I think this is really bad. It scares away people from cycling.
The same head injury happens to pedestrians and motorists in case of an accident. Nobody asks motorists or pedestrians to wear helmets. And a helmet ruins pedestrian’s or motorist’s hair too, if they wear one.
wearing a helmet literally owns. people who say “it is more dangerous to wear a helmet” are hecka dumb and have obviously never fallen off a bike + smashed there forehead on the road
Every year over 40,000 people die on our roads and 2,000,000 are seriously, permanently injured – driving cars. You want to scare people, scare them away from driving. Most of these injuries could probably be prevented by riding a bicycle or taking a bus.
I can understand warning people of the dangers associated with urban riding, cars, doors, unobservant pedestrians and even other bicyclists. However, the problem is not that cyclists do not wear helmets. The problem is a complete lack of meaningful dialogue outside of these psa announcements (which often just preach to the choir)and other such scare tactics. It is meaningless to discuss an issue when the facts, and what is actually causing dangers on our roadway, are shrouded in lies, misinformation and ignorance.
The ad doesn’t say anything about bicycles, so do those numbers mean all road fatalities and injuries, including pedestrians and motorists?
I once knew a girl who would wear a helmet in cars, even trains…I guess she was ahead of her time. There are no excuses.
JeffS, I neither said I endorse or denounce this PSA. I merely posted it. If you think less of me for posting a controversial image on my blog, you are welcome to spend your online time elsewhere.
A. We want people to bike
B. We want people to bike safely
C. Promoting B might inhibit A
Some people prioritize A, some B. Personally, I think that it’s important to set B as the precedent. It’s much harder to change values later on. It’s easier to introduce people when good values are the norm.
Also, people who are dumb enough to be turned off from biking because of this ad are probably not bright enough to be keen on biking in the first place.
What country is this from? The ad says 11,000 fatalities annually. US has 700 cyclist fatalities and 36,000 total deaths on the road annually. In the UK, the figures are about 100 / 3000. Canada is about the same as UK. Not Australia, either.
I wear a helmet 99% of the time I ride. That being said, this is blatant fear mongering based on raw data. Wearing a helmet is a personal choice. However, helmet advocacy has been shown to put people off of cycling. The energy spent on helmet advocacy would be much better if used to help create better infrastructure and educational programs for both drivers and cyclist alike.
Thanks, Richard for rebutting that 11,000 figure. The language in the ad is pretty egregious, and I think this ad is pretty irresponsible. I wear a helmet most of the time and think helmets are important for those accidents when you hit a stationary object or fall off your bike, and may or may not be of any use when you are hit by a car going anywhere above 20-25 miles per hour. To me this is another subtle case of blame the victim.
Helmet or no helmet is a choice. Helmet laws prevent injuries because they prevent people from choosing to ride a bike! We need roads that have lanes for cyclist…we need to encourage riding not discourage it by creating needless laws. Go to Europe and you will see substaintially more bike riders than you see in the US and the vast majority are NOT wearing helmets…wonder why? All the Lance Armstrong wantabees do not get it…
Three weeks ago I crashed on my bicycle while going 44.1 mph. I broke my helmet in 6 places. The left temple area of my helmet was crushed flat. That damage would have been to my skull if I hadn’t been wearing a helmet, and I wouldn’t able to type this. If I had even survived. Wear a helmet.
Even when ads like this can scare people away from cycling I think helmets are one of the most important thing a rider could bring with them, and instead of blaming something that is not going to change, idiot drivers, we should all do our part to make sure we get to our destination safely. I feel that not wearing a helmet is very similar to not wearing a seat belt, it may be uncomfortable and not needed 99% of the time but that 1% of the time it is, it could save your life.
I had a zipper head just like that. Wasn’t wearing a helmet. I was traveling between 20 and 25 mph and the guy who hit me maybe 30-40mph. I would never tell anyone not to where a helmet but I have read quite a bit of material at cyclehelmets.org and elsewhere that leads me to believe that my injuries may have been worse if I had been wearing a typical cycling helmet. I have been cycling nearly half a century. I usually wear a helmet for commuting on congested roads, but I usually don’t on wide flat roads with good visibility. In the last 30years I have come off my bike four times and three of those times it involved a motorist. None of those incidents was preventable by me and in none of those incidents was the motorist charged even though they broke the law and I was personally injured as a result of their actions. I’m not so naive to deny that in an accident between a cyclist and a motorist the cyclist will almost always come out worse regardless of whose fault it is. I hope that most of us are aware of this and behave accordingly. Nonetheless there is not enough emphasis on holding motorists accountable. As cyclists we have are lives threatened over and over by people in cars and that wont stop unless motorists are heald accountable. Perhaps it may seem like I have gone off on a tangent here but these kind of PSA seem to much like blaming a woman for having been raped because she dressed, well like a woman. Perhaps helmets improve your chances of surveying a crash, I’m not convinced. But we never forget that its changing the current automobile culture that needs to be addressed. Why don’t they do a PSA that shows what happens when an inattentive driver hits a cyclist with their 3600lbs car.
“These kind of PSAs seem to much like blaming a woman for having been raped because she dressed, well like a woman.” Amen, Paddy.
I wear mine because I travel fast, and in all weathers. I am also used to helmets from ski-racing all my youth. I have never landed on my head, though have fallen, due to my own or driver error. Not just in Europe, but here in Tokyo almost nobody wears a helmet; in fact, no adults do unless they are one of the 1% of cyclists on a road bike. Do you know why fatalities are 1/2 what they are in the US per person on the roads? Not helmet use, and even though the roads are far more crowded and the pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure is worse in Japan. Simple: if you hit a cyclists or pedestrian the law treats you as at fault, and you’re screwed. Tends to make the drivers more careful, no?
Should you be able to toddle about town on your bike without living in fear? Yes, just as a women should be able not to have to wear a burqa to leave the house.
I wear my helmet while biking around Pgh. It’s really a simple idea. If you’re going to drive a car buckle your seat belt. If you’re going to ride your bike wear a helmet. If you’re going to walk be aware of all traffic. I don’t have anything against anyone who doesn’t wear a helmet, and honestly, if a car hits me then proceeds to drive over my skull there is little my helmet can do.
I just know with all of the crazy stuff that goes on in the city and all the randomness of it all it is not a bad idea to protect that beautiful brain.
@Pink Robe good call. However one wonders what Ogilvy & Mather’s real intentions are. Anyone who has been on the streets in many countries throughout SE Asia would realize that the helmets from most SE Asian countries would not even be allowed on a youth baseball field as batting helmets. The real culprit here is crappy helmets, poor education and cheep credit. If they wanted to present a practical solution to reduce road accidents they could suggest that people ditch their scooters and slow it down on a bicycle. Much cheeper and much safer with or without a helmet.
i’m not sure any of the ppl here advocating not wearing a helmet have any type of actual intelligence. i’m still amazed they are typing and not throwing their own poo at ppl outside the cage.
i was hit by car that came across a kerb into a dedicated bike lane, i was thrown 20 meters and landed on a windscreen of a parked car that i went through, with a broken collarbone, broken hip, broken wrist, numerous broken ribs and fractures in both my legs i was able to call 000 myself thanks to a helmet. the drunk in the car who didn’t have a seatbelt had severe head injuries after he hit a power pole trying to do a runner after cleaning me up.
if you don’t want to wear a helmet that’s fine, you seem stupid enough it wont matter anyway, but don’t try and tell others they don’t need to because you will be responsible for their death if they ever get hit by a car.
@simon I’m not sure any of the people who commented here were advocating not wearing a helmet. They were criticizing the effectiveness of the public service campaign, which as it turns out was directed towards motor-cyclists. I wont say I take offense to your comments because, well, this is just the internet. However I will say I find that the logic and tone of your remarks lack thoughtfulness and civility.
Ciao, I would really like to get a copy of this for my shop in poster size. can you tell me where I can get it.
Grazie,
Rob Ethridge rwethridge@yahoo.com
> That damage would have been to my skull if I hadn’t been wearing a helmet,
Huh – you think your skull will behave like a piece of foam? Seems unlikely to me.
Helmets are designed to deform and are not rated to absorb significant amounts of energy before giving up (single vehicle accident, about 25kph impact speed). So a cracked and smashed helmet just shows that it has exceeded that very low limit.
I despise adverts like this – scaremongering using dubious “facts” and ignoring the population wide studies that show helmet effect must be negligible at best.
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I think this is really bad. It scares away people from cycling.
The same head injury happens to pedestrians and motorists in case of an accident. Nobody asks motorists or pedestrians to wear helmets. And a helmet ruins pedestrian’s or motorist’s hair too, if they wear one.
wearing a helmet literally owns. people who say “it is more dangerous to wear a helmet” are hecka dumb and have obviously never fallen off a bike + smashed there forehead on the road
Every year over 40,000 people die on our roads and 2,000,000 are seriously, permanently injured – driving cars. You want to scare people, scare them away from driving. Most of these injuries could probably be prevented by riding a bicycle or taking a bus.
I can understand warning people of the dangers associated with urban riding, cars, doors, unobservant pedestrians and even other bicyclists. However, the problem is not that cyclists do not wear helmets. The problem is a complete lack of meaningful dialogue outside of these psa announcements (which often just preach to the choir)and other such scare tactics. It is meaningless to discuss an issue when the facts, and what is actually causing dangers on our roadway, are shrouded in lies, misinformation and ignorance.
It’s garbage, and I think less of anyone advocating for it… that means you Jeff
Helmets are good, but the idea that you are stupid if you do not wear one is the same argument people use AGAINST riding bicycles at all.
Riding without a helmet is stupid.
Riding a bicycle in traffic is stupid.
Where do you stop? Should we all just get back in cars and all be safer?
i think less of people who dont wear helmets.
The ad doesn’t say anything about bicycles, so do those numbers mean all road fatalities and injuries, including pedestrians and motorists?
I once knew a girl who would wear a helmet in cars, even trains…I guess she was ahead of her time. There are no excuses.
JeffS, I neither said I endorse or denounce this PSA. I merely posted it. If you think less of me for posting a controversial image on my blog, you are welcome to spend your online time elsewhere.
This is a complex issue:
A. We want people to bike
B. We want people to bike safely
C. Promoting B might inhibit A
Some people prioritize A, some B. Personally, I think that it’s important to set B as the precedent. It’s much harder to change values later on. It’s easier to introduce people when good values are the norm.
Also, people who are dumb enough to be turned off from biking because of this ad are probably not bright enough to be keen on biking in the first place.
What country is this from? The ad says 11,000 fatalities annually. US has 700 cyclist fatalities and 36,000 total deaths on the road annually. In the UK, the figures are about 100 / 3000. Canada is about the same as UK. Not Australia, either.
The 40% thing is pure hokum as well.
I wear a helmet 99% of the time I ride. That being said, this is blatant fear mongering based on raw data. Wearing a helmet is a personal choice. However, helmet advocacy has been shown to put people off of cycling. The energy spent on helmet advocacy would be much better if used to help create better infrastructure and educational programs for both drivers and cyclist alike.
Thanks, Richard for rebutting that 11,000 figure. The language in the ad is pretty egregious, and I think this ad is pretty irresponsible. I wear a helmet most of the time and think helmets are important for those accidents when you hit a stationary object or fall off your bike, and may or may not be of any use when you are hit by a car going anywhere above 20-25 miles per hour. To me this is another subtle case of blame the victim.
Helmet or no helmet is a choice. Helmet laws prevent injuries because they prevent people from choosing to ride a bike! We need roads that have lanes for cyclist…we need to encourage riding not discourage it by creating needless laws. Go to Europe and you will see substaintially more bike riders than you see in the US and the vast majority are NOT wearing helmets…wonder why? All the Lance Armstrong wantabees do not get it…
Three weeks ago I crashed on my bicycle while going 44.1 mph. I broke my helmet in 6 places. The left temple area of my helmet was crushed flat. That damage would have been to my skull if I hadn’t been wearing a helmet, and I wouldn’t able to type this. If I had even survived. Wear a helmet.
Even when ads like this can scare people away from cycling I think helmets are one of the most important thing a rider could bring with them, and instead of blaming something that is not going to change, idiot drivers, we should all do our part to make sure we get to our destination safely. I feel that not wearing a helmet is very similar to not wearing a seat belt, it may be uncomfortable and not needed 99% of the time but that 1% of the time it is, it could save your life.
I had a zipper head just like that. Wasn’t wearing a helmet. I was traveling between 20 and 25 mph and the guy who hit me maybe 30-40mph. I would never tell anyone not to where a helmet but I have read quite a bit of material at cyclehelmets.org and elsewhere that leads me to believe that my injuries may have been worse if I had been wearing a typical cycling helmet. I have been cycling nearly half a century. I usually wear a helmet for commuting on congested roads, but I usually don’t on wide flat roads with good visibility. In the last 30years I have come off my bike four times and three of those times it involved a motorist. None of those incidents was preventable by me and in none of those incidents was the motorist charged even though they broke the law and I was personally injured as a result of their actions. I’m not so naive to deny that in an accident between a cyclist and a motorist the cyclist will almost always come out worse regardless of whose fault it is. I hope that most of us are aware of this and behave accordingly. Nonetheless there is not enough emphasis on holding motorists accountable. As cyclists we have are lives threatened over and over by people in cars and that wont stop unless motorists are heald accountable. Perhaps it may seem like I have gone off on a tangent here but these kind of PSA seem to much like blaming a woman for having been raped because she dressed, well like a woman. Perhaps helmets improve your chances of surveying a crash, I’m not convinced. But we never forget that its changing the current automobile culture that needs to be addressed. Why don’t they do a PSA that shows what happens when an inattentive driver hits a cyclist with their 3600lbs car.
It’s the same argument non-bikers use:
“Hey, you were the idiot riding a bicycle.”
It is a foolish argument for bikers to use against each other.
I’m pretty sure this PSA is for motorcycle helmets in SE Asia, from a 2007 campaign. It’s not directed at bicycle riders.
http://www.wpp.com/corporateresponsibilityreports/2007/pro_bono/case_studies/injury_prevention_ogilvy.html
“These kind of PSAs seem to much like blaming a woman for having been raped because she dressed, well like a woman.” Amen, Paddy.
I wear mine because I travel fast, and in all weathers. I am also used to helmets from ski-racing all my youth. I have never landed on my head, though have fallen, due to my own or driver error. Not just in Europe, but here in Tokyo almost nobody wears a helmet; in fact, no adults do unless they are one of the 1% of cyclists on a road bike. Do you know why fatalities are 1/2 what they are in the US per person on the roads? Not helmet use, and even though the roads are far more crowded and the pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure is worse in Japan. Simple: if you hit a cyclists or pedestrian the law treats you as at fault, and you’re screwed. Tends to make the drivers more careful, no?
Should you be able to toddle about town on your bike without living in fear? Yes, just as a women should be able not to have to wear a burqa to leave the house.
I wear my helmet while biking around Pgh. It’s really a simple idea. If you’re going to drive a car buckle your seat belt. If you’re going to ride your bike wear a helmet. If you’re going to walk be aware of all traffic. I don’t have anything against anyone who doesn’t wear a helmet, and honestly, if a car hits me then proceeds to drive over my skull there is little my helmet can do.
I just know with all of the crazy stuff that goes on in the city and all the randomness of it all it is not a bad idea to protect that beautiful brain.
@Lenny
You write as if you have created some immutable logic here…
“If you’re going to drive a car buckle your seat belt.
If you’re going to ride, wear a helmet.
If you’re going to walk be aware of all traffic”
But, to me, this is much more valid…
“If you’re going to drive, be aware of all traffic.
If you’re going to ride, be aware of all traffic.
If you’re going to walk be aware of all traffic”
@Pink Robe good call. However one wonders what Ogilvy & Mather’s real intentions are. Anyone who has been on the streets in many countries throughout SE Asia would realize that the helmets from most SE Asian countries would not even be allowed on a youth baseball field as batting helmets. The real culprit here is crappy helmets, poor education and cheep credit. If they wanted to present a practical solution to reduce road accidents they could suggest that people ditch their scooters and slow it down on a bicycle. Much cheeper and much safer with or without a helmet.
i’m not sure any of the ppl here advocating not wearing a helmet have any type of actual intelligence. i’m still amazed they are typing and not throwing their own poo at ppl outside the cage.
i was hit by car that came across a kerb into a dedicated bike lane, i was thrown 20 meters and landed on a windscreen of a parked car that i went through, with a broken collarbone, broken hip, broken wrist, numerous broken ribs and fractures in both my legs i was able to call 000 myself thanks to a helmet. the drunk in the car who didn’t have a seatbelt had severe head injuries after he hit a power pole trying to do a runner after cleaning me up.
if you don’t want to wear a helmet that’s fine, you seem stupid enough it wont matter anyway, but don’t try and tell others they don’t need to because you will be responsible for their death if they ever get hit by a car.
@simon I’m not sure any of the people who commented here were advocating not wearing a helmet. They were criticizing the effectiveness of the public service campaign, which as it turns out was directed towards motor-cyclists. I wont say I take offense to your comments because, well, this is just the internet. However I will say I find that the logic and tone of your remarks lack thoughtfulness and civility.
Ciao, I would really like to get a copy of this for my shop in poster size. can you tell me where I can get it.
Grazie,
Rob Ethridge
rwethridge@yahoo.com
1 Billion people in China and more cyclists than the entire population of America. When was the last time you saw them wearing a helmet?
> That damage would have been to my skull if I hadn’t been wearing a helmet,
Huh – you think your skull will behave like a piece of foam? Seems unlikely to me.
Helmets are designed to deform and are not rated to absorb significant amounts of energy before giving up (single vehicle accident, about 25kph impact speed). So a cracked and smashed helmet just shows that it has exceeded that very low limit.
I despise adverts like this – scaremongering using dubious “facts” and ignoring the population wide studies that show helmet effect must be negligible at best.