The REAL reason why I never wore a helmet (but do now)
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- čas přidán 20. 05. 2024
- I grew up riding BMX in the 90’s, and thus, I did very dangerous things with no helmet on. Later in life when riding normal bicycles in the street, I also didn’t wear a helmet. The reality was, I had survived my childhood and was now doing something far less risky, yet people would lecture me on helmet use. I also knew that many places more bicycle-forward than the USA were lax on helmets. In this video I’ll explain why those lectures had no effect on me, why I changed my tune, and how to convince someone to wear a helmet without talking down to them.
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As a trauma nurse, I’m glad you’re making this video. I’m in S.FL and we constantly see unhelmeted traumatic brain injuries and they are not “cool.”
never see head injuries in any other activity, of course, only in "bike injuries". why not in cars? why not post the numbers for every type of accident, vs your selected pet peeve. broken necks and back are far more common in cyclist wrecks.
@@gregknipe8772 I don’t know what you’re trying to say here
What about all of the injuries that you don't see because they never make it to you, do you think some of them may have survived had they been wearing a helmet? I'll admit that wearing a helmet isn't a panacea, but it almost all cases, it's going to make a bad situation less bad.
@@gregknipe8772because it’s relevant to the video obviously
@@gregknipe8772why don't you just wear a helmet? It protects that bowl of noodles we call a brain in the case of an accident. You NEED that organ to work correctly to lead a normal life. And if one day there was an effective, cheap and non intrusive means to protect against back and hip issues in a wreck we would be wearing them. Like everyone wears helmets.
My father-in-law has always been a „No helmet“ person and just wore it because we told him to do so. Then, he had an accident and crashed with his head on the sidewalk - just on the edge where the traffic lane begins. The helmet broke into two pieces, but his head was completely intact. That is when neither him nor anyone else in our family started a discussion ever again about the cons of helmets, because the pros are obvious.
And, by the way, I have also discovered Leatt helmets last year and they fit perfectly!
Happy New Year from Germany and thanks for your videos😃
I just shared a similar story about my dad cracking his helmet in two before seeing your comment haha. Thank God we have smart dad's showing us the way!
The exact same thing happened to me and although I did wear a helmet, that event solidified the choice to always wear one no matter what. I can still remember falling in slow-motion realizing my head is going for the edge of the street and bouncing off of it.
My dad was the same just wouldnt wear a helmet at all , until he seen my last crash, he now always wears his helmet when out and about
I had a similar accident accept I avoided hitting my head because I knew it would hurt.
I do wear and promote wearing a helmet but there must be some clarification. Helmets protect primarily from "head" injuries. However, "brain" injuries are another topic. It must be understood that if you crash your bike with a helmet on and smack your helmet protected head on a hard object there is a very high chance that you are going to have some sort of brain injury yet there may be no sign of head injury at all. Most common is a concussion. It could be argued that it may be less severe, but it will probably still occur. Just look at football players. They wear some of the most advanced head protection money can buy, but they still get brain injuries. The best protection is learn how to ride, learn how to fall, and wear a helmet.
Before October 2014, I never wore a helmet unless it was absolutely required, say at a skate park, rip The Incline Club.
Some day in October of 2014, I was going to Allaire State Park, in New Jersey. I was riding my bmx bike.
Before I left the house my uncles house with my cousin, he told us to wear our helmets. When we couldn't see the house anymore, we took the helmets off and put them in our backpacks.
Anyways, there is a big hill you go down on hospital rd in Howell. Went down the road to the trails "lobster jumps, or lobster trails".
We saw the jumps, they were too big for us, so we left. Got back onto the road, and was going toward the big hill to now go up, so leading toward it is a slight hill and I got some speed.
I had mud on my back tire, the tires were semi slicks. No brakes. I was carving like a skater would. I was on an asphalt side path. My back tire slipped, I was still holding the handle bars being dragged by my knees, reaching for the brake lever, realizing there is not one. Fell to the left, hit the side back of my head, inches from my head landing on the grass, unfortunately my head hit the asphalt. I touch the back of my head with both my hands and they were covered in blood. Took my shirt off and put pressure on my wound.
This guy we met at the trail, maybe his name was Stirling, something like that. He had a was getting into his car when he heard me scream. He stopped and picked me up and put my bike on the rack and took me up the hill, to meet with my older cousin to take me home. I went to the hospital and ended getting 8 staples.
Thank you Stirling for picking me up, even though I got blood on your tan dashboard. Thank you, where ever you may be.
Anyways, my life has never been "normal" since then, I don't know what normal is anymore..
I was sensitive to light and loud noises in the beginning. Sirens were scary to me, sound and light, especially strobe lights.
10 years later, my equilibrium is off, after being on an elevator I get so dizzy or vertigo that I need to sit down. I see floaters in my eyes one pupil is bigger than the other. My eyes sometimes shake like if your looking at the perfect times, it feels crazy, my gf saw it and she said it was weird also I can feel and see it when it happens. I get killer migraines still.
Wear your helmet or end up like me or worse, end up like Scott Cranmer that was even wearing a full face.
If you don't protect your head no matter if your barley doing anything worth wearing a helmet, you could end up dead.
WEAR YOUR HELMET!!
My hand is numb, I've been typing so long, lol.
Thanks for the story. People tend to brush these occurrences of as a rarity, but the reality is - barely anyone has a perfect record of not banging their head against something, twisting their ankles and so on. It's one or another; nobody's unscathed.
But for this you have to have the same crash and now with a helmet.
You know what the funny part is? the damage will be worse.
There is no proof of helmets saving life's on bikes because it is not true...
I watched a stranger on a bike path fall after catching the edge of bike path with the front tire. When the paramedics arrived this grey haired older gentleman answered "1962" when asked what year it was in 2011. Despite my former inclinations about "uncomfortable helmets" I have worn a helmet since that day every time I'm on a bike. I'm really glad you made this video and I hope the unhelmeted stranger in everyones life puts on a helmet.
I've also seen this, but the person was wearing a helmet and clipped a tree. Had to tell him Trump wont the election and explain why we were all wearing masks at the hospital at the hospital over and over again.
What timing. My dad is in his 70s and has been into extreme sports his whole life. Never wore a helmet and still doesn’t. Now he just cruises on his bike, but he still rides ~90 miles week. Just yesterday he wasn’t paying attention and hit some landscaping rocks on the side of the road. Big crash and huge gashes all over his head and fractured c1-3. Had to get surgery and will never be the same. All could’ve been avoided with a helmet but he hated getting told to wear one, especially coming from a time where no one wore helmets. Seth makes very good points here. I’m guilty of not wearing a helmet when I should and I’m going to change that.
I'm your dad's age and I ride every day. I live in a small community with a 20 mph speed limit and no through traffic so I often fail to put on the helmet here - I shouldn't and I've been convinced its time to change. At my age its not who'll hit me that scares me but what a fall can do to me.
Prayers for a quick recovery
😮 just like those who hate seatbelts . They only wear when they see cops... its for u not the law....
Helmets are a must for me... have fallen down several times and my head was saved from hitting the tarmac because I always hv a Helmet on... ❤
Hope he is good
Grew up skateboarding and nobody wore a helmet. Biked around the neighborhood as a kid and never wore one either. Starting mountain biking in my 30s and it never even crossed my mind to ride without one. Got a family to provide for and I like my brain functioning as it should.
And since mandatory helmet laws have been in place where are all the kids biking? Nowhere in my my city.
@@trishaleaver3581 what city is that, exactly?
@@trishaleaver3581this is a perfect example of correlation ≠ causation
Is biking round the neighborhood the same as mountain biking? Is roller skating at the park the same as the roller derby that used to be on tv? Is riding a bmx bike around as a kid the same as riding a vert ramp? .
It’s almost as if you inherently know that going mountain biking is different than riding around the neighborhood. And you don’t need some mandate from the government to make decisions for you. Who would have thought!
You have been just lucky!
2:58 the no helmet beach cruiser wheelie into the bar spin, made my day.
Ok Seth, you have done it. Your brilliance has convinced me. I was a cycle courier for 6 years, i rode 50 hours a week back then, flying in city traffic.
These days i ride everyday again, i love down hill single track, commute, school runs. ALL WITHOUT a helmet.
Never hurt my head in all of these years, 100,000's miles.
Seth you have done it. Buying a helmet today. Thank you brother.
My dad was mountain biking with my brother, i was not there but my dad turned his head around to make sure my brother was okay going down a pretty big hill, then he went off the trail at 20+ mph and his front wheel got stuck in some bushes and threw him over the bars and he went head first into a rock. The doctors said the helmet 100% saved his life and he was lucky to walk away with only one broken vertebrae
Was there any lasting injuries?
Did the doctors have evidence to back up their assertion?
@@ILOVESKIING Nope
@@FirstNameLastName-ev3jk technically no, not really but if you go over 20mph head first into a rock withOUT a helmet, your probably going to dead or wayyy more injured than just one broken bone
@@FirstNameLastName-ev3jkas the guy said, technically no, so why don't you give it a try? Go 20+ Mph in a trail and then go off course then when the slope is steep enough throw the bike aside and jump off it simultaneously towards the front onto a sharp rock without a helmet, let's see if you make it out. And if you do I would like to know your physical condition. How about it, you up for it?
In Australia helmets are mandatory. We also have an unwritten rule that if you pass a small kid on the trail you have to say 'cool helmet' to encourage them, especially if they are on the bike with an adult who is walking.
And by what I read the law had an effect of reducing bike ridership and overall not improving safety. I am totally for encouraging people to use helmets, and teaching them to use them right. But I am also totally against mandatory laws, cause it reduces bike ridership and reduced bike riders on the streets means more risks for the ones left. Bicycle safety comes from good infrastructure and good education of motorized drivers. Both of which are harder to get if there are fewer people on bicycles on the streets.
@@jantonioskI've never seen that statistic before you might need to show your work. If you normalise helmet use then people who grow up in a mandatory helmet wearing society barely question it.
Most people I know in Australia at least have a bike and the thing that stops them from riding is poor infrastructure.
The unwritten rule you mention is the best thing I’ve heard!
@@jantoniosk do you have any stats to support that? You can have all the good infrastructure you want, it won't stop someone from having a brain injury if they hit their head off the pavement at speed.
By your logic, we should see a decrease in the use of cars based on enforced seatbelt laws and speed limits. And mandatory insurance, registration, and license to operate.
@@bobbyellis5006 Seems my responses are not getting posted here anymore for soem reason.
Your comparison does not hold up. Your Seatbelt and speed limit is not something EXTRA you have to buy and put on your head every time you ride your car. And there are clear, objective and unambiguous data showing the positive effects (and I am unaware of any negative ones). Not true regarding Bicycle Helmets.
Look up cientific data online and you will find data on both the studies "proving" Helmets efficacy (quick teaser: most studies are quite biased, flawed and even disingenuous) as well as whole population analysis cases which show no positive effect of mandatory laws in regards to safety as well as drop of ridership. Ridership in Australia fell once the mandatory law came into effect and there was no real clear benefit in regards to Head Injuries which could not be explained by other factors.
I know it seems contradictory that making people use a safety device on their head could have no real positive effect when you look at the population as a whole. But you have to factor in all the variables and not just look at the very specific circumstance of one's head hitting the curb in a perfect straight motion. You have to look at all the variables. Many of the more serious Head traumas are caused by Rotational Head Injury, and Helmets do not help with those as well as might even worsen the rotational forces on our monkey brains on the moment of impact.
Helmets seam to help more with the less serious injuries. And that's totally fine. Do incentivize people to use it. But making it mandatory has more downsides than the small upsides it creates for people on bikes as a whole population.
A few years ago I was on a green (easy) MTB trail with a buddy near Redrock Park outside of Las Vegas, NV, when I hit a rock and ended up looking at the sky. I fractured my scapula and tore some ligaments in my shoulder, but my head (and I) survived. It only took a few seconds to go from “easy” trail riding to going over the bars. Thanks for sharing your experience and wisdom.
now what you did with no helmet is just begging for trouble I think we just found this years Darwin award winner...
Love your channels. Watch often and love your videos. You helped get me through COVID!!! Re: the helmets, I actually broke my neck riding my bike and because of my helmet, I am still here. I hit my head with such force on a fall that I broke my second vertebrae. In hindsight, it was a stupid fall and I was doing something I had no business doing but my helmet saved me and I am here today riding more than ever because my silly Bell helmet certainly saved my from at the very least a serious head trauma and possible death. Thanks for all your videos and keep up the good work.
80's kid here.
Been riding helmetless all my life until recently. A kid jumped in front of me on a bike path as I was on a commute back home - no helmet, no pads, expensive laptop in a backpack, old brakes... ended up crashing to save the kid and banged my head agains the curb. Nothing bad but it made me realise things can happen on a ride that I can't control or forsee... long story short I have two helmets now and looking for a nice full-face for the trails :)
Delighted that you're okay. You could have been a curb stain. Keep that lid locked in 🙏
Glad you walked away without serious injury! If you're looking for a full face, I recommend the Bell Super DH Spherical. It's pricey, but sales can make it hurt the wallet less. It's one of the most comfortable full faces I've found. It's also downhill certified while having a removable chin bar which is nice if you don't want the full-face protection for every ride. There are plenty of other full-face helmets, but I wanted to throw in my ticket for the Bell if it helps.
Happy riding!
This is often my argument-it’s not necessarily that the bike itself is dangerous. It’s the stuff you can’t predict that might happen while you’re on it.
Glad you’re okay.
Few years ago,same situation,going back home,laptop on the backpack,old bike and very stupid me looking to some nice random woman crashed very slow from the side walk to the road head first. I was wearing my helmet but my face got a good hit against the curb and my laptop screen was destroyed in the accident. I always wear helmet on 2 wheels.
@@9starferret Thanks, I'll look around for it - removable chin would be very welcome. I've been looking at Uvex Jekyll for this reason.
Just like you, I grew up not using helmets, actually we thought it was kind of looser. One day, one friend that usually go to work using skateboard arrives at the office carrying a helmet. Someone mocked him, and he said: "I don't care, it’s MY head". Since that day, I started to use helmet every time I mount my bike for a ride, even a ride with my young kids. I'm not a looser, it's MY head!
Excellent video, as usual!!!
Thanks for the reminder bro. Great content as always. HNY!
😎 This is an important conversation, and I appreciate the insight you’ve provided.
There has been a massive shift in helmet use at ski resorts in the last 25 years. Our understanding of TBI has started to make differences and I think that will continue to spread to bikes.
Downhill skiing has a VASTLY greater risk of taking falls and getting serious injuries (including head injuries) than just riding a bicycle in a normal, safe manner along road or bike-path.
The death of Sonny Bono is what caused that change in the skiing world. Prior to that many people didn't even know ski helmets existed.
@@petesig93I am not sure that is true. I think if one is competent and in control and not pushing ones boundaries, for either sport, risk of injury can be very low but not zero. It is very important to learn how to fall safely to reduce the risk of a head injury regardless of helmet or not (helmets are not a panacea and have some mild downsides for sure). Sliding and/or rolling to break falls is key.
I'm from Seth's generation and did lots of mtb and alpine skiing (including race training) without a helmet. I started wearing a bike helmet first on roads because cars hurt. I got a rec ski helmet because they are warmer than hats. I never had a fall in either sport where a helmet would have helped until my first ski season wearing one. Freak accident from pushing boundaries and I smacked the back of my helmet on the rim of a metal barrel for the snow guns. Would have cracked my skull open without it. So yes, they are great to wear in both sports.
What I will say is people do overestimate the value of helmets (even though they do indeed save lives). They are fantastic for protecting against skull fractures. Nobody wants their skull split open, and for that alone they are 100% worth wearing. In terms of concussions, they probably help a small amount, but that is not the reason to wear a helmet. I know lots of people who suffered major concussions wearing helmets. The best way to protect against concussions is to develop strong neck muscles through training. Ski racers who do gym programs targeting the neck have fewer concussions on average.
@@jamesroscoe7555 helmets for car collision impacts are of near-zero actual benefit. ALL helmet manufacturers make this quite clear in their literature. The Australian Standard for Bicycle Helmets was developed to simulate a fall from 2 metres onto concrete (or a sub-20kmh impact).
@@petesig93 Sure, serious collisions with cars will probably overwhelm a helmet, but many bike-car interactions are low speed but dangerous for cyclists. Eg dooring. All it takes is a fall onto concrete or the edge of something solid to potentially crack ones skull.
What's less cool than wearing a helmet is a traumatic brain injury.
Had one once. 0/10 - would not recommend.
@@onehandwashestheother Yeah but i don't wanna go bleeding out of my head if i can prevent it
A broken neck from a helmet
@@markwilliams5654and if you dont wear a helmet beside that broken neck you would also have your brain spread on the concreat
@@escu396 That is only an argument against fullface helmets,and in most cases the neck injury would have happened anyways.
I absolutely love your videos and always will! I have been watching for so many years now and you never let down on any of your videos. I don't know how you do it but I always watch whatever you put out lol!
Kudos bud! We all have Certified multi-sport helmets for the skate park and parking lots. And we where just discussing the helmet I want for this summer, when I bike to work. Marley is about to get a mountian bike helmet as well, she wants to start riding around at the lake and at our ranch. Kiddos are the best reason to always have one. Lord knows my helmets have smashed the ground more than once, and I was thankful for it everytime. Thanks for taking the time to tell this story. ✌️
In almost 20 years on a mountain bike, most of my more serious injuries happened in the city, while riding casually.
I never leave my helmet off when riding.
It saved my noggin a lot of times. and in unexpected situations.
For example - a huge slab of ice fell more than 20m. Directly on my head.
The bloody fullface helmet saved my life.
Reminds me I accidentally left my helmet on a stone wall while bikepacking in Wales. I went back to get it, tough as Wales is super hilly! But on the way back a massive branch came down and smacked into the ground right next to me breaking up into pieces. Could have hit my head while I did not have the helmet! I looked up and it was actually a crow that dropped it! Crazy. Did not like bikers.
I once misjudged a low hanging branch and hit it hard enough that it almost knocked me off my bike and left a deep gouge in my helmet. It's horrifying to think what could have happened if I was bareheaded.
I mostly ride in the city (like 10 km somewhre and then back) but some times I do longer trips (like 100 km somewhere) on the road. Some people seem to think that helmets are only needed on the road. My experience is exactly opposite. On the road everything is very predictable. I don't even remember having any close calls on the road. In the city the pace of events is much tighter and there is a lot more things you have to pay attention to.
@@Durwood71 When I was working in a meat grinding plant: I found that I was more likely to bump into things because the helmet adds 2 inches.
That could have happened to you just standing still.
My 75 year old mother crashed her electric scooter on Christmas Eve and sustained a serious head injury. It is now New Year's Eve and she has not woken up from her emergency surgery. She is laying in a hospital bed with her skull still open from the surgery. I hope this account of what my family is experiencing is graphic enough to convince someone out there not to ever ride without a helmet. I will likely never have another conversation with my mother and a little head protection could have made a huge difference.
I'm so sorry to hear about your Mother. I hope she makes it - it is possible! I lost my Dad in a very similar situation last January. I wish the very best for you and your family. This kind of thing is so very hard.
Sad to hear. But by this logic if someone I know died in a car crash from head injury, should that make everyone wear helmets or put rollcages in their cars? Of course 100% it makes sense to wear a helmet if you are really young/old and riding and electric scooter & without good experience/skills!
@@tonut.2684 we do have mandatory safety laws for cars. A lot of them. Seatbelts, speed limits, crash safety regulations. Cars need to be registered and insured and drivers literally need to be licensed to use them on public roads.
and yet you have really high deaths rate by cars or guns compared to EU. But you care if other adults wear helmets or not? That's pathetic dude. Why don't you start wearing bulletproof west everywhere? Probably a lot higher chance to get shot in the US than crash on your bicycle and hit the ground with your head. Of course if you only ride 1-2 times a year do wear a helmet.. jesus common sense. If you ride daily commute for your whole life and the road is not that dangerous.. you can choose for yourself.. @@bobbyellis5006 You guys have states where there is no helmet laws on motorbikes right? Maybe you should go advocate on them to wear helmets before you say who should wear a helmet on a bicycle..
@@bobbyellis5006cars are significantly more dangerous than bikes. As mentioned in this video, the Tour de France ran for years with no one wearing a helmet with hundreds of cyclists going top speed downhill on twisty mountain roads, and yet fatalities were not common. You can look at any motor sport in the same period and see that helmets, roll cages, flame retardant suits, fire extinguishers etc were required, and they had fatalities every year. The risks are not the same.
Thank you thank you thank you for posting this video. I love your example because I always say that it’s the unexpected things in life that will get you so it can’t hurt to be safe. I participate in multiple outdoor sports like biking, whitewater kayaking, climbing and always wear a helmet and it has saved my life multiple times.
Thank you for posting this video, it's tragic that people still often don't wear helmets because they're sure of their skill. A good friend of mine was riding home from work about a month ago and was sadly a victim of a hit and run, where he succumbed to his injuries. Like Seth said, it's those freak incidents that end up claiming more people than the "predictable" ones.
Then you get freaks like me who have crashed bikes without a helmet since they were 3, suffered no ill effects, and have a thicker skull and crashing skills to show for it. I only wear a helmet when I'm riding the trails. When I'm out in traffic, I use a mirror and my ears and keep my attention on the road. Only been hit once and avoided 6 potentially lethal hits that would have been the driver's fault for driving distracted. I swear, I'm going to get a giant air horn for my city bike so I can startle these texting drivers while simultaneously getting a damn good workout from the compressor and generator to run the horn, lol. Personally, I don't care if I look stupid or not, what I care about is being able to see where I'm going, not worrying about that raw spot the helmet rubbed on my forehead, and not worrying about the pain from the helmet straps pinching my ears. Cheap helmets are all I can afford and they are NOT worth the distraction and pain that can CAUSE an accident. Personal risk assessment aside, we can all agree that it is far more risky for everyone involved to operate any vehicle with distractions.
When I was a junior studying Physics at Uni, I had an allergic reaction that left me unconscious in a bathroom. I woke up lumped over the toilet with the right side of my skull cracked and a broken nose. I forgot how to do math, a chunk of my second language, a loss of many memories, and some motor skills. I went from nearly graduating with a physics degree to struggling with basic fractions. Having so much effort (I've never been inherently gifted in mathematics) flushed down the drain nearly destroyed me. It's been a few years and I've recovered much of what was lost but some things will likely never return.
I will always have a helmet on when rock climbing, mountain biking, etc. It simply isn't worth the potential damage
Thank you for this video and thank you for using your platform to encourage safety.
If this video saves even one person from the life I have now or likely one far worse, you've done a great service to the community.
what do you still forget or what memories haven't come back? and did you graduate?
@@primtve_dope9568 Some German has returned, but it's still hard to speak. Reading or hearing it is doable though. Math and other academics took years. I never graduated and couldn't manage when I returned to school. It took a while before I could learn again. Currently I'm planning on an IT career and plan to go through cert courses and whatnot at the same university if all goes well.
I went into trades as a carpenter for a rigging company to pay for medical and for the university fees. Though that job recently came to a close.
As for memories, a lot have come back. Having photos and videos from the past helped a lot to spark them back. Now I have weird phenomenons where a memory is triggered and can be vivid or something like a smell or feeling. Like hearing a song reminded me of walking to class a certain day, riding the bus in highschool, or the stomach pit of a breakup I had forgotten for example.
Though there are some blank spots that I have to be told of by friends.
A trick to regaining my ability to remember was ALWAYS having a notebook on me. It's a small field note one and I wrote everything in it. Conversations, dates, gift ideas, poems, anything that came to mind. And I would study those. After conversations or dates, I would sit in the car after writing out bullet points trying to recall every detail. Eventually I got to a point where I didn't need to write things to remember them and have made a very lucky recovery. I've gotten to a point where I almost feel a guilt for how lucky I got with recovery. Though it is still hard sometimes. I had episodes where I wouldn't remember a day or where I was which was terrifying. Though I haven't had one in a while now.
I know I've kept it vague but I hope that answers some of the question.
SLOC is a thing, it can happen to anyone...
So, moral of the story is people should wear helmets 24/7? Lol
This was an honest & objective look into bicycles and helmet use. Very refreshing, Seth!
Hey Seth!! I just wanted to say I love your video and it help get me want to get into mountain biking. I’m getting my first bike tomorrow!!
Yooo what’d you get?
@@jacenolmsted6293 giant talon 1.
THANK YOU for this Seth. I grew up racing and riding motocross and helmets on dirtbikes were ALWAYS MANDATORY in my house. I've known too many people die over the years from seemingly mundane or common accidents just tooling around on MX / ATVs.
However when I went to college and got into cycling I fell out of mandatory helmet habits while on bicycle for reasons I am not really sure. Luckily I didn't have any MAJOR incidents that came too close, however I DO have rides where I was NOT wearing a helmet that still HAUNT me a bit to this day, knowing how close I COULD HAVE been to death / paraplegia / etc. I did ZooBomb runs in Portland down Hellway on a home-made tallbike with the heaviest road gearing I could muster and 23c racing slicks, doing 65+ MPH DOWNHILL WITHOUT A HELMET (?!) and ONLY A FRONT (CABLE-PULL) BRAKE!
Luckily when I moved to the Bay Area I got back into wearing helmets full-time again as the city streets of Oakland / San Francisco just weren't worth the extra risk. Also, my TALLBIKE is STILL my DAILY DRIVER after 10+ YEARS which is yet another reason ;).
After starting my own family, I cannot imagine riding without a helmet no matter what and it is a requirement in our house once again.
I used to not wear a helmet, I had one on just to mount a go-pro, crashed, the shattered helmet and lack of injury to myself is the reason I did my 180.
Thanks Seth.
Great video, very important indeed.
A helmet saved my life. I was racing with a team when I was stationed in Hawaii. It was the start of a race, going into the first turn. I saw white jerseys at the front (my team wore white) coming out of the turn and thought to myself, I need to get up there and pull. I got around the corner fine and got out of the saddle and started to sprint to the front. Later I looked at the gps data and saw that I was doing 23mph when I came off the biile. I remember my right foot unclipping from the peddle. I remember thinking, "this will be bad." I remember falling forward and seeing the front wheel turned 90 degrees to the left. I remember waking up on the ground and people were telling me to stay down. I did a systems check. I had less skin than before the crash, but everything seemed to be working okay. My jersey, bibs, and gloves were shredded. When I took off my helmet I saw that all the styrofoam between the vents in the back was completely crushed, only staying in place because it was glued to the outsr skin. I was driven to the ER, had a chest and pelvic X-ray and a head CT. I walked away with only a dislocated rib and a concussion. One of the women on our team was right behind me when I went off. She later told me she was really shaken up by the crash because she thought I was dead. If it hadn't been for the helmet, I would have been. I still have road-rash scars, including one on my left cheek. From the scratches on my glasses and face I figure that I must have been sliding face down after I was knocked unconscious. But I lived through it and was able to finish out a 26 year career in uniform to include a deployment to Iraq.
What rank were you?
Did you fill out a high-risk activity form?!
@@navigator8222 Major (O-4)
@@adamschackart6859 No
@@navigator8222 What's your mother's maiden name?
We need to see more of the archive tricks and such!
Love that you chose this filming location !
That confidence you feel with a decent helmet is one of the (minor but measurable) detractors from helmet safety. You feel safer so you're more likely to do riskier things (like jumping up and grabbing bars). "Risk homeostasis" is one name for the effect.
For road cycling on a bike path that may make sense. For MTB, it can have precisely the opposite effect. Some MTB trails and features require speed and commitment and if you're too cautious you could actually cause a crash, OTBs in particular are usually from hesitation while riding a feature. For road cycling on the road, cars are the main worry, so crashes beyond your control are a very real risk.
Yep
Yeah, but I improved more because of that. I wear helmet when I use my skateboard. Because I feel confident, I learned a bit faster. It's really not different from people not wearing helmet. They are confident despite not wearing helmet, they learn faster because of that.
I only feel that bump in safety if I'm wearing a full face.
Risk compensation and the peltzman effect are other terms used for this. They were based on poor science. The Theories persist despite insufficient evidence.
This was the best and most well rounded video on helmets I've ever watched. Amazing job Seth and great insight. I used to ride without a helmet as a kid too but right around college, I started getting into road cycling. During that time I recognized that I'm going at much faster speeds on much busier roads than I was when I was a kid and decided to start wearing a helmet. I'm so glad I did because a couple years ago I had really big crash... involved an ambulance, the emergency room, and a broken collarbone, but NOT a caved in skull. Literally remember tumbling through the air and feeling the side of my head smash into the pavement but my helmet saved me from having to learn how to speak again. To this day, I don't feel confident on a bike unless I have a helmet on.
Your point on having a good helmet is also a BIG deal. Modern helmets have gotten so good and they're just down right comfy. Where I live (as with a lot of places) cycling received a big boom due to the pandemic and thankfully so did helmet use. Not wearing a helmet around here is even considered "uncool" which is kind of a complete 180 to a decade ago and it's honestly amazing.
I was going to comment something very similar, this is really a very good video on helmet safety, I've sent this to my nephew,
There wasn’t any actual statistics given. There wasn’t any actual cons given. Well rounded doesn’t mean it supports what you believe
@@ianhughan7325strong disagree. It isn’t any different than any other videos saying “ i didn’t wear a helmet until this happened to me and now I do”. It also kinda shows his arrogance in thinking he knows everything. Seth, along with many others, very clearly over estimate their risk assessment capabilities and you’re not gonna change their minds unless some sort of accident happens to them (as stated in the video by himself)
A true weapon of mass instruction, thank you for bringing all this knowledge and passion to the biking and non-biking world 👏
Your best video ever! Great job influencing others 🎉
At my first job out of college a woman I knew well got reversed into by a van whilst commuting to work on a slow road. Head went through the glass and died later in hospital.
It's not always about what you're doing, it's what others sharing roads/paths do that concerns me.
My friend used to tease me whenever I got into his car and put on a seat belt. "What's the matter, don't you trust me?" he would say. "Oh, it's not, you," I would lie, "It's all the other drivers I'm worried about."
@@Durwood71 funny thing is one person without a seatbelt can cause a lot of harm to those who have one. Seen a video about a side crash with two people in the back, one with a seatbelt, one without. The woman with the seatbelt remained seated but the other one flew right into her and bounced right back in what looked like less than a second. The collision resulted in a neck injury for the person with the seatbelt
@@mad_scientist5597 - yes but that is no reason not to wear a seatbelt (funny thing...), more a reason to fine the adults choosing to put the other occupants at risk (people incorrectly state that they are only risking their own safety, not so...- or in the case of children, it is the driver in control at fault, how much penalty for risking children''s future is too little???.
@@kadmow That depends on the country I guess although I do believe it's true where I live that only the driver can be fined for not having a seatbelt, or if there is a child in the car without the proper protection for their age.
If a child is in the middle and people with no seatbelt on either side then the child is getting crushed as soon as the car turns in a crash but creating such conditions is not an offense. Ah yes the legal systems and its downfalls.
I grew up in the 90s and 00s BMX community. I always wore gloves, shin pads, and eventually knee pads once they started making them without the bulk. Only ever wore helmets at skateparks or if i was doing something really gnarly. After witnessing a few superbly talented riders suffer TBIs and basically need to relearn how to exist, I started wearing it any time I got on any of my wheeled things. I couldn't let that be me and have my kids witness that.
I really enjoy your content. You have great presentation. Can’t wait to learn more as I go. SUBSCRIBED!
Good to see you get the message out there Seth, as someone who has been taken out by cars a couple of times & major stack or two on the trails it's a helmet for me everytime I get on the bike, it's a no brainer for me
Yeah, I get it that 99% of the time you will never have an issue on a bike without a helmet. For me, it was about establishing the habit of wearing one just like a seatbelt. Thank goodness, because I hit some ice on a mundane bike ride a few years ago and actually landed on my head. To each their own.
I sometimes commute by bike and I think wearing a helmet is mostly so that motorists feel less worried about running into people riding bikes. I don't think I should have to wear a helmet so that other people can behave more recklessly. However, even without taking the risk of colliding with road traffic into account, there's still a chance I could fall off the bike for whatever reason and hit my head on concrete. Like he said in the video, there are so many other activities where it would make sense to wear a helmet that we don't wear helmets for. Riding a bike with a helmet does make sense though.
Something I've noticed (your mileage may vary) is that motorists around here are much more cautious of giving cyclists space if they are NOT wearing a helmet. Very weird. Put on a helmet and reflective vest and get ready to get close passed a lot.
I still helmet up but it's strange.
This was really beautifully shot Seth
Great point on talking down to people.
Excellent video. You're advice is true and accurate. Don't talk down or be condescending. That is great advice when arguing any topic. I'm a product of the no helmet era but now I would not think about riding without one. I don't crash much but most of my crashes have resulted in having to buy a new helmet. The worst crashes I've had have been on easy trails that I have rode numerous times. It's easy to get overly comfortable on familiar trails or slow paced paths and that is when the unexpected jumps up and bites you in the a@#. It sucks having to spend the money on a helmet but it's a lot better than having brain damage.
I've been following you since the beginning. The quality of your videos has grown to be incredible and your topics and presentation continue to be interesting and entertaining.
Honestly the note about ebikes was the most compelling to me. By far the most dangerous thing for a cyclist is poor infrastructure causing car-bike encounters, but having cycling infrastructure open to unskilled operators on very fast ebikes is likely to cause more bike bike conflicts..
Was going to say the same exact same thing
Yeah and then when you have those operators on the roads where cars are, it compounds all the problems even more than they already were
Very fast eBikes? Here in Austria and most of Europe the assistance is limited to 25km/h. Even a halfway fit casual cyclist can go faster than those 25km/h on muscle power alone.
@@Mike-oz4cv US is different lol
@@Mike-oz4cv the suburb of Los Angeles where I live has always been an aerospace community. Since Spacex has been here, everyone drives Teslas and their kids have ebikes that can reach 50k/hr. By law, anyone under 15 is required to wear a helmet, but you're not required to have a license to ride these types of bikes. There's almost no legislature concerning them and the legislature body is too weak to impose anything. They don't want to make any decisions. The explosion of e-bikes (which happened during covid) is so great that law enforcement can't even do anything about it. Plus you don't arrest children of the new "middle" class.
I’m about to start biking regularly again - been watching your content to research.
A helmet wasn’t that important on my list - so thank you.
Now to engage in some helmet review content.
I think there’s a lot of non-helmet people that changed because of similar experiences. I grew up skateboarding in the late 90s with that same “helmets are for nerds” attitude but wore one when I’d snowboard because my parents were there and there was no option. I ended up catching an edge and still having a seizure and a TBI from the crash, but I don’t doubt that it saved my life.
Gen X here. I think a lot of us did not realize the dangers that surround us back then. Thank you Seth for doing this video. I did not know they make other kinds of helmets. I got a walmart one and I hate it because it is so uncomfortable and the straps rubs against my hearing aid.
i was on the bus once and i overheard a guy was bragging about how his hair would save him if he crashed his bike. we lived in a very hilly area. ive seen people fall and brake things like its nothing. his hair would do nothing
ive always been a helmet person... because why not?
The dangers were VERY clear to me in the 80s and 90s. I rode a lot, at one point I would ride up to 70 miles per day. I grew up in Houston and have been hit by cars, high sided and low sided avoiding being hit by cars. I still don’t own a helmet. I’d wear one riding offroad though….
I wish helmet companies would develop products that accommodate hearing aids and cochlear implants!
My dad also wears hearing aids and said exactly the same, took a while to find a good fitting helmet for him that he was comfortable wearing
The effort shows on this one! Well-made video once again, the arguments and perspectives are very vast and I think you brought some new light into this conversation, thanks!
I used to not wear a helmet bc the ones I tried from Walmart were uncomfortable and not cool. Then I was skateboarding one day when I got hit and run by a car. Spent the next week in the trauma ICU with multiple brain bleeds and multiple facial fractures. I was lucky enough to make a full recovery and I don’t remember any of the incident or hospital stay. Now I have a fox dropframe helmet that I wear religiously. Seeing the stress I put my family and friends through by not wearing a helmet and the results of that choice was enough for me to change my ways and advocate for others to do the same. Thanks for making this video.
This video needed to be made. Well done Seth ❤
It wasn't that long ago bicycle helmet technology and ergonomics was really bad. In the last 20 years helmets have become acceptable (and comfortable). Nowadays i ride with a helmet for every single ride, no matter how short or slow, but that only started (for me) in 2018..
I just felt it was time for a quality enduro style helmet.
Coincidentally, in my coastal town I've noticed an almost 100% increase in helmet wearers in the last 5 years, haha. You're welcome, people and keep it up ❤
Class 3 + No helmet scares me. I love e-bikes but it's crazzzzy to me how little fear people have on them. Even putting your foot down wrong while rolling on a normal bike at 8 mph you can mess you up big time which is something I forget all the time.
I feel like our risk assessment is definitely too optimistic 😅. Stay safe everyone!
I’m a road cyclist, never used to wear a helmet. I always thought the worst thing that could happen was a car could hit me, and in that case a helmet wouldn’t help a ton anyway. Fast forward to one day I’m testing out some bike tires that were faulty, I slipped and fell off my bike in the parking lot. Seriously hurt me and left me shook up, with many cuts and scrapes on my forehead. From that day on I always wear a helmet no matter what.
I've worked as a RN in the ED and Neuro/Trauma ICUs for 8 years. Please and thank you for properly wearing a helmet that fits!
Great Video its definitely worth the extra time to put on a Helmet. You Should do a video on the Salsa Rangefinder Deore 10 27.5+
I JUST bought a helmet a few weeks ago. Beyond the desire to avoid painting the streets with my cranial fluid something that helped me get over my opinion that helmets were "dorky" was noticing you always had one on when riding 🤙
I can totally agree that biking is so much safer than other sports even without a helmet! Like 5 or so years ago I got a concussion from a public playset which was so post to be “safe for little kids “ It may not sound like it but walking on a sand pit and falling over sometimes is more dangerous than riding your bike.
Nice video. Born in 81, I’ve never worn a helmet until a few years ago. Heck in the early 2000s I used to trail ride without one.
Too much to loose to not wear one, even going around the block.
Very grateful for this video, Seth. As someone who had a near death experience without a helmet (getting hit by a car on my bike), I likely could have avoided months of rehab had I been wearing one. The amount of middle and high school kids I see riding e-bikes without helmets is astonishing and quite frankly scary.
I wear a helmet when commuting, the safest principals are to not make assumptions and wear a helmet because even if you don't make assumptions and read the body language of other road users perfectly, it still wont save you from a distracted road user.
Here in Australia we've had mandatory bicycle helmets laws since 1990. The helmet must also meet the Australian/New Zealand safety standard AS/NZS 2063.
Like driving a car without a seat belt feels not right, riding a bike without a helmet gives me the same feeling.
And having had a few crashes where I've hit my head, it's probably saved me.
That is not the same. Cars are super dangerous, bikes are not.
@@difflocktwo He's not comparing the two, only the feeling of driving a car without a seat belt and riding without a helmet. It's weird. I'd imagine if you don't do either, a seat belt and a helmet would feel weird.
Thank you so much for this video. I am 60 years old and been riding since I was a kid... no helmets back then and so many risks taken. In my mid 20's started seriously mountain biking and riding with traffic up and down the hills in San Francisco with no helmet and speed was my drug. On my commute home one day, flying down a very steep hill making a left hand turn onto a one way throughfare with a green light I hit a patch of oil or some other moisture and launched into the air and over a parked car landing into the back of a smaller toyota truck bed with metal rails. I landed with my head two inches from the rear tailgate flat on my back, left heel hit the cab and dented it really good shattering the rear glass. I landed about as perfectly as I could have through no choice of my own and thankfully i had a backpack on with gym clothes and a to go styrofoam container in it to break the fall. Dude at red light which has turned green pulls up next to me and asks if I was alright and that it was the coolest thing he's ever seen. After paying for the damage to the truck I went out and purchased my first helmet and am so thankful not to be in a home drooling as the nurses wipe my ass for me. Great message! Thanks!
Clever analysis, as always.
A simple evening ride changed my best friend's life forever.
He usually wore a helmet, but this evening he was just going around the bike path with his young daughter.
His helmet was inconvenient to get so he went with out. He thought "at worst a minor accident ill be fine".
After a beautiful evening ride, at the end of the ride there was a stump feature at the side of the bikeway that everyone played on.
Himself had many times enjoyed this feature. As he was about to exit the feature, when he washed out his front wheel and crashed to the ground. Drove his big,pink,and very soft unhelmutted Mellon into a very hard boulder. All of our lives changed in that moment.
He is alive though that was also touch and go the first 24 after " the minor accident " but he, his family, and friends lost all of the little things that made him who he was. He lost large chunks of his life do to memory and or motor function loss.
All of this could have been avoided for a trip to the carpark to get his brain bucket.
Moral of the story:
Even the easiest of trails or rides can end up going south. Bones break and heal, brains don't. Brain buckets save lives in more then one way.
Keep your rubber in the dirt and your brain in a bucket.
When I became a nurse and realized that a simple mistake can lead to being fed through your nose and defecating in your bed for the rest of your life it really struck me. It really is amazing how we go from doubled down to “yeah I absolutely need to wear a helmet now”. It’s also exactly how it happened to me too, Seth 😂
I have a friend who made his kid ride with a helmet, but he never did. He claimed he was a "good enough rider and didn't make mistakes." I asked him if he was willing to risk making his daughter feed him and change his diaper for the rest of her life. People need to be reminded that their actions/decisions affect other people, especially family members.
@@ouisi7Additionally if he wants his daughter to wear a helmet while riding a bike it just doesn’t make sense to not wear one himself. Rules for thee but not for me very likely leads to said rules being ignored once the one enforcing them is looking the other way.
@@skirata3144 - just like all policing, it works better if you respect the authority. (most millenials and zoomers won't understand). lol...
I love you're vids Seth, I used to watch you all the time when I was in my early teens, you inspired me to push myself when it comes to mountain biking and now I'm in college looking back and it's just so nice to see you're still around making CZcams videos. I love your content and keep on pedaling (with a helmet on of course). Thank you.
Happy New year Hector and Family :)
This young kid in the bike park wasn't wearing a helmet, I asked him why not, he said "because I'm good at this" I said "so are the pros and they still wear a helmet" he look at me and had nothing to say.
Happy new year 🥳
Seth is 100% right about getting what you pay for. I'm a little over 50 years old and I've been riding a bicycle since I was 5 years old and motorcycles since I was 25 or so. I'm a 100% "all the gear all the time" guy on the motorcycle... even if it's 95 degrees - but I never wore a helmet (or gloves) on a bicycle because it sucked and was uncomfortable. Then it dawned on me that maybe I should put some of the same thought/money into a bicycle helmet that I did into the $500+ Arai full-face I wore on the motorcycle. A good bicycle helmet doesn't cost nearly that much, but the difference between a $35 helmet and a $100 helmet is night and day.
However, that $35 helmet is still better than no helmet.
Side note, if you have an Arai shaped head, check out Smith helmets. They fit my head really well.
That Topanga... I sold my stonefleck grey DB to a friend after college. It was the bike I learned how to mountain bike on, first real mountain bike after high school. Sold it for a Klein Pulse Comp, which was way better, but still loved the DB.
Thanks for the extended footage of the large heron by the creek.
Here in The Netherlands almost no one wears a helmet, only people on sports bikes and old people on e-bikes
Do you have more head injuries per captia there?
@@difflocktwo I don't know actually
@@difflocktwothere's a study about this subject and one CZcams content creator did a video about this subject. The bottom line is that no matter what the Netherlands is safer than the US, most probably because safety in numbers that makes drivers respect cyclists (their families also ride bicycles) and better cycling infrastructure (bike lanes).
Lack of helmets are estimated to result in about 150 deaths and 3500 serious injuries in the Netherlands each year. But given the culture, no one is willing to address the issue.
@@bindingcurve source?
I’ve noticed helmets have gone from “not cool” to more mainstream. Support from big community names like Seth and Scotty Cranmer (good example) coupled with better helmet technology has likely overall improved helmet usage. Hoping the next generation follows suite with their riding.
Nice video Seth, I'm from the Netherlands and I enjoy your videos very much! We the dutch don't normally use helmets and I think that's fine like you said in most cases but you made me think about buying a helmet for my daughter at least. Even a one in a million change it too much indeed! I Sometimes do a little forest riding (all flat because Netherlands) just to explore and enjoy nature and it is there where people actually shout from a distance to wear a helmet. Even when I'm going just over walking speed haha But in that environment I think it's actually a good sign 😅
Thanks for making this video to help people be more effective convincing others to also wear helmets. In my State, helmets on bicycles are only required if your 16 or younger. So it was a choice for me. I'm glad I made the right choice. Recently, I was riding my bike and had covered about 30 miles on a rail trail. Easy and safe. No problem. But then I saw a friend of mine and in the excitement of wanting to stop and say hi, I failed to lower my dropper post and when I came to a stop, the ground was too far away for my rubbery lags from the long ride to catch me and I fell right over on my side smashing the side of my head hard into the rock road. My helmet now has a big dent in it from the impact. That could have been my head. Who knows what the outcome could have been but I'm glad I chose to wear a helmet.
I’m 56 and we did everything in the 70’s growing up without a helmet on! I 💯 agree with you! I always wear my helmet now. Great vid!
We were all junior Evil Knievel's back in the day. Its a miracle a lot of us survived!
@@MorryB lmao right! I don't know how I made it out of the 1990s in all honesty, Never wore a helmet once during my prime biking years, And I had many crashes and near holy hell misses that I I laughed off rather than actually think what could have happened.. Crazy. My kids certainly do! I drummed it into them, Do what I didn't.. Like many things in my life lol
I'm thankful I started wearing them whenever I had a son if it wasn't for that he would have died without wearing one about 10 years ago. He was going down a hill lost control and hit a light pole. The neurologist inside of the emergency room said the only reason he was still with us was because of the helmet.
Great video as always. Thanks Seth. I'm totally pro bicycle helmet. I've been in a few situations where I know it saved my life. My question to you is about that rigid mtb your riding in the video. What is it?
Me and my partner have just bought bikes. I used to ride a lot as a teenager which was more than 10 years ago. And I never wore a helmet. My partner told me I had to wear one. And I didn't understand. It made no sense to me. Just like you said in this video. I was so accustomed to NOT wearing a helmet. I assumed I would never need one.
But your example of grabbing a low hanging bar and falling on your head... It is also something I possibly could do with a lack of risk assessment. And I could also be spending the rest of my life learning how to speak... I don't want that for my future or for anyone close to me. So I will from now on, wear a helmet EVERY time I go out on a bike.
Thank you!
I'll be 54 in a few weeks and I never owned a bike helmet until this year. The tipping point was actually a car accident I was in almost a year ago that made me get one. I was rear-ended and haven't fully recovered yet. That made me realize that I don't heal as fast as I used to. We did so much sketchy stuff in the '80s, before bike helmets were really a thing, and luckily my friends and I survived with the occasional scrape or bruise.
@mrgearhead5151
The whiplash neck piece from the company Back-On-Track is pretty nice to wear. It is said to help improve recovery through increased blood flow and such.
I have always hated helmets and never wore them. I even got t-boned by a car on my bmx when I was a kid and spent some time in the hospital, somehow didn't sustain any brain damage just broken limbs. But recently after over a year and a bit of my boss constantly asking "where is your helmet??" and bugging me about it, he just went and bought me a decent one. So now I have no choice but to wear it, I dont like to but I dont like to look like a dick and not wear it. So I guess just giving someone a helmet can work.
Great boss
That’s a boss that actually cares about his employees. We need more like that
I see a dude on my local trails who doesn't wear a helmet but always has a mask on. Strange.
@@wildmikefilmsI’d let him keep riding without a helmet
Natural selection knows best…😅
Being a mountain biker, I used to leave the helmet at home when I commuted to school. That all changed when one day, an SUV came flying out of a parking lot and right into me. I was lucky to land my front flip on my butt and not my head. I've worn a helmet since and have always demonstrated that for my kids. It's usually the factors outside of our control that can get us.
You just shifted my position on this. Thank you, especially from my kids.
Amazing & informative video. In Australia helmet use is the law so I always wear one. Also wear a helmet for snow skiing, had the snow helmet on riding the skitube train at Perisher & someones ski fell onto my protected head - no problems! You just never know what is going to happen!
Very true. Especially what concerns kids. The earlier you get them into the culture of biking the better
this video convinced me to invest in a new helmet. I wear one when I'm out actively mountainbiking or when I am road cycling. But never when I'm commuting, and thats almost everyday, because as you said it is uncomfortable(because I only have 20€ helmets from amazon) and I need to store the helmet somewhere and carry it around, and I look funny. However there are a few dangerous parts on my commuting routes (steep decents on narrow roads and a lot of intersections) and I don't want to end up in a wheelchair anytime soon. This video helped me reflect myself again on a topic where I was already 99% convinced but not fully, thanks for that.
I started wearing a helmet as a teenager in the early 1990's, mainly because i saw pro mtb'ers wearing them in adverts/marketing/magazine articles and well... i thought they were cool & wanted to be like them, safety was not top of my list. But then my local mtb group started a "no helmet, no ride" policy, so that kind of made sense. I think as a high profile CZcamsr you're in a great position to influence people, especially kids, into the good reasons to wear a helmet, and after a while putting on a helmet when you get on your bike becomes 2nd nature.
Definitely not the same story as mine, but definitely has a similar tone… skidding across a fresh gravelled tarmac at 13 started me wearing one, then in my early 30s I broke a helmet on a country trail with a 40mph impact on a farm track… almost certainly saved my life. Seth, thank you for making videos like this: safety first, fun all the time.
This is the same story as me, in regards to helmet use. I went from an anti-helmet evangelist who got multiple tickets for riding without one in my 20's to someone who wears one for every ride. I forgot mine the other day and it felt so weird and dangerous that it kinda ruined my ride. I flipped over my handlebars a few times when I was younger and luckily landed on my shoulder, but it wasn't until someone I knew got a traumatic brain injury while riding that really put it into perspective... that it's very difficult to protect your head when you fall in certain positions. It's $100-200 every 5 years or so to have that peace of mind. Worth it to me.
Informative video and an important message. Like you, I've ridden MTB for years and apart from mandatory occasions such as events and riding across the Himalayas, I never wear a helmet, until now that is. For roadies I think it is a must. On one occasion, on a long road ride, I guy braked suddenly in front of me, I hit his rear wheel and landed badly on my helmet and broke my finger. Now I am going to start wearing a helmet off road, I need to change - a New Years' resolution!
Thank You Seth! In 54 years of Bicycing I just bought My 1st Helmet. You make a very compelling scenario for wearing a Helmet. I'm that 'uncle' that just wouldn't wear one.
you got me to start wearing mine again :D
I think for me, especially when commuting, its about the other people on the road. I trust myself (likely) not to crash or fall but not so much the others to notice me or do something stupid
This is one of the reasons most dutch people don't wear helmets
Great video, thanks for your view on this very controversial topic. My view is that in the Netherlands (where almost everyone cycles), helmet use (and risk) is very low. When riding fast on roads or MTB trails, then they wear a helmet. Seems good enough for me. If risk and speeds are low, then no helmet needed. If I'm doing something that might damage me, then I wear one.
When I was young and industructable but started riding my bike quite a bit more than I had been I decided to order myself a bike helmet. About 2 days before that helmet arrived I took one of those 1 in a million tumbles on my bike and while I wasn't injured badly I scrapped up my face pretty good so decided at that point I would just always wear a helmet because I might not be that lucky again.
I think you are correct in the assessment of how we poorly argue these things. Hope this helps some other folks reduce the risk that a random happening ends up being a random life altering event.
What brand helmet are you wearing Seth?
Grew up racing MX and my dad had one simple rule no matter when we were getting to ride, if we were missing any piece of our safety gear we didn't ride. Simple as that.
But it was different when it came to our bicycles. My brothers and I were given helmets and told to wear them but never did. It wasn't until I was in my 20s racing BMX that my mentality changed, I again was doing an activity where it was required and it just made sense, it carried over into my everyday riding. Having kids also reinforced my attitude, wearing a helmet in any activity where it's recommended, skating, snowboarding etc. Ultimately teaching my kids where it's second nature to them just like putting on a seat belt. My youngest daughter doesn't leave without her helmet even when taking a short ride across the park to a friend's house. I never have to remind them or lecture them about helmet safety, it's just what they know to be normal.
Helmets have always been mandatory by law where I live in Australia. Another benefit is you can buy ones with Bluetooth speakers built in for your music, intercoms to chat with your friends (Sena), and lights to help with visibility.
When the American River parkway rebuilt a levee access point years ago. They relocated three yellow poles and used a different colored silver poll in the center. In the early morning lightning I hit the center pole full speed on my CX bike. Did a front flip and landed on the back of my head cracking my helmet. Was lucky to limp away with bike in pieces.