I'm a big fan of helmets. I was at a gathering a couple of months ago when someone flamboyantly stated that helmets never helped anybody, to which my Dad & I both raised our hands & pointed out that between the two of us, we've destroyed 3 helmets in accidents. Without them we'd most certainly be dead or severely brain damaged.

I'm not sure about the survival of the fittest thing (other than for the teenage boys biking to school with the helmet on the handlebars). The people I see riding without helmets are the ones going slowly, or riding on footpaths. I suspect they're going to sail through life on oblivious good luck & never have an accident which would require one.

My rage/frustration is reserved for people who wear helmets incorrectly: backwards, undone, off-centre, flopped over the back of their head.

Hang on... helmets are not compulsory here??

Helmets ARE compulsory by law, it just doesn't seem to be enforced. I am a helmet convert, having been twice been saved from potentially serious injury within two weeks of getting my first helmet 20 years ago. Like you I feel naked without one. While I agree it should be compulsory, I also accept that if people want to knowingly run the risk and not wear one I am not going to stop them.

I do get frustrated by a couple of things I see regularly though. People (usually teens) riding with the helmet hanging from the handle bars, and people (often adults, but more worryingly young children) not wearing helmets properly (either positioned wrongly or not done up) meaning they will be almost useless in an accident.

Yes they should, it's just some older cyclists that seem to have a problem with the law. I have 2 boys (both under 10) that love their bikes and always wear their helmets without a second thought. Once these guys and all the others of similar ages grow up it will be a non issue as they have been use to it all there riding lifes. No doubt the odd grandad or grandma will still be moaning about it.

When I ride I want to increase my chances of staying in one piece so a helmet is always worn. Being a baldy means it's very difficult to have a bad hair day so not an issue.

Say what? - I thought they WERE compulsory?

What annoys me is those people that ride around with their helmet hanging off their handle bars! They've gone to the effort of grabbing their helmet before leaving home/work yet can't quite manage the simple concept of putting it on their heads! Crazy!

Provided that you are going to pay for your own medical care when you get a head injury (ie not public funds) you can wear your helmet anyway you feel?

Not so sure... I didn't wear a helmet for years because you didn't have to. A school friend of mine, a national schoolboy cycling champion, actually died in an accident where he wasn't wearing a helmet, yet I remain unconvinced: he went head over handlebars into the road - I doubt a helmet would've made much difference.

I too have gone head over bar in my own worst accident, and that was before I started wearing a helmet (I finally got sick of cops CHASING me because I didn't have a stack hat on - surely a bit counterproductive??)... if I'd smacked my head into the road I don't reckon the helmet would've stopped much, as it was I stuck an arm out, breaking it and dislocating the shoulder - but not landing on my head.

I just don't think a small bit of polystyrene and, I dunno, tin - what else is in a helmet? - is going to do much in a really good crash. And let's face it, most of the time it's a car that's going to be hitting your head. What good does a helmet do against several tonnes of metal?

I wear it now because I have to, not because I believe it actually makes cycling any safer. BIKE LANES would... sigh.

@#2 - yeah they are compulsory.

Unfortunately the survival of the fittest theory doesn't really work in reality, because not all of those idiots will die instantly if they have an accident. Most will require medical attention, maybe for the rest of their life, which costs a lot of money. Also - think of an accident car vs bike, even if the bike is at fault the car driver is going to be scarred much more by the death or brain damage of the cyclist which *could* be prevented by a helmet. Therefore I think they should be compulsory. Its not nanny state - its preventing society from the impacts of people who are too stupid to realise what they are doing.

Can someone please explain the science to me that concludes that because helmets break in accidents that proves that the wearer would have received a serious injury or even have died if they had not worn a helmet? People who believe in helmets, ought to actually look at the facts and research and ask themselves why the most populous nations have looked at the issue and decided against compulsion. the appeal to "common sense" as an argument was debunked by the Meyer Hillman report to the British Government in the early 90s. On a common sense argument helmets would be compulsory in all motor vehicles since these vare the greatest source of head injuries annually.