6 Comments

  1. From a first aid perspective, head protection is a VERY GOOD THING because head injuries are a VERY BAD THING. As someone who unerstands physics, helmets are extremely clever in the way they distribute the force of the impact. Having hit my head (lightly, thankfully) on a rock both with a helmet and without, I can tell you which I prefer.

    Also, he was on a motor cycle. They tend to go at over 40km/h, and it’s at impacts of 40km/hr that you become very likely to die. To not wear a helmet on a motorcycle is completely stupid.

    And they can estimate whether the helmet would have saved his life. If you have the speed at which the motorbike was going, you can figure out the speed at which he hit the pavement. If that force is one for which the helmet is designed to protect, then you can know quite accurately whether it would have worked.

  2. All things being relative in this case. Cycling helmets are built for cycling accidents. I top 40 kmh every day on a descent commuting to work, and I cannot imagine have my dome exposed. Others prefer their hair in the wind, and more power to them, unless there’s a helmet law. The story is ironic for that reason. I learned very quickly that the helmet debate is contentious in almost every online cycling forum, so I stay away from saying should or shouldn’t, but it is quite ok to wonder what if…

  3. Not irony. You would expect someone to die not wearing a helmet.

    Ironic=/=coincidental 

  4. The irony is that it was at a rally against the helmet law. There’s no coincidence incurring a fatal head injury when your egg meets the pavement, that’s just physics at work (and maybe a little natural selection).

  5. Helmet debates are worthless….
    however as you started it 🙂
    cycling helmets are designed for low speed (<12mph) accidents not high speed ones. why aren't you wearing a motorcycling helmet when you ride? it would be safer right?

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