Should we wear helmets? | Forum | Niseko, Hirafu, Kutchan

tdes 2009-03-20 10:41:21

It's so sad about Natasha Richardson ... RIP. Do you wear a helmet? Should everyone wear helmets? What do you think? I was just reading an article on CNN which said: "a law was recently passed in Austria making it compulsory for children to wear helmets on Austrian ski slopes." http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/19/skiing.safety/index.html

Pow!!! (2009-03-20 10:52:35)

hi

not a fan of the nanny state

should be a personal choice

if i don't wear a helmet i don't think that endangers anyone else

legacy (2009-03-20 11:49:20)

Hi TDES. I had a read. Interesting topic.

[quote]Indeed, there is evidence that wearing a helmet can give some skiers a feeling of invincibility, which can make them ski faster and more recklessly.[/quote]

Reminds me of American Football ([url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_issues_in_American_football#Statistics]ref[/url]), 300 lb guys who can run a 4.3 [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/40-yard_dash]40[/url] are perfectly happy to run into eachother at full speed, placing a lot of faith in their gear, which leads to lots of spinal injuries and some fatalities.

[quote]While children and beginners are most at risk of being injured while skiing, it's those more experienced on the slopes who are most likely to be involved in a fatal accident.[/quote]

Natasha Richardson was aparently a beginner, but the [url=news/5-news/83-man-hits-tree-and-dies-in-hanazono]recent fatality in Niseko[/url] was Nakata Katsuhito, an experienced skier and a member of the [url=http://www.ski-japan.or.jp/]Ski Association of Japan[/url], and I think a tree limb connected with his jaw, not sure a helmet would have helped him.

I personally don't wear helmets, not on bicycles, and not on the slopes. But I also think I know my limits. And if I ever suffer a head injury, I know it'll will have been my fault for not taking the necessary precautions. So, even though a helmet saved my father's life in a motorcycle accident (the ONE day he wore one he crashed!) I'm probably with Powzel on this one regarding regulation.

If a preponderance of evidence suggested that it would save a lot of lives, I'd probably change my mind. Does anybody have access to those kind of stats?

alpachinko (2009-03-20 18:00:13)

I read a study recently (trying to find it again now) that said cyclists who wore helmets were orders of magnitude more likely to get hit by cars, the theory was that drivers would see someone without a helmet and subconciously slow or give a much wider passing berth to a helmeted cyclist, also that above certain speeds a helmet didnt offer any more significant survivability. that said, with the amount of mental drivers around here and the near misses ive had i started wearing one at the end of last summer and probably will again this year. even if it does make my head look like the end of a giant p*nis.

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