A bloody pitch for bike helmet use
The other day the family and I went for a little hike in First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach, and enjoyed watching nesting osprey.
On the drive out I saw a mountain biker on the side of the road holding his head, which was covered in blood. I stopped to check on him.
He had smacked a tree and cut his scalp pretty good. The heavy bleeding, which is normal for even a minor head wound, made it look worse than it was. My wife couldn’t even look at him. My girls did and the guy said, “This is why you should always wear a bike helmet.”
April 17, 2008 - 12:34 PM
A helmet saved my life. I was going about 12, yes, only 12 miles per hour and decided to hop a curb leading off a bike path. My front wheel came off. When my front fork hit the pavement it catapulted me forward and down with such force that when I landed on my face and forehead, my helmet shattered in at least three pieces. We never found my glasses. I ended up loosing two teeth.
I was knocked out of course. I came to after a few minutes and after searching for someone in the suburban neighborhood that could help, giving up then having the good luck to have two women out for a lunch walk find me, the ambulance was summoned. I was not a pretty site. The paramedics asked to keep my helmet, or what was left of it, as a lesson to others.
The good news is that this solidified my relationship with my girlfriend and we ended up marrying. The bad news is I still have problems with my teeth as the trauma messed things up in my mouth pretty good. That was ten years ago now.
I was only going 12 miles per hour. Consider what would happen if I’d have been going much faster! Anyone who rides bike or whose kids ride bike, wear helmets and learn how to wear them correctly.
It is amazing how many young people ride around the VT campus without helmets. In speaking to some in my class, their explanation is that they don’t plan on being in a crash. I ask them is they wear seat belts and most replay “yes”.
Go figure.
Naaa, Leave the helemt off. Blood is kool!!! And the gene pool needs refreshing.
Thanks for the comments, Geoffrey, Mike and Brad.
Geoffrey, I’m glad things turned out as well as they did with your accident. It brings back some memories. I was a senior in college and out for my first road ride of the season. I was almost home and flying down a hill to get through a green light. I spotted a big gap in the pavement and lifted up my bars to soften the blow. And lost my front wheel. The quick release had worked loose. I was going 25-30 mph.
I hit the deck so hard I had no idea what happened. Amazingly I wasn’t knocked out. I got up and staggered to the curb.
Two guys who didn’t speak English very well loaded me and my broken bike into their car and took me to the hospital, which was just a few blocks away. (This was pre-cell phone era so that was faster than waiting for an ambulance.) I was trying to stay conscious so I could tell them where to go. And, like I said, they weren’t too good at English. But they got me there and were walking me into the ER when I passed out. When I woke up they were gone. And, yes, they left my bike.
I was wearing a Bell V-1 Pro, one of those monstrosities with a hard plastic outer shell. The inner foam shell broke, which is what’s supposed to happen. Fortunately I didn’t hit my face or it would have been bad. My head was OK but my right collarbone had a massive fracture.
As for your comment, Mike, I rode my bike everywhere on campus and never wore a helmet. But when I went for a real “ride” I did. Not ideal. I wear one now even if I just run to the neighborhood grocery store.
And, yes, Brad, blood is cool as long as the damage (other than a scar) isn’t permanent.
Thanks for reading.
mt
I’m going to check my quick release. Right now.
That’s a picture for helmet safety!!
Several years ago News Anchor Pamela Rittenhouse completed riding bicycles with her husband, she took off her helmet and proceeded to get off her bike, and the next thing she remember is waking up a week later in intensive care paralyzed on the left side of her body.
After speaking with her she said people take bike helmets for granted. She now works for a Spine & Brain Institute in Florida.
I was riding downhill at speed a few years ago when a softball with wings and feathers swooped across the road. We collided at my forehead. In my disorientation and minor whiplash, I couldn’t tell where the bird went. Anyway, thank you helmet.
It’s amazing how often that quick release can jar loose.
I actually had my front quick release come loose earlier this winter during a ride. Fortunately I noticed it before disaster struck.
And about an hour before we saw this bloody mess we saw a guy crash on the trail in front of us during our hike. His only injury was a small bit of trail rash on his leg.
He was totally confused about what happened. What happened was his rear quick release came loose and his back wheel stopped when the axel went sideways in the dropouts.
Kirk, at least you didn’t hit a large mammal. I’ve heard of people hitting deer and even bears.
mt
Helmets have saved both me and my husband. Me, on the road at the beach, crossing a railroad track when my front wheel got stuck in the track. I woke up seeing stars and looking at everything double. My husband was descending a steep hill at about 15mph when he slid in gravel at turn, slid into a signpost, and crashed. Even with a helmet, he had a skull fracture. There’s a reason they call it your ‘brain bucket’.
Guy hit in head with .50 caliber ricochet!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ABGIJwiGBc
Video for gun safety, “NEVER SHOOT HEAVY CALIBERS AT HARD BACK STOPS”!!!
Years ago, I struck a large dog while riding down a mountain road and went over the handlebars. I was doing more than 50 mph at the time, but I walked away from the wreck with only a mess of road rash and bruises. My helmet saved my life. I was very lucky, but you need more than luck, too.
What drives me nuts is families where either the kids aren’t wearing helmets or where the kids are, but the parents aren’t — what kind of message does that send?
Jim
A cycling saying is “There are two kinds of riders: Those who have crashed and those who will crash.”
A helmet is no sure thing, but it can’t hurt.
My passion for helmets almost made me $20,000.
A producer for the reality show “Wife Swap” was looking for a family of safety nuts and came across one of my newspaper rants on the importance of bike helmets. She recently contacted me to see if we’d be interested in the show. (The mothers switch places but sleep in separate bedrooms, in case you haven’t seen it.) The appearance fee is $20,000.
I’m guessing they would have sent my wife to some family where kids are riding around on full-sized ATVs (without helmets, of course), having BB gun wars and whitewater rafting without lifejackets. Alas, families have to have at least one kid who is between 7 and 17 and mine were too young.
Thanks for reading — and for wearing your helmets.
mt