I don't doubt that for a moment, but it only takes one whack of your head into a kerb and you can be a drooling vegetable for life. (Potentially 65 years for someone my age) I've had three significant motorcycle accidents, one of which left me with a visibly un damaged helmet, but the amount of flexibility in the sides of the helmet afterwards suggested it had taken a significant blow. The other two both featured some damage to the helmet. Frankly after the injuries I sustained in my last accident the last thing in the world I needed was any further injuries, no matter how slight (13 months later I'm still over a year away from any kind of proper recovery, with two further operations due in 2014) A helmet is a safety item with no quantifiable down side, it would either make no difference, or help.
Fortunately we are free to chose, hopefully it will remain that way. I thought there were ski resorts in North America where helmets are compulsory ??
I'm not sure that's a good choice to have. It could be argued those who choose to ride (or ski) without a helmet probably don't have much up top to protect anyway.
i bet someone somewhere gets heli lifted off of the mountain every day in the winter with a life changing injury...
Any hobby that doesn't require body armour and helmets is for girls......! Frankly I regard a helmet as compulsory wear for any activity I am involved in. I lost count of how many helmets I have damaged when I was younger and racing push bikes. Ski, snowboard, cycling, skateboarding, BMX, MTB and moto. Helmets for all activities! Spineguards are next most essential pieces of kit. The rest of you can be stitched back together. Leatts are useful too. I am glad he was wearing a helmet, and hope very much he pulls through. He will no doubt value helmets as highly as anyone, and without this one he wouldn't be here as we speak. He had his share of crashes over the years, and I doubt would dream of riding/skiing etc without one..... As for helmets in the US, there are funparks at certain resorts where they are mandatory, but only for park and pipe as far as I know......
I never liked the bastard either, I sorta put him in the same box as Prost when it came to car racing , but if he is a loyal husband and father as well ( which is a rare quality among the rich and famous ) then he and his family gets my sympathy. Easily the most disturbing thing about my months in hospital was the amount of (young ) people coming thru that were fucked for life by an accident whilst playing .....rugby and skiing were the most common ..... real sad stuff
So what about the guy walking down the pavement ? Particularly under the influence of alcohol. Maybe we should introduce a law that states prior to walking down the pavement or getting drunk an approved helmet must be worn. Think of the lives it could save.
2 that I know of( crash and burn shows on telly ) Back to the old helmet debate . This pisses me off coz I don't believe that common sense should be made law, I mean its obvious that a deceint whack on the nut can fuck you for life whatever your doing and I resent being ordered ( by uniformed , ticket book holding , government sponsored gang members ) to do what is just common sense , the implication being that I would be stupid enough not to wear a helmet if it were not for them . Having said that there have been times that I would have liked to have cruised ( not raced ) thru a bit of scenic country with out the hat ...... just feels better
I think people falling down under the influence of alcohol and knocking themselves out completely has to be some form of social darwinism at work, surely, so we should let that one go..... For the vain amongst us who don't like helmets, here is an invisible one!: Hövding ? Airbag for cyclists What's liberal, and what's sensible, aren't always the same thing. I am a libertarian at heart, so I don't advocate making all these safety measures mandatory, but I chose to wear a helmet for my activities whether compulsory or not because they may well save my life in activities that carry inevitable risk that cannot be mitigated......
I always wear a helmet, back protector and knee pads when I snowboard. I also got some impact shorts for Xmas this year too. You soon get used to wearing it all.
Some of his tactics when racing were close to the bone, but surely that is just competitive racing.....without it you shouldn't be on a race track! Plus one on wishing him well. The sport would be a much poorer place ( I don't mean financially) without him. He is an all time great. Anyone remember his learning curve in the Benetton car...it was obvious he was going to be special. Fingers crossed on a full recovery.
How I wanted to be this taxi driver when I heard this story:biggrin: " Seven-time formula one world champion Michael Schumacher shocked a cab driver by taking over the wheel in order to be on time for a flight.Schumacher flew into the aerodrome at the Bavarian town of Coburg on Saturday and took a taxi to the village of Gehuelz, 30km away, to pick up a new puppy - an Australian Shepherd dog called "Ed". But when the 38-year-old, plus his wife and two children, caught a taxi back to the airport they were short on time and, after a polite request, cab driver Tuncer Yilmaz watched in wonder as Schumacher took the wheel. "I found myself in the passenger seat, which was strange enough, but to have "Schumi" behind the wheel of my cab was incredible," Mr Yilmaz told theMuenchner Abendzeitung. "He drove at full throttle around the corners and overtook in some unbelievable places." Mr Yilmaz was well rewarded for the unusual journey - on top of the 60 euro ($100) fare, he was also given a 100 euro ($167) tip. Schumacher's spokesperson Sabine Kehm later confirmed the story."
Hope Schumi will be OK (though the reports on French TV weren't exactly encouraging this evening). He's a local resident (and a motorcyclist, which a lot of people seem to have forgotten in their indifference to his injury). As regards a helmet skiing, I have one, but normally only wear it in cold weather to keep my head warm. What I don't like about them is that they remove you from the environment - they deafen you somewhat (like any helmet). This is irrelevant on a bike, where there is a lot of engine and wind noise in any case - it's a lot more comfortable to ride in a helmet. But skiing? Depends on what skiing you're doing. If it's off-piste stuff or you do a lot of jumps or something, then it makes sense, but I've never felt overly vulnerable scooting down pistes surrounded by fluffy white stuff.
One of the guys I saw at hospital was an Aussie kid, Ben (17) who had been in NZ for 4 hours 10 mins.... got himself from ChCh airport to Mt hutt ski field ASAP and , 1st run, headplanted and broke his neck..... he couldn't even swallow is own saliva.... had to have a suction line stuck in his mouth every couple of minutes...... and his poor Mum ... heart breaking stuff. How can there be a god when shit like this happens
As in most walks of life, you have to have the right tools for the job and one size does not fit all (no pun intended). It seems like MS was wearing the right gear, but you can never avoid risk 100%.
That is awful, and so is what happened to you. I think the god debate is more appropriate related to flood, famine, disease etc. than people choosing to partake in pastimes invented by them. I hope the Aussie kid recovered, I hope you are getting better, and I hope MS survives to enjoy his sons growth into adulthood.
