Faceplant at 18-mph, on the Tesla

[Marty Backe]

30 minutes ago, Nic said:

Just look on Amazon and read the reviews. I wouldn't bother with an expensive jacket (or helmet) as it will get wrecked when you fall. Spending $300+ on a replacement each time you crash is too much for me. When you are on a motorcycle you will rarely take a tumble and speed will be higher, so cost is justified. On a EUC the lower speed means that many better value products are more than adequate. Of course, if you have the money, then by all means buy whatever you find most appealing. As with all things, the law of diminishing returns applies.

It took 2-1/2 years before I had a really bad fall. Having to (maybe) replace some safety gear every 2-years is not too onerous for me. Most times that we fall off the EUC it's more of a minor fall. Hopefully you aren't face-planting that often 

[Unventor]

2 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

It took 2-1/2 years before I had a really bad fall. Having to (maybe) replace some safety gear every 2-years is not too onerous for me. Most times that we fall off the EUC it's more of a minor fall. Hopefully you aren't face-planting that often 

Question is to me what injury you can pick up in a fall if or  how to mitigate that and compare to loss of salary and goodwill at work due to sickleave for recovery. Personally I doubt my dentist can compete repair cost to a write off a helmet to 200ish €. I can be wrong...then of course I don't seem to have a fitting price tag to a broken back due to a car ran you off...I am not saying I am right, but I commute and ride in traffic not on private ground or personally traffic lanes.

[Glitched]

Yeah I'd rather go big on armor safety, without going jetfighter mode while around town.. but an extra 100-400$ over the 'adequate' stuff people use for very different reasons than us is worth a LOT more over an actual injury.. which y'all have proven time and again happen quite easily on these machines. 

Injuries are known to haunt people and come back in new ways later in life.  Screw all that noise. Heck I spent well over 2 grand USD in PT and diagnostics for doing lunges in the gym with a muscle imbalance, etc.. (still not clear what caused  it). 

[Smoother]

1 hour ago, Nic said:

Just look on Amazon and read the reviews. I wouldn't bother with an expensive jacket (or helmet) as it will get wrecked when you fall. Spending $300+ on a replacement each time you crash is too much for me. When you are on a motorcycle you will rarely take a tumble and speed will be higher, so cost is justified. On a EUC the lower speed means that many better value products are more than adequate. Of course, if you have the money, then by all means buy whatever you find most appealing. As with all things, the law of diminishing returns applies.

I mostly agree with that, but what if you are hit by a speeding car thereby smacking your head/helmet harder than an EUC only hit?  Then there's the theory that if you only smack your helmet at EUC speeds, it's still good for another EUC speed hit.  After all a slightly dinged full spec M/C helmet is surely safer than an out of the box bicycle helmet, no?  I guess there's no right answer.

[Dingfelder]

I think science is showing us that head trauma of almost any level is far worse than we used to think, long-term.  Not just boxing, but American football and regular football too (soccer) have come into focus as causing lasting damage, and much more frequently than used to be imagined.  It makes sense to spend money protecting the brain.  Heck, people die from slipping in the bathtub traveling at zero miles per hour.

[Chriull]

2 hours ago, Dingfelder said:

It makes sense to spend money protecting the brain.  Heck, people die from slipping in the bathtub traveling at zero miles per hour

A new market idea! Bath room helmets!

Or did you mean if people protected their brain more, they would more easily manage and survive the bath room dangers?

[Nic]

15 hours ago, Smoother said:

I mostly agree with that, but what if you are hit by a speeding car thereby smacking your head/helmet harder than an EUC only hit?  Then there's the theory that if you only smack your helmet at EUC speeds, it's still good for another EUC speed hit.  After all a slightly dinged full spec M/C helmet is surely safer than an out of the box bicycle helmet, no?  I guess there's no right answer.

All of those cheaper motorcycle helmets (and full-face cycling helmets) comply with the necessary safety standards. The cycling helmets weigh about half as much as the motorcycle helmets so I went with a downhill cycling helmet around $100 and it weights only 850g, compared to 1.9kg for a top-end motorcycle helmet. If you are really worried about safety, then slow down a bit as that will be much more beneficial than a more expensive helmet. Just wearing a helmet, any helmet, and your risk of injury is greatly reduced.

They main point of my previous comment is that you shouldn't feel that spending a small fortune to protect yourself is necessary as there are plenty of good options at much lower price points that will serve you just as well. Most cyclists don't even wear a helmet or gloves and I don't see cyclists wearing motorcycle helmets just to be extra safe .

If I had cash to spare I would be buying the best gear I could find because you are also paying for style and durability, but my pockets aren't as deep as some, so I make my choices accordingly and I don't feel my safety is compromised by doing do.

[Dingfelder]

13 hours ago, Chriull said:

A new market idea! Bath room helmets!

Or did you mean if people protected their brain more, they would more easily manage and survive the bath room dangers?

I mean if you don't protect your brain sufficiently, every room might become the bathroom.

[RayRay]

19 minutes ago, Dingfelder said:

I mean if you don't protect your brain sufficiently, every room might become the bathroom.

The same applies if you don't look after your prostate. 

[Mono]

On 12/28/2018 at 5:42 AM, Dingfelder said:

I think science is showing us that head trauma of almost any level is far worse than we used to think, long-term.  Not just boxing, but American football and regular football too (soccer) have come into focus as causing lasting damage, and much more frequently than used to be imagined.  It makes sense to spend money protecting the brain.  Heck, people die from slipping in the bathtub traveling at zero miles per hour.

Though the head trauma you are referring to here has not much to do with the one from accidents with an EUC. The new observations have taught us that many minor traumas can cumulate to brain damage. "Many" means here many hundreds or even thousands of traumata. And in american football this happens despite of helmet usage.

[Dingfelder]

Impact is impact.

There are also likely injuries caused by things like momentum alone, even without impact, and from changes in pressure.  An example of the latter is that divers -- scuba, not the kind who jump off diving boards or cliffs -- are known to accumulate eye injury.  You can even be injured by blood thinners.

[Mono]

12 hours ago, Dingfelder said:

Impact is impact.

Impact is impact, but not all impacts are the same. Small impact is not big impact and few impacts is not many impacts and many small impacts is not few big impacts. 

12 hours ago, Dingfelder said:

There are also likely injuries caused by things like momentum alone

I don't know what that means, momentum is (defined as) mass times velocity. Momentum change (i.e. deceleration or acceleration as mass is bound to remain the same) is what leads to brain injuries, irrespectively of whether we call the cause impact. Considering that some of us move around the center of the earth with a velocity of about 40,000km/24h, momentum in itself can't really be a culprit.

[Dingfelder]

No, it is force equals mass times acceleration (F=MA), not momentum.

[Luiz]

Wish a speedy recovery for your shoulder Marty . Thank you for sharing with us .