Lord Helmet and the Organ Donors

I was running on Rattlesnake Drive this morning, minding my own business when I was passed by a biker.  She was riding herroad bike at an appropriate speed.  She was 30 feet in front of me when out of nowhere her tires came out from under her and she skidded and scraped to a stop down a steep curb.  It was like the rug was pulled out from under her, and it was scary because there was nothing that seemingly caused the crash.

She was bleeding from her head.

She was ok, shaken and bleeding, but ok.  She would have been better if she’d been wearing a helmet.  Call me paranoid, but the older I get, the less willing I am to ride without one.  She could very easily have scrambled her brain.  According to the Insurance Institute for Highway safety, in 2008, 91% of bicycle deaths were those who weren’t wearing helmets.

I have a pretty pricey brain to take care of at this point, it would be a real shame to scramble it now, especially if easily prevented by  wearing a helmet.  Shockingly, it appears I am in the minority.  According to a national survey by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, half (50%) of bicyclists wear a helmet for at least some trips, with 35 percent using them for all or most trips.

An experience rider I know put it this way, if my brain is smart enough to protect itself, shouldn’t I let it?  Or something to that effect.  So I counted riders without helmets riding down the tight street.  There were at least a half dozen.  And I thought about what my friend John calls people who don’t wear helmets: organ donors.  It’s the only way for me to think about all those helmetless riders and not get irritated.

In closing, you don’t need one like Rick Moranis in Spaceballs, but please save the scramble and wear a helmet.  (By the way, the cheap ones will protect you about the same as the pricey ones.)