Please Wear Your Bicycle Helmets!
I know the temptation to just hop on your bike and ride around with the breeze blowing through your hair is almost irrestible; but please always put on the bicycle helmet.
I have just spend a very stress-filled and worrisome weekend with a close acquaintance who was riding without a helmet and was hit by a car. He was thrown fifteen feet through the air and ended up with in the hospital emergency room. He was extremely lucky because, incredibly, he only suffered a serious concussion and a number of pretty ugly and bloody abrasions. 90% of his abrasions were on his head and face.
The ER Doc told me that it was a miracle that he didn't die, given the force of the collision and the nature of his fall. Even more incredible was that he suffered no broken bones, no skull fracture, no brain-swelling or bleeding, and no internal injuries. Just a nasty concussion and some pretty serious scrapes and bruises. He is now at home resting and recovering well. He should be back to normal activity in a few days.
But the fact is that had he been wearing a bicycle helmet, he might have been able to walk away from the accident with just some minor bumps and bruises and a bit of a fright. The lesson: Buy a helmet and wear it. Always.
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5 comments:
Amen to that. I'm glad your friend is ok, and by ok I mean alive.
I'm just as adamant about eyewear.
Anytime something can or does go flying, wear goggles.
One of my friends lost his right eye to a saw blade exploding and I watched a friend come about an inch in either direction of losing an eye. He was trying to cut a high strength steel bolt with a sawzall, the blade snapped flew back and struck him between the eyes. I promptly lectured him senseless over that, but he started wearing goggles so I guess all that yelling paid off.
Hopefully your friend learns his lesson about safety gear. BTW I do sell some helmets that are proven to protect your dome in the event of a 200mph crash if he needs one. :)
On a personal note: How's your knee?
+1000. You never know when a casual ride is going to go south on you.
Excellent point about eye protection. I hope that others will take note.
And while we're at it... don't forget to buckle up, and to teach your kids to buckle up. Our community lost a 17-year-old girl a few weeks ago, and another (her best friend) is still in the hospital with a broken neck, due to a tragic single car accident where neither one of them were buckled up.
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