Elise Levy
A bike helmet is a vital road-safety gear that is being neglected by most cyclists and motorists. All motorists are prone to vehicular accidents specially bikers. Bicycle helmets have an almost 70% effectiveness of moderating head and brain injuries. If you are not still convinced, let us breakdown the 8 reasons why wearing a bike helmet is 100% beneficial.
Benefits of Wearing a Bike Helmet
- Protect your head, brain, and face.
In the event of a stumble or a major road accident, your head and face are the easiest targets. As these kind of accidents might cause traumatic brain injuries or even death, wearing a bike helmet can help decrease the risks. It also protects you from facial damage, which might cause additional trauma and cost.
- Save you from interchanging weather and also improve road vision.
Wearing a bike helmet can ease the ride a lot. Serving as a visor and an umbrella in one, bike helmets can improve your road vision by protecting you from extreme sunlight, raindrops or snowfall. It keeps you warm/dry during cold or rainy weather, and cool when it’s extremely hot.
- Help make you a good example.
If you bike as a family on Sundays or holidays, wearing helmets might just become more vital for you. Wearing a bike helmet can give a good impression to your children. By wearing one, you set a good example of being a safe biker. A habit is best imposed during childhood and if kids will see their elderlies/parents wear bike helmets, they will adapt it for good.
- Make you more visible on the road.
Choosing a bike helmet in bright colors can make you more visible to others on the road. Brightly colored bike helmets can double as your head reflector, making you more obvious and visible to other motorists.
- Turn you into a law-abiding citizen
Remember Mike Ross from Suits? He wears bike helmet on his way to huge NYC offices as a messenger on bike. Might be a coincidence? Well, let’s just say Mike loves biking, his parents were killed in a road accident and he knows the law very well.
Suits might be fictional but Mike Ross is a good example to bikers. Not all places impose a law on helmets but in some places such as Bellevue, they require all or certain riders to wear helmets. If you travel to other countries, wearing a bike helmet is an actual traffic law. Equipping yourself with compliant helmet doesn’t just keep you safe — it makes you a law-abiding citizen.
- Add style while on the road.
Some might think helmets are ugly but hey, movies such as Fast and the Furious proved that helmets add spice to the action. Guess what? Bike helmets can also be very stylish for you! Choose the one that fits you best, have it customized or personalized. Pimping cars sometimes include stickers, and you can also do it with your bikes and helmets. Buying different colors of helmets can also add life to your biking style. Sporty, safe and fashionable, wear a bike helmet that suits your shoes and mood!
- Avoid high medical bills
As mentioned in our reason No. 1, one can never can tell when accidents might occur. By wearing a good bike helmet, you just not save yourself from head and facial injuries, but from financial costs as well. Helmets will protect your head, brain, and face. It can also minimize or avoid damages. Not wearing a bike helmet might cost expensive emergency rooms, surgeries expenses and even long-lasting or continuous medication.
- Keep you from legal issues
Even if you are sure the other party caused the accident, they might try to pin you the fault for the severe injuries. Not wearing a helmet puts hole on bike accident cases that involve head injuries. The other party might point that it could have been just a minor incident if you are wearing proper gears, including a helmet.
Tips on Buying the Right Bike Helmet
There are numerous factors to consider in purchasing bike helmets. You can complement your helmet choice using your existing bike gears, shoes or your bike itself. Fitting is also a big factor to consider, and one must follow these steps when choosing the perfect bike helmet.
First, you must check a sticker ensuring that the helmet complies with the U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission (CSPC) standards. Second, consider the fit of your helmet. It should not go lower than two finger widths from your eyebrows when you rock you head back and forth. Third, the straps must also make a “V” shape when fastened. Lastly, Make sure to center the buckle under the chin, tighten it until there is no more than two finger widths of space between the strap and your skin.
Convenient or Inconvenient?
One might think that a bike helmet is just an additional baggage when cycling but there are too many reasons why all bikers must wear a bike helmet. You can always buckle the helmet on your backpack or lock it with your bike when not in use so you don’t have to carry it around. It might appear as an additional cost at first, but wearing a helmet can prevent further accident-related expenses.
Imagine riding your bike and then it suddenly drizzled, or the first snowfall arrived while biking your way to an errand. Think about all the pain, expenses, and inconveniences that you have to go through because you forgot to wear a bike helmet. All these facts are enough to make you wear one. So, make sure to always wear a bike helmet when riding the streets or these rugged terrains.
Can’t find the helmet you’re looking for? We’ve narrowed some choices for you here.
