On Wed, Mar 16, 2011 at 2:51 PM, Travis <travisbreitenb...@gmail.com> wrote: > Ann, to indulge your semantic reply I will change #2: > > 2) Does cycling dramatically increase your risk of suffering brain > damage, death, or paralysis due to impact to the head versus > showering?
Here's what I want to know, and what I haven't seen compelling data on: Will a helmet materially change my risk of damage, death or paralysis while cycling? Sadly, we've had some recent cyclist deaths in my area. The cyclist fatalities I hear about are seemingly cyclists like me, cycling on roads that I ride on. They were wearing helmets, like I do, and their helmets failed to protect them from death. And then I hear about other local cyclists crashing and recovering from broken wrists, broken collar bones, broken legs-- these people seemingly didn't hit their heads at all. And then, I suppose, there are cyclists who crash and hit their heads, but their helmets prevented or mitigated their injuries. But what I want to know is, in what proportion of accidents would a helmet make a difference? In some accidents, helmet or no helmet the cyclist would die. In some accidents, helmet or no helmet, the cyclist wouldn't have a head injury, or wouldn't have a head injury that made any difference, or would have struck something with, say, their chin, so a helmet wouldn't have helped. In some accidents, the helmet saves the victim-- but how many accidents are like that? Don't say, one is enough-- the danger has to be significant enough so wearing a helmet is worth it; I don't wear a helmet when taking a shower. -- -- Anne Paulson My hovercraft is full of eels -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
