[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
It seems that quite a few TIPsters have survived bicycle crashes (me too). But unlike me, I imagine all you responsible folks were wearing helmets. Do you think they helped?
I have been riding bicycles since I was 8 years old and have had several accidents. Most of the accidents have been potentially very serious but I have been lucky and only have left a lot of skin on the pavement/dirt. I wasn't wearing a helmet back then.
Today I wear a helmet. I am riding at faster speeds; there are more cars around me; those cars are going faster; and, lots of the drivers are talking on cell phones, eating fastfood delights, and other attention-distracting activities. I feel like I am in more danger now and a helmet might help in some accidents. A helmet would not have helped in most of the accidents I have read about in my regional newspaper (the Charlotte Observer) because they involve cars striking bikes.
I also wore a helmet as a model for my kids when they were first learning to ride. I wanted them to have the protection as inexperienced riders.
If you ride in safe circumstances then enjoy your ride sans helmet. For me, wearing a helmet has become like wearing a seat belt in a car. I do both habitually.
Ken --------------------------------------------------------------- Kenneth M. Steele, Ph.D. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Department of Psychology http://www.psych.appstate.edu Appalachian State University Boone, NC 28608 USA --------------------------------------------------------------- ---
