ALWAYS wear a helmet

[wtmusic]

My number came up this week--a car left-turned into me from the opposite side of the street. No warning, never slowed down.

I was extremely fortunate. No broken bones--just some road rash and a separated left shoulder. My helmet was CRUNCHED, and by all accounts I would have been dead without it. Instead it's 4-6 weeks off the bike and some time to reflect.

I'm a very careful rider but sometimes it doesn't matter. ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET.

[Kolesar]

1. Good luck with the recovery and, promise me something...

...make sure you get good answers from the docs and the therapists. Don't walk out of an appointment with questions. Here is the best site I found for my decades of shoulder problems (that are fixed now!). It is the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

www.aaos.org

[wtmusic]

2. Fantastic, thanks

My ortho seems to be very good, a former pro volleyball player who specializes in shoulder problems.

I will check it out. :thumbsup:

[GoneOffShore]

3. What kind of helmet did you have?

If it was a Bell, and you kept it, send it back to them and they will replace it - free.

Glad to hear that your OK.

[wtmusic]

4. It was a Giro

Good tip -- I just checked the website and I can get it replaced.

Although it did the job, I'll probably be trading up to a heavier-duty model. :scared: :thumbsup:

[GoneOffShore]

5. No need to do that

According to the guy in my bike shop, the only difference in bike helmets has to do with adjustability and ventilation. I'm not sure if that's true,
However, you might want to take a look at the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institue website. http://www.bhsi.org/index.htm

"Summary: The Consumer Product Safety Commission bike helmet standard is required by law in the US. Some of the Snell Memorial Foundation standards are a bit more difficult to pass, but are not often used. ASTM continues to produce standards for other activities such as skating, skiing and downhill bicycle racing. Australia, Canada, Europe and others have bicycle helmet standards as well, and we discuss them below."

http://www.bhsi.org/standard.htm

[happyslug]

6. Alway gets BOTH CPSC and Snell approved helmets

By law all helmets MUST meet Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) requirements, thus it is almost impossible to by a non-CPSC helmet (Legally it is illegal but some retailers will try to sell anything so look for the CPSC Approval label).

As to Snell, Snell requirements are a little different and more difficult to fulfill so it is best to get a helmet that meets BOTH CPSC and Snell Standards.

Snell Home page:
http://www.smf.org/home.html

More about Snell:
http://www.smf.org/snell.html

The 1990 Snell Standards for "Open Face" Bicycle Helmets (B-90 Standards, this is the most common type of Helmet):
http://www.smf.org/standards/b/b90astd.html

The 1995 Snell Standards for "Closed Face" Bicycle Helmets (Used on Mountain bike racing):
http://www.smf.org/standards/b/b95std.html

Please note both of the above were modified in 1998 after the implementation of CPSC requirements to make sure Snell requirements would also meet CPSC Standards. Most bike riders will want the B-90 Standards.

Difference between Testing Standards (Snell and CPSC):
http://www.smf.org/articles/bcomp.html

The BIG difference is Snell test the helmets themselves to see if the helmet meets Snell Specs, the CPSC rely on the Helmet manufacturer to make sure the Helmet meets CPSC standards.

One last Comment, Snell requirements were so hard to meet in the mid 1990s that Congress passed a law requiring the CPSC to issue their own regulations. CPSC had REFUSED to do so prior to 1998 because Snell was do a more than adequate job of providing the needed standards (Under the CPSC law, CPSC can NOT pass a regulation where it finds private institutions, like Snell, was doing an adequate job). Thus the REASON for the CPSC regulations was that Snell was doing TO GOOD A JOB of setting standards. Thus get a Snell approval helmet if you can.

List of Snell approved Helmets:
http://www.smf.org/cert.html

List of Snell approved BICYCLE Helmets (A=Adult, C=Child below age 5, B-90 is standard Bike Helment, B-95 closed faced bike helmet):
http://www.smf.org/certlist/std_B-90A_B-95A_B-90C_B-95C.html

[peacebird]

7. wow. Rest and heal quickly!

That had to be terrifying.

:scared:

[wtmusic]

8. thanks. nt

[Shine]

9. Yup, I totally agree.

I had a fall last summer and my helmet saved my life, too. Hit my temple on a curb, as I fell turning a corner. Cracked helmet, concussion, goose egg on head and sore jaw for two weeks, not to mention a mandatory CT scan of my brain and two whole months OFF my bike.

Yup,it was a bummer but also a wake-up call from the Universe to the ephemeral nature of our lives...and how grateful I was to still be ALIVE!!

Rest easy and use this time well. Glad to hear you're OK. Take good care of yourself.

:hi:

PS. See my earlier thread about the stupidity of people NOT wearing helmets. It's truly a mystery to me...:eyes:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=324x1302

[wtmusic]

10. Dayum Shine

hitting your head on a curb? You're lucky you didn't have spinal issues to boot...

Yeah, I'm pretty evangelistic about the helmet issue these days. If I see kids riding without helmets I always say something.

Thanks for the wishes. Feeling better...the hardest part is being off the bike! :hi:

[Shine]

11. "...the hardest part is being off the bike!"

I totally agree. That was the worst part of being injured. I was on a mandatory break for two whole months, which basically blew out the rest of the season for me. That sucked, but hey, at least I was ALIVE, so that counted for something. :D

Hope you're continuing to improve, my friend. :hug:

[happyslug]

12. Good Warning, I "used" a helmet.

I was riding my Moped instead of my bicycle, but I ended up in the Hospital. I suspect my moped slipped on some Street Car tracks while going about 15 mph (as fast as one can go on the road I was one, especially in a 80 cc Moped). Ended up in the Hospital for 3 days (Which I have no memory of) and I still am no 100% over a month later. What would I feel like if I had no helmet on? Head injuries are best prevented by a helmet if one is involved in an Accident, and most accidents the riders (both bicycle and Motorcycle) are rarely at fault.

[Shine]

13. Yup, I agree with you, wtmusic. I'm a helmet Nazi, myself.

:hi:

[LynzM]

14. Thanks for the reminder...

I need to get a new one, and I'll let your wake-up-call serve as mine to stop procrastinating, as well.

[Oddball]

15. I agree and good luck.

Hope you're riding soon.

:thumbsup: :)

[Gormy Cuss]

16. Yes. Helmets are dorky until the day

one saves your brain.

I have no illusions that they'll protect me in a high impact crash, but in the off chance that they COULD make a difference I'll opt for helmet head over brain injury any day.

[shenmue]

17. I wear one, even though people sometimes kid me about it.

It's my noggin at stake. :D

[frogcycle]

18. same here

in my case a cpl months ago I shattered by collarbone and cracked my shoulderblade - and helmet is, as you say, crunched. I hit hard enough that my eyeglasses were bent - the nosepiece was mashed over - even though they didn't actually impact anything - their own inertia as my head stopped suddenly and they wanted to keep going. No head injury to me though.

AND I was on a path in the woods - no cars, no curbs, no pavement. I never get on the bike without a helmet. Never. I don't give a rat's ass what people say.

[Kolesar]

19. Dude

You protected your noodle. I see you can still write. That's awesome!

[frogcycle]

20. yeah, thanks

As i was walking back to the road to meet someone to take me to ER, I passed a couple of bikers coming toward me - without helmets! I wanted to block their way and scream at them: "Look at this thing! You want your head to look like this? You don't need a car to hit you; you don't need a curb to bust your head! The hazard is just around the next bend, fool!" If I hadn't been so f-ed up I might have.

A walnut tree had dropped its golfball-like fruit on the path just ahead of a bridge at the bottom of a curving downhill section. Hit one golfball and you're scraping the bridge railing; get your handlebars hung up and you're cartwheeling over the handlebars at 20+ mph. When I sat up and looked around, I was reminded of that 60's song "over there was my baby... and way over THERE was my baby"
I had lost a shoe, water bottle nowhere to be found, bike some 20 feet past me (it flew over me - upside down from the looks of the seat). In addition to the breaks I left a LOT of skin on the bridge rail, pulled a groin muscle, wrenched a knee, picked up grit from the path - but my head was intact. Yay helmet!

[midnight armadillo]

21. I would not exist if it weren't for a helmet

My father was hit on his motorcycle while he was crossing an intersection at low speed when he was 18. His right femur was broken in the accident (leading to a plate in his leg for the rest of his life). His helmet was broken in half - without it he would have been killed.

So I owe my very existence to helmets. Once I get back into skiing (after a yeesh, 15 year hiatus) I'll be helmeted for that too.

[pink-o]

22. The helmet saved me too!!

In fall of 2002, I was riding around a MUNI bus which was parked at the curb, and I got my wheels caught in streetcar tracks. I couldn't get out of my toe straps in time, so I went over HARD onto my left side. The seat richoceted against my pelvic bone, and I ended up with a hairline fracture that had me on crutches for 2 months.

But....I felt the left side of my helmet hit the asphalt just as hard, and even thru the shock I realised I would have lost teeth or at least been concussed if not for wearing it!

My ex-husband used to shake his head and sigh when he saw cyclists w/o helmets. His catch phrase: "That guy thinks he's tougher than a bumper". When you think of it that way, you're gonna want as much protection as possible

[wtmusic]

23. I think the same thing.

If you ride a lot, going down is just a matter of time. Whether it's because of another vehicle, a rut, sand, whatever.

When I see cyclists without helmets I know they're inexperienced. The ones who have already crashed are either dead or lucky, and the lucky ones now have helmets on.