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Discussion » Questions » Sports » How many cyclists do you think are killed, or left with long-term injuries, each year that could have been prevented by wearing a helmet?
Reverend Muhammadovsky

How many cyclists do you think are killed, or left with long-term injuries, each year that could have been prevented by wearing a helmet?

I know the vast majority do wear helmets nowadays, but there are still a few who don't. Last month I had to help a crashed cyclist who had fallen off at 20mph and landed on his head. He wasn't wearing one. I don't know how badly injured he was but it looked pretty bad and he was probably concussed.

Posted - December 1, 2018
Tags : cycling protective gear

Responses


  • "Too many."
      December 1, 2018 5:47 AM MST
    5

  • 8214
    Motorcyclists and Skateboarders as well.  I saw a video of a teen doing a jump off of a railing, he landed on his head which cracked like a watermellon. He sustained brain damage and will never be the same.  Wearing a helmet is important for any kind of activity that puts you at risk. 
      December 1, 2018 6:11 AM MST
    5

  • 5391
    All of the unfortunate ones who hit their head, not to put too fine a point on it. Should be an example to all. 
    Defying common sense does not equate to courage in this instance. 
      December 1, 2018 7:31 AM MST
    5

  • 44628
    I read a news article about cycling deaths. 49% wore helmets...51% didn't. I was quite surprised.
      December 1, 2018 7:43 AM MST
    5

  • 14795
    I think a lot more would be alive today if they realized they are not indestructible.......Daily I see both male and female riders both young and old riding in and out of heavy traffic including London busses and heavy lorries.....
    I find it amazing that hundreds are not killed or injured every day on the roads as most I see think they are the sole users of them .....so many do the most outrageous things and im supprised there isn't far more deaths or serious injuries.... This post was edited by Nice Jugs at December 1, 2018 3:08 PM MST
      December 1, 2018 8:05 AM MST
    5

  • 44628
    Over here we do own the roads. Taxes, you know.
      December 1, 2018 9:55 AM MST
    4

  • 14795
    I'm not sure what you mean for once....:)
      December 1, 2018 2:36 PM MST
    1

  • 44628
    Since our taxes pay for the roads, they belong to the taxpayers. That's how it is over here. Or supposed to be. I remember a few years ago, my wife was having a pissing contest with a city clerk. The clerk was getting quite snotty. I took the phone and told her (not in a friendly way) that she worked for us, we didn't work for her. When I told her I wanted to speak to a supervisor, she hung up. I called back and talked to a supervisor, telling her what happened. She told me the clerk in question had shortly before grabbed her coat and purse and disappeared. I imagine she didn't have a job the next day.
      December 1, 2018 4:00 PM MST
    3

  • 14795
    Ideas of grandeur and self importance rules there to it seems....lol 
      December 1, 2018 8:21 PM MST
    1

  • 19937
    I don't know the exact number, but these are people who know better and choose to go without a helmet anyway, so I find it difficult to feel sorry for them.  
      December 1, 2018 10:21 AM MST
    3

  • 22891
    probably lots of thenn
      December 1, 2018 1:53 PM MST
    1

  • 13277
    Probably not as many as those who fail to buckle their seatbelts in cars.
      December 1, 2018 1:56 PM MST
    4

  • 628
    Hello Element99
    While a helmet can certainly help protect one's skull, it does little to protect some rider's brains...
    My answer is going to be in the same vein as Nice Juggs. Where I live the main road is a very steep, windy 2 lane rd. with no bike lane.
    It is a beautiful drive as it winds through the redwoods providing awesome views of the bay area. There is an 8 mile stretch that runs from the little downtown of Woodside up to Skyline. Riding down the road a bicycle can reach speeds of 45...When I first moved here it was rare to see a bicycle riding these roads. It started with a few who were experienced. They would drive up to skyline and take the road down. I jave to admit it was fun to get behind one and watch as they took the road at pretty good speeds, Id have a hard time keeping up in my car. Then more and more started doing it, problem being most do not have the skills. It is not uncommon that one of these idiots will not be able to handle one of the hairpins and will end up in the grill of an oncoming car. In the past few years cyclists have taken to riding Up the hill. Just about every weekend during the summer there will be an accident caused by a driver. going around a blind turn to find a bicyclist in the road, having to swerve to miss the cyclist into oncoming traffic. 
    A helmet cant fix that
      December 1, 2018 3:05 PM MST
    4

  • 14795
    I often drive around the county roads and lanes  about fifty miles from London......in all that time I've only come across two sensible bike riders.......in the warmer months there are often large groups of riders using the tiny roads and lanes ....they bunch together chatting going at quite low speeds....You often can't se far because of the hedge rows trees and bushes....
    Rather then ride single file and keep into the kerb or side of the road ,most all don't....Driving  round blind corners even at 20 mph can be quite scary......it's often impossible to overtake them safely when they all bunch together taking up one complete side of the road........

    It bemuses me at how stupid most all of the riders are.....Huge articulated lorries use the roads as do huge farm tractors ,buses and huge coaches ...plus motor bikes scream down these tiny roads also...as do some mianics young and old in flashy fast cars......
    Why there isn't far more dead cyclists on the roads I just can't say.... 

      December 1, 2018 3:28 PM MST
    3

  • 551
    I like to think I'm a sensible cyclist...I don't weave in and out of parked cars without checking behind me first, and I don't go at top speed on descents if I can't see what's at the bottom.

    I feel confident enough in my own abilities, and in my fellow road-users, in town and during the daytime. But I will not ride on country lanes after dusk.
      December 1, 2018 3:53 PM MST
    3

  • 14795
    I'm not saying there are no courteous careful bike riders....just that I rarely see one on the streets anywhere in London.....in the City which is really busy and more so in rush hours ....most all bikes overtake cars on both side of moving vehicles ......I watch in horror as most all just swerve in front of any vechiles moving....
    One tiny bit of a distraction and it would be so easy to hit a cyclist....  They mostly always blame the car driver as well...
    A year or so ago a bike messenger in the city of London run into a young mum ...he knocked her over on his bike and killed her...he got a prison sentence for manslaughter.....He was riding like a mad man and they often ride on pavements to bypass stationary traffic....:(
      December 1, 2018 8:05 PM MST
    1

  • 628
    Hello Nice Jugs
    Sounds like you have the same issues there. We have always been a destination for motorcyclists and car clubs. As you can see from my avatar I am also a motorcycle rider and I love spending the day riding through the hills here and out to the coast, however I have become much more tame in my old age..haha. When I am at home I hear them tearing down my road all day. Every weekend there will be 100's of bikes and cool cars at Alice's, an old restaurant a mile from my hose. There a currently 6 crosses on the side of the road marking where someone died. 

    The town does a really good job providing safe bike lanes for riders, they close down Canada rd. for about 8-9 miles every sunday for bikes. This is a beautiful rides through gently sloping hills past Crystal Springs reservoir and past the Filoli estate and water temple. but they all seem to want to ride where there are no bike lanes. 


      December 1, 2018 4:06 PM MST
    1

  • 628
    https://www.almanacnews.com/news/2018/05/01/injured-cyclist-sues-woodside-over-conditions-on-old-la-honda-road
      December 1, 2018 4:14 PM MST
    0

  • 14795
    I'm going to generalize and say....most all cyclists in London ,young or old,male or female ride like idiots on all roads .....
    Of course you take no notice or you don't seem to see the bike riders that are riding sensibly......there are far to many on the road with cars and large vechiles......
    Bike riders don't realize or seem to care about going up the side of huge lorries or Busses ...The lorry then turns left at traffic lights and as they pull away the rider gets crushed...I've at times seen cars do it to....To turn left in a big vechile you have to move partly over to the right....that creates a gap and always some idiot in a rush will try to squeeze into it....:(    
      December 1, 2018 8:16 PM MST
    0

  • 6988
    Having raced motorcycles, I've had the opportunity to 'test' a racing helmet. In fact, I destroyed it, but I was only knocked silly for a while. ( I hit the ground head first)  It feels like a giant hit you hard with a giant club) 
      December 2, 2018 5:42 AM MST
    0

  • 5835
    I have never known anybody who wore a helmet to ride a bicycle. I have never heard of anybody getting a head injury while riding a bicycle. And I have only seen four people on bicycles so far this century.

    So what are you talking about?
      December 3, 2018 5:54 AM MST
    1

  • 6988
    At least one bicyclist was killed on a bicycle trail that the county maintains here. It was night time and they were really moving in opposite directions. No lights on their bikes. BAM!
      December 3, 2018 6:18 AM MST
    0

  • 16800
    My dad was a paramedic, he wouldn't even let me own a bicycle before I was 13. He'd attended the scene of too many fatalities involving young cyclists.
    Helmets have been compulsory in Australia for cyclists since 1989. Fatalities and serious head injuries dropped sharply - but by then I was driving a car.
      December 3, 2018 6:10 AM MST
    0

  • 46117
    70
      December 3, 2018 6:26 AM MST
    0