie and I have
| to say it felt most insecure. I spent much more time
| checking traffic and being cautious. Maybe years of
| conditioning are hard to get rid of or maybe that feeling
| of insecurity is what makes it safer.

That's why I 'em FUD-caps.

BTW, the caution about other traffic doesn't wear off
with familiarity. It stays at exactly the right level
since there's nothing now in the way to skew the
reasoning process.

--
Patrick Herring, Sheffield, UK anweald.co.ukanweald.co.ukOpen ↗

Patrick Herring said:

BTW, the caution about other traffic doesn't wear off with
familiarity. It stays at exactly the right level since
there's nothing now in the way to skew the reasoning
process.

Neat theory but it's too simple, IMO.

There is *over*-caution immediately after giving up the
helmet because your head feels very different so you can't
stop thinking about how "vulnerable" you are. But, IME, that
does evaporate after you get used to the way your head feels
and behaviour then normalises.

But going back to how it is when wearing a helmet...........

I've always had some trouble with the risk compensation
theory with bicycle helmets (on-road at least) because, at
least with well-experienced or informed cyclists*, there are
plenty of fears to keep you in check *before* worrying about
hitting your head. I don't want to fall or crash because I'm
quite likely to badly graze my arms and legs, sprain a wrist
and wreck my bike. I don't want any of those things
happening at all! So I don't want to crash at all. Head
protection is very much a secondary consideration, in fact
so much so that I don't bother wearing one any more for
normal cycling**.

Actually I did once hit my head in a cycling accident
whilst not wearing a helmet, but the experience only
reinforces my view as the head injury didn't actually cause
me any problems (apart from forgetting the circumstances of
the crash). It was the damage to my back and bike that put
me out of action for a long time. Of course the head injury
could have been worse if the impact was worse, but as we
know, bicycle helmets can't actually provide much
protection anyway. The experience also made me modify my
behaviour, considerably, but I fear that I'm slowly
returning to my old ways.

Still, knowing my head is better protected wouldn't make me
want to risk busting my arms and legs and bike any more. But
perhaps this does not apply to people who regard those sort
of injuries as trivial, so Helmet Risk Compensation Theory
probably apply to them.

* people who know that other injuries are more common than
head injuries.

** I did for a year or so: got fed up with getting
overheated (vents only work when moving, and moving at a
good speed). I don't believe I took any more risks when I
wore one for regular cycling. However, I would wear one
again if I deliberately wanted to take more risks for more
special kinds of cycling, eg. for racing or chain gang type
riding or hard-core off-roading.

~PB

Nathaniel Porter said:

But some a surprising amount of people do seem genuinly
terrified when doing a speed in a kart in controlled
circumstances which they would consider a crawl if they
were doing it in their car on the public highway

Well, fair enough. I get scared at speeds on my inline
skates which wouldn't even get me off the ground if I were
in a commercial airliner.

Not that I (often) get off the ground on skates either,
admittedly.

-dan

--
"please make sure that the person is your friend before
you confirm"

Pete Biggs said:

Tony Raven said:

I spent much more time checking traffic and being
cautious. Maybe years of conditioning are hard to get
rid of or maybe that feeling of insecurity is what makes
it safer.

But will it last? Or will you gradually feel more secure
as you forget all about the helmet?

Well, maybe he'll stop worrying about the helmet and start
feeling insecure if he doesn't check the traffic instead...

Roger