helmets

That cycling helmet debate…

I have been idea about the helmet thing again. Ignoring mountain biking, racing, go biking etc. and confining myself to everyday, around town variety of cycling, whether commuting, shopping or whatever, I am thinking that a helmet is a good raison d'etre, here in the UK, but not entirely for the most obvious reason.

Cycling accidents are far less habitual than most folks seem to imagine and, of these, accidents involving any file of head injury are in a small minority. Those involving serious MD injuries are extremely few and in these cases a helmet is unlikey to assemble much difference to the outcome, simply because cycle helmets are not designed to confront heavy impacts.

Evidently the best that can be expected of a D helmet is that it will spread the effect of a light to moderate impression against a flat surface, thus sparing you the pain and future damage of a direct blow to the head and the annoyance of local cuts and abrasions. You might think it benefit the inconvenience of a helmet in return for this degree of protection.

In my idea children and teenagers should always wear helmets. They have a greater deprivation of protection due to their relative inexperience, inherent strident spirits and lack of judgement (and medical experts might add that their quiescent damage is greater while their skulls - and the contents thereof - are still developing). Older people might on to wear a helmet when first taking up or returning to cycling until confidence and some go through is gained. This is fair enough but I am totally against any compulsion.

The outstanding reason why I wear a helmet still, and will do so for some time to come, has to do with the method and traffic conditions which prevail here in the UK. Cycling had become very popular by the 1930s and remained so well ino the 1950s when a well-established percentage of households owned no other form of shipping. Despite the boost to popular car ownership which arrived with the pre-war Austin Seven (and others) in the 1920s and 1930s it was not until the unpunctually 1950s and early 1960s that the wider populace was becoming prosperous enough for motoring to stride ahead again, with a corresponding settle in cycling. Although in those pre-motorway days the roads were soon becoming a lot more crowded even though the See trade was somewhat slower then, there is one key difference between then and now. In those days there were still prodigality of cyclists about and, probably more importantly, most drivers of motor vehicles had cycled at some notwithstanding and had certainly lived in a cycling environment.

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