Helmet Nazis- Are you a Helmet Hypocrite?

[Pirateer]

I am.

I am an every time, every ride person. I make aghasted faces when people at my barn ride around, locks-a-flowing.

That said, I don't wear a helmet on a bicycle. I don't wear one on my rollerblades. Do on the motorcycles. But don't on 4-wheeler. Snow-mobile= sometimes.

I'm not entirely sure WHY I'm a Helmet Hypocrite- my justification of "going slow for transportation" is as bad as the trail-rider who says they "know their horse and are walking only". Not a good reason.

What about you? Who else is a Helmet Hypocrite?

[Mozart]

I used to be a helmet hypocrite, I never wore one for bike riding. Or skiing. Once I started going for bike rides with my son I started wearing one as I had no good answer to the question "Mommy, where's your helmet?" (damn kids...they keep you honest)

Especially since my uncle died from a head injury falling off a bicycle... not wearing one made no sense at all.

[sublimequine]

To me, a horse is different because they can actually THROW you, rather than just falling off a moving object, you know?

Also, a bike or ATV can't kick you in the face or step on you on the way down. :lol:

EDIT; Ironically, I never ride a bike or ATV or anything anyways, so. :)

[Hunter Mom]

To me, a horse is different because they can actually THROW you, rather than just falling off a moving object, you know?

Also, a bike or ATV can't kick you in the face or step on you on the way down. :lol:

EDIT; Ironically, I never ride a bike or ATV or anything anyways, so. :)


Actually, I'm going to beg to differ. When you ride an ATV, you can indeed be thrown - something about inertia and the object you're riding on stopping suddenly when it hits a rock but you don't. Also, it can "step on you" when it rolls over you while you are separated but both on the way down a hill. Yes, personal experience. :winkgrin:

[sublimequine]

Actually, I'm going to beg to differ. When you ride an ATV, you can indeed be thrown - something about inertia and the object you're riding on stopping suddenly when it hits a rock but you don't. Also, it can "step on you" when it rolls over you while you are separated but both on the way down a hill. Yes, personal experience. :winkgrin:

I'm kinda thinking getting run over by a horse would be more serious than run over by an ATV, what with the weight of a horse, the hooves, etc. But really I have no experience with ATVs, so. :lol:

[Kementari]

All the helmet-type sports that I do, I wear a helmet for: riding, biking, skiing, climbing, roller blading... I don't ride snowmobiles or ATVs or motorcycles, but if I did, it'd be with a helmet.

I like my head, and even without a horse involved, accidents happen. As a friend noted the other day, that's why they are called "accidents." If they only happened when we did something intentionally, they'd be called "on purposes." ;)

When I was younger, I used to think some things (like biking or skiing) were lower risk, so even though helmets were available, I didn't NEED one. I'm smarter now - and I'd like to keep it that way... :winkgrin:

[greysandbays]

A horse might run over you and knock you down; rarely will they actually put their weight on you. Unless they fall on you, in which case, they'll at least get up off you (unless they're dead).

When an ATV rolls over on you, it ain't gonna get up off you. It'll just lay on you and let you die.

[Pirateer]

When an ATV rolls over on you, it ain't gonna get up off you. It'll just lay on you and let you die.

Very true.

They don't have any common sense either.

[pAin't_Misbehavin']

*raises hand* Me! I never wear a helmet when bicycling. I grew up riding my bicycle everywhere I went, and we didn't have helmets back then, and I cannot imagine putting on a helmet to ride a bike now.

But I guess I'm not really a helmet Nazi, either. Even though I'm an every-time, every-ride kind of girl. Because every time I feel a helmet-Nazi moment coming on, I think about how all my neighbors out here in the country grew up riding their ponies everywhere, and nobody'd ever heard of a helmet back then - and I get why they can't fathom putting on a helmet to ride a horse now.

I keep hoping that, rather than being seen as role models, the helmetless adults will look hopelessly old-fashioned and out-of-touch to the young'uns. Like the way some teenagers give cigarette-smoking adults that sidelong "eeeww gross" look - gives me hope for future generations.:yes:

[Curb Appeal]

To me, a horse is different because they can actually THROW you, rather than just falling off a moving object, you know?

Also, a bike or ATV can't kick you in the face or step on you on the way down. :lol:

EDIT; Ironically, I never ride a bike or ATV or anything anyways, so. :)

As someone who was pinned under an ATV after a low speed rollover, I can absolutely attest that an ATV can do A LOT of damage. My helmet came up with quite a few deep scratches and had to be replaced.

I do wear a helmet when riding a bike now. I have to set a good example for my kids.

[li'l bit]

[QUOTE]

I like my head, and even without a horse involved, accidents happen. As a friend noted the other day, that's why they are called "accidents." If they only happened when we did something intentionally, they'd be called "on purposes." ;)

[QUOTE]

:D:D That's just what I need for convincing my son and husband that they need to wear a helmet when riding that danged four wheeler.

[Noctis]

I used to be...but when I started figuring out I was mortal (at a young age due to a TBI) I wear one all the time for any helmet type sports; ATV, Skiing, biking, rollerblading etc. Hubby says I need to wear one walking since I seem to do the most tripping etc there!

[rothmpp]

Yep - helmet hypocrite here (raises hand). That being said - I just got a ski helmet this year and I am getting a bike helmet before going out for the first time this spring. I do recognize my faulty logic.

Though before my current horse, I was not a every time, every ride helmet wearer. Came off this one too many times to not be a faithful wearer now. I don't consider myself a helmet nazi, though. If you are a realitively experienced adult (meaning you have been riding for long enough to recognize the advantages of a helmet) and you choose not to wear one, I consider that your right as an adult to make that choice on your own horse, at your own barn. But still I see people making stupid choices. Shortly before I left the last barn I was at, I saw the BO riding around with her two year old son in front of her on the saddle. And the kid did not have a helmet on. Makes me crazy to think of just one bad step from the recovering EPSM horse and the kid would have been pole vaulted 6 feet to the ground.

[charismaryllis]

since virtually all of my bicycling is done within an average of 10 feet of *cars*--yes, i definitely wear a bike helmet. :D

if it was all on smooth bike paths with no roads anywhere, i might skip it. but probably not.

[jen-s]

I grew up riding horses and 3-wheelers. Always wore a helmet on the horses. Never on the 3-wheelers. Go figure. In ~10 years of riding 3-wheelers, only had 2 oopsies. I ran over myself once and flipped the second time and was stuck underneath the darn thing. I was lucky with both and if I decide to procreate, my kids would wear a helmet regardless of what they are riding.

FWIW--I've never been comfortable on regular bikes (and HATE motorcyles), so I don't have to worry about that. But if I decided to ride any sort of bike that wasn't stationary, it would be with a helmet.

[caradino]

interesting!!

i will admit i'm a hypocrite too... i always wear a helmet when i'm doing "serious" schooling or jumping in an english saddle, not to mention that's the rule at 99% of the barns i've ridden at. western? baseball cap. forgot my helmet and i'm flatting a quiet pony and there's no one to tell me i can't ride without one? no helmet. ATV? no helmet.

it's not like the risk in any of those activities is significantly less... but i will openly admit that it's more due to the 'helmets look dorky' factor than anything else.

[pony89]

I was going to say no, but I guess I probably wouldn't wear one if I were roller blading (which I haven't done in years!) I don't know why, I would probably wear one in the car if I wouldn't feel like such a giant dork. Head injuries are so devestating, I know of a few people recovering from head injuries due to car accidents, and it is just a horrible experience. Wearing one while rollerblading is probably prudent, and I probably will now that it has occured to me

I don't know if I am a helmet nazi, per se. I moved to a Western barn a couple years ago. Although I kind of cringed a little to see no helmets due to my own preference, I never said anything (except once when the assistant trainer was riding a mare who'd already put 4 trainers in the hospital, including one whose troxel was split in half. He said he figured after all of the years he'd spent riding bulls w/no helmet, it just hadn't occured to him to start wearing one now. I'm not going to argue with that!)

Over the summer, a woman died in a tragic accident at a park in our area. A helmet actually would not have saved her, but for whatever reason, it caused the folks that I ride with to realize that the woman who died was our age, doing what we do. Things can happen in an instant, and totally change your life. I was happy to see the habit of helmet wearing sweep through the whole community of people that I ride with. It's such an easy thing to do, and can save you and your family a lot of pain! Now, whenever I am riding, it is with lots of other helmet wearers!:yes:

[Mudder]

I always wear one when I ride my horses - I feel naked if I don't! But, no I don't wear one when I ride my bike.

[Foxtrot's]

I'm dyed in the wool Pony Club...every time, every ride. Seatbelts, always, and if I rode anything else, would use a helmet, too. I guess the only thing I would not wear a helmet on would be the wheelchair, but I'm not planning that yet. (God willing)

[Wheel Whip]

My friend was going for a nice, casual, evening bike ride when a deer T- boned her. Thank God she was wearing a helmet, and now I'll add a bike helmet to my collection.

[JB]

Actually, I'm going to beg to differ. When you ride an ATV, you can indeed be thrown - something about inertia and the object you're riding on stopping suddenly when it hits a rock but you don't.

Same with bikes! If you have never been thrown (yes, thrown :lol:) due to a bike's front brake locking, or hitting a tree root just the wrong way, then you might not understand :winkgrin:

I'm a partial hypocrite, but that's changing. Horses, always. Bikes, always. Skiing, never. However, before we go next time, I'm getting a helmet. Getting older means facing mortality in a more in-your-face way, and I'm not about to go out the way poor Natasha Richardson did :( I mean really, if falling on the bunny slope (how fast can you be going anyway??) can get you killed... :(

[CosMonster]

Also, even if a bike or ATV can't "throw" you, as in intentionally dump you, even if you just lose your balance and fall it can give you a brain injury. You can get a fatal brain injury just from the impact of falling 4 feet. I don't ride ATVs, but I always wear one while biking because of traffic or the risk of falling onto something. One time I rolled down half a mountain (well it felt like it) from hitting a patch of mud and simultaneously having to brake to avoid some hikers (it was a blind curve, I wasn't even going particularly fast) and my bike fell out from under me and we both slid off the trail and down the side of the mountain. I whacked my head on several rocks and trees on the way down. It was in Vail, and I didn't have a key to my hotel room, so it was kind of fun walking around that place all covered in mud and blood and getting stares from the yuppies. :lol:

I'm actually better about wearing my helmet on a bike then when riding, I think because I feel more comfortable on horseback. I almost always wear my helmet either way though.

[hessy35]

Having watched my best friend almost die from a head injury I never ride without a helmet, or do anything else without one that requires it. It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt...

[Schune]

My dad has a Harley that he loves to ride, and I have to admit I LOVE getting on the back with him. That said, I've never gotten on the back without a motorcycle helmet. In addition to that, my father doesn't let anyone who isn't wearing a certified approved motor helmet on it with him. I won't ride anything motorized without head protection.

Same goes for when I'm on a horse.

[MistyBlue]

Oh good, glad to hear an ATV can throw you because I'm pretty sure I was thrown off one once. It bucked. Stupid thing.
(I'm pretty sure dirt bikes spook too...but then I am uncoordinated and shouldn't be on fast motorized anything, LOL)
I don't ride bicycles...and nobody laugh but...I never learned how. :eek: Hey...I told you I was incoordinated. :D
I probably should wear a helmet on the tractor...but I won't. That seems to be pushing it to me.
However, last time I cleaned the gutters on the house I did wear a Troxel. :lol: Combo of not wanting rotted soggy leaves in my hair AND being terrified of heights. And a klutz.
And yup...I looked Speshul all right! :cool:

[atr]

Don't do the ATV or bike thing any more, but always wear a helmet to ski and to ride. We see a fair number of people hit trees and die skiing every year here. Admittedly not always head injuries, but my feeling is if they can't avoid a damned tree, they don't stand much chance of avoiding me either, so I'd rather my precious noggin was well wrapped and out of their way.

[oldenmare]

After seeing a lady fall in the grocery store yesterday and end up with a concussion, I'm thinking about wearing my helmet all the time. Including to sleep in (there was that time that former BF knocked me out of bed during a nightmare....something he never did live down! :) ).

Seriously, I wear for cycling, riding ATV and almost always when on horse (I know, I know....).... and thanks to my persistent insistence (aka "nagging"), my sister now makes her kids wear helmets when on the ATV (I do always wear helmet on horse around the kids).

[Event4Life]

Even at the "interesting" lesson barn I began at, helmets were absolutely a requirement. Even unmounted - catching, grooming, feeding, whatever. It was actually the strictest "helmet nazi" barn I've ever ridden at. Though there were some interesting safety contradictions - nylon bridles, etc.

My parents are both doctors, and have always been extremely strict with me and my sisters about safety, and not taking unnecessary chances. I'd never think to get on a bike without a helmet. The 2nd time we went skiing, we wore helmets. I don't ATV or motorcycle (My mother once said she'd disown us if she caught us on a motorbike - I guess when she was doing ER rounds as a resident, there was a really horrifying motorbike related accident, and it has haunted her for life), but if I did you can sure as hell bet I'd have a helmet.

[JustTrails]

I'm all helmet all the time.....when riding something. Helmets have saved me from a bad concussion or worse, from a bicycle, horses, and atv's. Here in California, atv helmets are the law. After a head-on collision with a dirt bike, it drove home the point even more. When visiting states where atv helmets are not the law, we still wear them. Get lots of weird looks from those who don't. Oh well, I like my brain where it is and how it functions.

[JB]

I'm thinking about wearing my helmet all the time. Including to sleep in (there was that time that former BF knocked me out of bed during a nightmare....something he never did live down! :) ).

In my college dorm, I had the top bunk one year. I woke up one night from the pain of landing on my ass on the floor :eek: I can't imagine what might have happened if I'd gone head first :no:

Even at the "interesting" lesson barn I began at, helmets were absolutely a requirement. Even unmounted - catching, grooming, feeding, whatever. It was actually the strictest "helmet nazi" barn I've ever ridden at.

One day I was bending over to put boots on my horse. I was ready to get on, so already had my helmet on. At my most vulnerable point in getting a boot on (hoof boot), something spooked him (and that's hard to do), and a 17h 1300lb black beast literally ran me over, and my head hit the gravel we were standing on :no: SO glad my helmet was on.

[fordtraktor]

I don't on the gator, but it is farm use. We don't "joy ride," go fast, or go on any hills. The use is normally stuff like hauling hay from barn to trailer, etc. No need for a helmet to do that sort of stuff.

I know of several local kids who were killed riding ATVs.

I also second the person who warned about cars being the real threat with bikes. I also know of someone who was riding a bike down the road when someone opened their parallel-parked car door into the biker. The biker's head went under the wheel of a passing car and killed her.

I always wear a bike helmet and would wear an ATV helmet if I rode them.

As my mom always says, it isn't me, it's the Other Guy I fear.

Of course, I am more sensitive than most. I've had two TBIs due to horses and would have been killed both times if I hadn't been wearing my helmet. Thank you, Troxel!

[vacation1]

Not a 'helmet nazi' but I am personally pro-helmet while riding horses, but would ride a bike helmet-less without blinking. I've smashed up on pavement more than once, and I understand that brain injuries can happen just as easily from a bike crash as from a fall from a horse. But they can also happen from a trip off a curb, or an accident while riding in a car. I also understand the desire to add safety features to sports, especially for children, but all activities and sports are not equal, even if they all contain some potential for harm.