| Title: | Bicycling |
| Notice: | Bicycling for Fun |
| Moderator: | JAMIN::WASSER |
| Created: | Mon Apr 14 1986 |
| Last Modified: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 3214 |
| Total number of notes: | 31946 |
Once more I have reason to be thankfull to my cycling helmet. On
this occasion however I also owe the manufacturers of my cycling
glasses a big thankyou.
On Saturday morning I was taking a spin into work and woke up almost
an hour later lying in casualty having pieces of glass taken out of
the lower half of my face and neck. I still can't recall anything
about the accident but seemingly it happened just as I was leaving a
roundabout. I remember a car was on my shoulder and very close so I
kept checking it out. Everything else I have gathered from second hand
accounts (the police and an off duty nurse who took me to hospital).
Anyway the car in front of me stopped and I went through his rear
windscreen, landing on his rear seat.
Rear windscreens do not by law here in Britain have to be safety
glass so it smashed into lots of razor sharp slithers. My cycling
mitts were lacerated and I was cut on the knuckles and the windscreen
caught me just below my bottom lip, peeling a large chunk of flesh
away down to my jawline. I then received some gashes on my neck
but no injuries below that. I must have hit something inside the
car as I also smashed some teeth but the Hospital said that were
it not for the helmet and goggles it is likely I could have lost
my eyesight and sustained severe head injuries. I must have passed
out from pain, or shock, or both. I had no concussion, not even
a sore head and thankfully nothing was broken. My face injuries
took a bit of stitching and my dental bill will probably cause more
shock but I count myself as pretty lucky.
Wearing helmets here in Scotland is still out of the norm. Since
my accident, the sight of my stitched up face has prompted five
of my colleagues to ask where they can buy one and what is the best
model to buy. This prompted me to enter this note just in case there
is anybody out there who is not yet convinced of the benefits of
wearing one. In the past three years I have now had three accidents
where I am quite sure I would have received severe head injuries
had I not been wearing a helmet. I cycle about 7000 miles a year
and also tend to go at it pretty hard so I am sure not everyone
can expect to have that amount of use out of their helmet, nor I'm
sure would they want it. However I have heard of a guy being killed
hitting his head on the kerb of the road at 10 mph.
So thankyou Vetta and thankyou Prosun for proving to be the best
�50 I ever spent.
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1711.1 | Thanks for the Note! | MFGMEM::MFGMEM::ERICKSON | John Erickson, DTN 297-4143 | Thu Aug 23 1990 09:12 | 46 |
Thank you for entering that note!
There are _too_many_ people who believe that, because of their
particular style of riding, they don't require a helmet. What
they tend to ignore is that there are a great many variables
which are OUT OF THEIR CONTROL that could result in severe
injury. The previous note is an excellent illustration of this.
I started _religiously_ wearing a helmet about 5 years ago after
Liz Walker of Boston's Channel 4 did a special report on
bicycle-related head injuries, and the use of helmets to prevent
them. This was long before the fairly recent "New England
Journel of Medicine" report on the same topic. She didn't play
games with statistics --- she just presented the cases of a
number of riders, from novice to experienced, for whom daily
circumstances turned disasterous. She also presented cases in
which the proper use of a helmet _prevented_ these types of
injuries.
I can still see clearly in my mind the picture of a young man
with a crease in his forehead after hitting a guardrail. I can't
remember what happened --- his tire blew, or a truck blew by him,
the specifics don't matter. It was something that hit him by
surprize, like the rider in .0. But that's all I needed to
convince me that I wasn't gonna get on my bike again without a
helmet. AND I HAVEN'T SINCE!
And neither has my wife, and neither has our 3.5-year-old
daughter. And when we start hauling around the newest Erickson
(now eight months) she will wear a helmet too! It doesn't matter
how _fast_ one rides, it's the fact that while on the bike
something _could_ happen that will cause head injury. What's
$30-$60 to preserve your health?
Now I know there is a thread in this conference that considers
HELMET LAWS, but I'll put my two cents in here anyways. I
believe that the use of bicycle helmets should be MANDITORY FOR
CHILDREN UNDER A CERTAIN AGE (I haven't figure out the age yet),
but that ADULTS SHOULD BE FREE to make their own decisions,
however _stupid_ they might be. I believe in a government that
protects our youth, but doesn't baby-sit our adults.
Have a GREAT one!
John
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| 1711.2 | Another Gubernatorial Candidate | GSFSWS::JSMITH | Chromed Cannondale | Thu Aug 23 1990 12:09 | 16 |
>> Now I know there is a thread in this conference that considers
>> HELMET LAWS, but I'll put my two cents in here anyways. I
>> believe that the use of bicycle helmets should be MANDITORY FOR
>> CHILDREN UNDER A CERTAIN AGE (I haven't figure out the age yet),
>> but that ADULTS SHOULD BE FREE to make their own decisions,
>> however _stupid_ they might be. I believe in a government that
>> protects our youth, but doesn't baby-sit our adults.
John,
I like your style and enjoyed your note. Are you
interested in running on the same ticket with Tom Deloria
when he makes his bid for Governor in the fall :)
_Jerry
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| 1711.3 | As Qualified as Any! | MFGMEM::MFGMEM::ERICKSON | John Erickson, DTN 297-4143 | Fri Aug 24 1990 09:06 | 26 |
#>> Now I know there is a thread in this conference that considers
#>> HELMET LAWS, but I'll put my two cents in here anyways. I
#>> believe that the use of bicycle helmets should be MANDITORY FOR
#>> CHILDREN UNDER A CERTAIN AGE (I haven't figure out the age yet),
#>> but that ADULTS SHOULD BE FREE to make their own decisions,
#>> however _stupid_ they might be. I believe in a government that
#>> protects our youth, but doesn't baby-sit our adults.
#
# John,
#
# I like your style and enjoyed your note. Are you
# interested in running on the same ticket with Tom Deloria
# when he makes his bid for Governor in the fall :)
#
# _Jerry
#
HA! It would be a welcome _vacation_ from doing REAL (tm) WORK!
And I have enough experience in government (absolutely NONE) to
be _qualified_!
Or as Rev. Jesse would say: Qualified! Qualified! Qualified!
Later,
John
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