When did bicycle helmets become so popular? Do you wear one when you bike?
I never, ever saw one growing up. Not even on long distance bikers. Now they’re everywhere.
Were there a series of events/accidents/injuries that I missed, leading up to their widespread use? Or is it just a need to feel safer w/ so many Action Sports like biking and skating becoming more popular?
Helmets give a false sense of security !
Yeah, Yeah, – lots of people have stories of falling off a bike and becoming a mindless vegetable because they didn’t wear a helmet! YAWN!
We all know as cyclists, that really the biggest injuries are to knees, elbows, collar bone,etc.
In todays nanny culture, its just another level of control that has been put into place "for our own safety" by advisors and experts(ahem!) to justify their job!
I wear a helmet out of choice and that’s the way it should be!
It costs loads of money and it matches my bike! Wahey!
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Hey…
My mom was raised with the belief that smoking wasn’t too bad for you.
People have realized that it can save their life!
Other than that, they’ve started to put some effort into their looks so people don’t look stupid with them – just look like they take their sport seriously
Also, there are more cars on the road, more adventurous styles of biking like cross country and downhill.
Lastly, kids need to wear them by law in most states, so adults lead by example
I guess you could say it wasn’t just one thing but just a general education of the public, with the increasing emphasis on personal safety, with legislation, with accidents… and I’m sure there are more factors…
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I wear one because I’d rather look like a dork than have my skull fractured.
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It all started one day when the Little Moron decided to put a bed pan on his head and ride his bicycle throughout the land. Others saw him and said, "Hey, I want a bed pan on my head, too." And the nasty capitalist began to make a lot of bed pans and even put stripes on them and everyone lived happily ever after.
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People got smarter. I don’t ride without one. All it takes is one crash to change your mind. Did you watch Le Tour de France ? Did’nt see one guy without a helmet…
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I never had one when I was growing up. I ride long distances on my road bike, and I feel safer riding on the road with a helmet. I feel like a dork but who cares. It’s funny I also ride horses but I don’t wear a helmet doing that. I feel the need to put a helmet on riding my bike on the road but when I’m jumping a 1200 lb animal over a 4ft fence I dont.
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Bicycle helmets go back decades. Now they are just more comfortable than the steel and leather thing I wore back in the early 70’s. Fall once and hit your head on pavement. If you wake up, you will have a sudden realization of the effectiveness of a helmet. (hopefully you wore it before you fell) They are way beyond a need to feel safer.
Also MOST, if not all, organized rides require a helmet.
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Yes, I always wear one. They’ve always been around, nowadays they’re a bit more stylish. You probably see more now because there are that many more cyclists (although there is still a high percentage of riders that don’t wear them, especially kids, even though it’s required by law in some places under age 14).
People have also come to the realization that it can save your life. Just this summer in my area, there were3 fatalities involving bikes. Not one of the victims was wearing a helmet. At least one of them ran a red light, too, but that’s another discussion.
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As all sports have evolved so has the equipment. Not only the vehicle you pilot but the gear you wear. Look at any form of racing and over the past several decades there has been major advances in safety equipment. Bike helmets are just part off it. When I was growing up we never wore helmets, knee & elbow pads, we lived thru it but not with out a lot of bumps and bruises. The way I look at it now is the price you pay for safety gear is in direct relationship to how much you value your head (or other parts).
Wearing a helmet in the 2007 tour de France is not an option it is mandatory! It began in 2003 when the UCI started to set helmet standards for the time trial helmets, now wearing a helmet is required for the whole race.
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To many tripps to the ER and a close relationship with Johnson & Johnson products.
my helmet had quite litteraly saved my life several times, as recently as last week. (bike mangaling car fight). as cyclists of all genre and other vehicle sports progress we are going faster and higher. the risks are greater.
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kids under 12 are required by law to wear helmets
Modern helmets are designed with all sorts of colors and shapes, and they’re mostly being worn as an accessory than a safety device. Not that people wear them while walking or running, it’s just that the wonderful variety of helmets attract people to use it. And they’re cheap to manufacture, so that’s probably why you didn’t see any in your time because they were so inaffordable back then..?
I’ve crash several times on my bike before, and twice I had a head injury. Luckily they weren’t that serious, but I know that landing head first with a helmet on does not hurt at all. Since my last accident, I bought a helmet and I wore it everytime I rode.
check this out:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18681802/
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If your doing ten foot airs id were one.
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Go talk to an ER doc. You’ll never ride without one. Or ride a motorcycle without one. Or a skateboard without one…. (Or take Viagra, but that’s another story!) My best friend does not wear a helmet when we ride, and he wiped out in a race where they made him wear a helmet. I am glad he was wearing one then, but I doubt he’ll learn. I wear my helmet whenever I ride, on the trails when I am having fun, and especially when I am on the street commuting to work. No matter how hard-headed you are, concrete is harder.
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the more the sport evolved, the more people realized the hazards and consequences that goes along with it. thats why we need to wear a helmet when we ride our bikes. protect your noggin dude!
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Helmets give a false sense of security !
Yeah, Yeah, – lots of people have stories of falling off a bike and becoming a mindless vegetable because they didn’t wear a helmet! YAWN!
We all know as cyclists, that really the biggest injuries are to knees, elbows, collar bone,etc.
In todays nanny culture, its just another level of control that has been put into place "for our own safety" by advisors and experts(ahem!) to justify their job!
I wear a helmet out of choice and that’s the way it should be!
It costs loads of money and it matches my bike! Wahey!
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