Saved by a helmet

I've just taken a phone call to let me know that one of my close friends
has been taken by air ambulance to a hospital in Romford. He was in
collision with a car on a roundabout in Stevenage. The car pulled onto the
roundabout without noticing my friend on his bicycle.

See http://tinyurl.com/nptqve for details of the incident.

Fortunately, my friend was wearing a helmet. He is in the Acute Assessment
ward being monitored after suffering head injuries. The doctor treating
him told him that he would probably be dead if he hadn't been wearing a
helmet. Apparently, his helmet now has a chunk missing out of it and is
partially squashed.

I cannot understand why some people still believe that it's safer *not* to
wear a helmet. Logic seems to defy some people. Cyclists have a
responsibility to themselves to so everything to avoid accidents and
injury. Wearing a helmet is probably the simplest and most effective thing
to achieve this.

Thanks to his helmet, my friend is likely to survive his ordeal. At least
I hope so.

On May 30, 1:16*pm, "Mr. Benn" %%@%%.% wrote:

I cannot understand why some people still believe that it's safer *not* to
wear a helmet.

They don't really believe it (at least not most of them), they've just
decided that because cyclists are "morally superior" to other road
users, no restrictions on them should ever be advocted, however
sensible they are, and however many cyclists' lives they save.

Sad, really, that such people are more concerned about "encouraging
cycling" (or rather discouraging motoring) than they are about real
road safety. Still, it's nothing new round here. Speed camera
advocacy is another example where preventing cyclist deaths (and other
road user deaths) takes a back seat to bullying motorists out of their
cars.

Mr. Benn wrote:
I've just taken a phone call to let me know that one of my close friends
has been taken by air ambulance to a hospital in Romford. He was in
collision with a car on a roundabout in Stevenage. The car pulled onto the
roundabout without noticing my friend on his bicycle.

See http://tinyurl.com/nptqve for details of the incident.

Fortunately, my friend was wearing a helmet. He is in the Acute Assessment
ward being monitored after suffering head injuries. The doctor treating
him told him that he would probably be dead if he hadn't been wearing a
helmet. Apparently, his helmet now has a chunk missing out of it and is
partially squashed.

I cannot understand why some people still believe that it's safer *not* to
wear a helmet. Logic seems to defy some people. Cyclists have a
responsibility to themselves to so everything to avoid accidents and
injury. Wearing a helmet is probably the simplest and most effective thing
to achieve this.

Thanks to his helmet, my friend is likely to survive his ordeal. At least
I hope so.
Whoa there Trigger.

It's good to hear your friend survived - but roundabouts are one of
those places where a bit of assertive cycling (no, not agressive) pays
off. The cyclist needs to work out where lines of sight are for
motorists. Leaving good/bad driving, highway code etc. etc. aside for a
moment, drivers look towards their exit, in straight lines. If a cyclist
is going round the edge of a roundabout they will only be in sight for a
short time.
Cycling with the traffic or taking the line of motorised traffic usually
means the cyclist is taken in to account.

That the helmet saved your friend is without doubt, that cyclists
frequently manage to place themselves in danger by not being part of the
traffic also frequently means they will need extra protection.
A lack of appreciation of how traffic behaves works in more than one
direction.


I'm also not saying that this is the case here but it remains a possibility.





--

Come to Dave & Boris - your cycle security experts.

Keitht wrote:
Mr. Benn wrote:
I've just taken a phone call to let me know that one of my close
friends has been taken by air ambulance to a hospital in Romford. He
was in collision with a car on a roundabout in Stevenage. The car
pulled onto the roundabout without noticing my friend on his bicycle.

See http://tinyurl.com/nptqve for details of the incident.

Fortunately, my friend was wearing a helmet. He is in the Acute
Assessment ward being monitored after suffering head injuries. The
doctor treating him told him that he would probably be dead if he
hadn't been wearing a helmet. Apparently, his helmet now has a chunk
missing out of it and is partially squashed.

I cannot understand why some people still believe that it's safer
*not* to wear a helmet. Logic seems to defy some people. Cyclists
have a responsibility to themselves to so everything to avoid
accidents and injury. Wearing a helmet is probably the simplest and
most effective thing to achieve this.

Thanks to his helmet, my friend is likely to survive his ordeal. At
least I hope so.
Whoa there Trigger.

It's good to hear your friend survived - but roundabouts are one of
those places where a bit of assertive cycling (no, not agressive) pays
off. The cyclist needs to work out where lines of sight are for
motorists. Leaving good/bad driving, highway code etc. etc. aside for a
moment, drivers look towards their exit, in straight lines. If a cyclist
is going round the edge of a roundabout they will only be in sight for a
short time.
Cycling with the traffic or taking the line of motorised traffic usually
means the cyclist is taken in to account.

That the helmet saved your friend is without doubt, that cyclists
frequently manage to place themselves in danger by not being part of the
traffic also frequently means they will need extra protection.
A lack of appreciation of how traffic behaves works in more than one
direction.


I'm also not saying that this is the case here but it remains a
possibility.






Now that sounds unusual round here.
Somebody who thinks cyclists can do wrong as well as motorists, and he
doesn't believe helmets are dangerous.
The world would be better if there were more like that.

--

Tony Dragon

On Sat, 30 May 2009 14:14:53 +0100, Keitht KeithT wrote:

Mr. Benn wrote:
I've just taken a phone call to let me know that one of my close
friends has been taken by air ambulance to a hospital in Romford. He
was in collision with a car on a roundabout in Stevenage. The car
pulled onto the roundabout without noticing my friend on his bicycle.
See http://tinyurl.com/nptqve for details of the incident.
Fortunately, my friend was wearing a helmet. He is in the Acute
Assessment ward being monitored after suffering head injuries. The
doctor treating him told him that he would probably be dead if he
hadn't been wearing a helmet. Apparently, his helmet now has a chunk
missing out of it and is partially squashed....
Thanks to his helmet, my friend is likely to survive his ordeal. At
least I hope so.
Whoa there Trigger.

It's good to hear your friend survived - but roundabouts are one of
those places where a bit of assertive cycling (no, not agressive) pays
off. The cyclist needs to work out where lines of sight are for
motorists. Leaving good/bad driving, highway code etc. etc. aside for a
moment, drivers look towards their exit, in straight lines. If a cyclist
is going round the edge of a roundabout they will only be in sight for a
short time.
Cycling with the traffic or taking the line of motorised traffic usually
means the cyclist is taken in to account.

That the helmet saved your friend is without doubt,

Er, no. It's possible but very unlikely.

that cyclists frequently manage to place themselves in danger by not
being part of the traffic also frequently means they will need extra
protection.

Since there is no protection that makes a useful difference and is light
enough to cycle in, what's your plan B?

A lack of appreciation of how traffic behaves works in more than one
direction.

Agreed. Do everything practicable to avoid collisions, even if they would
not be your fault. The risk of collisions is already low enough that it's
irrational to attempt to protect against them.

[Cue flame-fest.]

Colin McKenzie

--
No-one has ever proved that cycle helmets make cycling any safer at the
population level, and anyway cycling is about as safe per mile as walking.
Make an informed choice - visit www.cyclehelmets.org.

In article , Mr. Benn wrote:
I've just taken a phone call to let me know that one of my close friends
has been taken by air ambulance to a hospital in Romford. He was in
collision with a car on a roundabout in Stevenage. The car pulled onto the
roundabout without noticing my friend on his bicycle.
[...]
I cannot understand why some people still believe that it's safer *not* to
wear a helmet.

Best wishes for your friends recovery, and I hope your understanding
improves when you are over the shock and concern.

Mr. Benn wrote:

I cannot understand why some people still believe that it's safer *not* to
wear a helmet.

Because that's what the evidence suggests.

Logic seems to defy some people.

Very true.


Thanks to his helmet, my friend is likely to survive his ordeal. At least
I hope so.

His time and money would have been better spent taking a training course
where he would have learnt about correct road positioning and most
likely never had the accident in the first place.

"Colin McKenzie" wrote in
newsp.uuqwlkioby8eno@sheepdog:

On Sat, 30 May 2009 14:14:53 +0100, Keitht KeithT wrote:

That the helmet saved your friend is without doubt,

Er, no. It's possible but very unlikely.

My friend said that there was a chunk missing from his cycle helmet after
the accident.

A chunk missing from his helmet!

Now it doesn't take a genius to work out what would have happened to his
skull if he hadn't been wearing a helmet. It was the opinion of the doctor
treating him yesterday that the helmet almost certainly saved his life.

Are you in a better position than the doctor to make a judgement?

I'm hoping that he will be discharged this afternoon but is still suffering
from double vision and the hospital staff want to keep him in for
monitoring which is not surprising after head trauma.

I see from your sig that you've attended the same brainwashing school as
Guy Chapman,

Señor Chris wrote in
:

Mr. Benn wrote:

I cannot understand why some people still believe that it's safer
*not* to wear a helmet.

Because that's what the evidence suggests.

Logic seems to defy some people.

Very true.


Thanks to his helmet, my friend is likely to survive his ordeal. At
least I hope so.

His time and money would have been better spent taking a training
course where he would have learnt about correct road positioning and
most likely never had the accident in the first place.

It is not known at the moment what the exact circumstances of the accident
were so it is unfair to judge what the cause was until there is more
information available. I have no idea if there were any independent
witnesses. My friend can remember nothing apart from regaining
consciousness while being wheeled on a stretcher towards the air ambulance.

All we know at this stage is that there was a collision on a roundabout
between a cyclist and a car and that the doctor treating him told him that
the helmet had probably saved his life.

(Alan Braggins) wrote in
:

In article , Mr. Benn
wrote:
I've just taken a phone call to let me know that one of my close
friends has been taken by air ambulance to a hospital in Romford. He
was in collision with a car on a roundabout in Stevenage. The car
pulled onto the roundabout without noticing my friend on his bicycle.
[...]
I cannot understand why some people still believe that it's safer
*not* to wear a helmet.

Best wishes for your friends recovery, and I hope your understanding
improves when you are over the shock and concern.

Thank you for the kind wishes but I am not in shock. My friend may well
be.

My understanding of what exactly?