I honestly feel naked if I don’t put a seatbelt on when getting in a car. It doesn’t even cross my mind it’s automatic. In any event he is very lucky. Prayers for PY!
I always start the car. Adjust mirrors and then put on my seatbelt. I always want to have the oil totally circulating before I drive.
I feel the same way when riding my bike without a helmet. I invested a lot of time and money into training my brain.
a bike … as in bicycle? Or motorcycle? I can’t get myself to wear a helmet in a bicycle. I’m sure that is probably nonsensical.
Since the story is out there and PY is tweeting about it… the details should probably come from him. I do think there is optimism that he will be ok.
Bicycle. I went over the handlebars at 32 mph when a cyclist just in front of me crashed and I had nowhere to go. Wrecked an expensive racing helmet but I only had a mild concussion. There was an old Turkish prof in my department that rode his bike to work every day and one day he asked me why I wore a helmet. He went out and bought one and within a week he was hit by a motorist so hard that it broke his femur. English was not his first languaged. When he got out of the hospital he thanked me for talking him into wearing a helmet and said "The doctors told me that if I hadn't worn a helmet I would probably now be a vegetarian."
This is two different issues. Let's get to your professor's first. What happened was fortuitous and he is damn lucky to be alive. In this situation, about all the helmet did was to keep his brain intact while his body was crushed (theoretically speaking). If the hit came directly to his head it isn't likely it would have prevented death from a massive blow. I am reminded of Christopher Reeve, who wore a helmet while horse jumping. He broke his neck and died a quadriplegic. His helmet was useless. Now to you. In contrast, I am reminded that the Dutch don't wear helmets while doing their regular biking en mass and have the best safety record in the world. Why? besides the quality of their infrastructure, they do NOT ride fast. A bike is a mode of transportation that gets them from Point A to Point B the most effective way and they do not have to try to break some personal best record. And to that, a helmet is not necessary on a bike...if your reflexes and lack of momentum allows you to keep your head from bouncing off the pavement. You can easily do that at 5-8 mph but not as much going faster. Obviously the older and weaker you are the slower it takes before the bounce is a real threat. So, if you are going to go 32 mph (!) on a bike, it is a no-brainer. I have bounced going 15+ (hard to stop your head going down) because I like to have fun. And I have the scars on my knees to prove it. But there is no way a helmet is going to stop a motorist who is not paying attention.
That is like saying I don't need to wear a seat belt because if I get in a head on with a semi at 70 mph I will die if I am wearing one or not. Helmets are not a guarentee of safety but they make many acidents survivable. I have been hit by cars several times. Run off the road many more times on purpose. I used to be a bike racer and the accident I am talking about was on our local Thursday training ride. I wasn't even sprinting and was just following wheels so as not to get dropped after an intermediate sprint. Back then I could hit 40 mph in a sprint without a lead out. The guy that went down in front of me hit some trash on the highway and went down right in front of me. And I was/am a good bike handler. I once had a stick kick up and jam my front wheel at about 20 mph and I didn't go down. I could smell the burning rubber. My "lizard brain" from over 250000 miles on a bike kicked in and I shifted all my weight back.
No, it means if you are expecting to go 70 mph then you need to wear a seat belt. If you are tooling around on urban streets at 15 mph then they are optional. Again, the Dutch are the safest bicycle riders in the world. And they aren't experts. The rest is institutional hysteria. But again, if you are going to go 32 mph it is a no-brainer.
When I was in 5th grade I was riding my Schwinn balloon tire bike at the park and out of the saddle the chain broke. I was slammed to the pavement. I had the cartoon visual of my vision being brought down to a pin hole and the last thing I heard was "Maybe he has a cuncussion". The next thing I knew was that I came to in my own house about 30 minutes later. I have a fracture in my skull that I can still feel. I sure as hell wished that I had been wearing a helmet then but they were not a thing. YMMV.
I did train with team mates that didn't wear helmets on Sunday training rides. I always thought that was stupid. You should train with what you compete in.
Hope and wish for a speedy and full recovery for Patric. That said... wearing a seatbelt is the cheapest and most effective insurance you can have while traveling by car. I've had morons tell me in all seriousness that they wouldn't wear a seatbelt because they want to be able to quickly escape a vehicle when it plunges into the water. Okay, I get that, but they're still morons. Almost everyone will be in a traffic accident, and more than once. Almost none of us will plunge off a bridge into the water. And the seatbelt doesn't stop working just because the car is submerged.
Always wear your seatbelt and helmet. Always. A friend once said, not wearing your helmet is like not using protection in a brothel - eventually the odds are against you. That said, I really hope he's going to be fine. He's not only a great Gator but a great guy.
Re bicycle riding. I rode as a kid very often and had a bad fall, face planted, knocked out for about 15 min, concussion. Threw up often. Then I started riding a lot last year, got cool new bike. Was in a store and saw a sign "You only have one brain". I bought a great looking helmet, which my wife says looks like a WW II Nazi helmet. Back in 70's a girl I kind of knew loved to bike. She hit a crack in sidewalk, slammed into a light pole and broke her neck and died on the spot. I thought of her when I bought that helmet last year.
I agree about the seatbelt. I was in a single car roll over accident in MO when I was 18 years old. It was the slowest roll over in history though. LOL I went off the edge of the road, my car fishtailed and then shot to the right. I ended up on a clay hill. The car was too heavy and it rolled over as it sunk into the side. Still, seatbelts are lifesavers. I'm sorry to hear Patrick wasn't wearing one.
