Fuseproject commissioned by the City of New York to make bike helmets look less bad
By Laura June 
posted August 29th 2009 8:27AM
posted August 29th 2009 8:27AM
[Via Wired]
posted August 29th 2009 8:27AM
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i can actually see myself wearing that
I can actually see people pointing and laughing at you.
i wouldnt be caught dead wearing this one
;-)
actually you probably would sooner or later, 'cause this thing looks a lot less safe to me than, you know, a real bike helmet.
and i don't know about you stateside guys, but here in germany (the land of security regulations), we have plenty of pretty stylish and, at the same time, safe helmets to choose from.
Who cares... Do people look and laugh when you put on a seat belt?
GROW UP!!!
THE PEOPLE WHO LAUGH ARE ALLWAYS THE FAT AND UGLY ONES WHO CANT RIDE A BICYCLE....
FAT NUBS!!!
Yeah, you just pull it down over your nose and it will make a good face mask for your stickup.
I can't wait till I get a Harley, then I can pimp out with an orange visor!
Germany? The land of security regulations? Like the autobahn?
People who don't wear helmets biking in NYC traffic are doomed to a Darwin award.
The only thing better than looking good after biking to work is the chance that your genes will be naturally deselected because of your choosing looks over safety.
So a half-assed bike helmet, with a duck bill on it. LAME.
Besides that's not a safe road going helmet... cant wait for the first round of lawsuits when that stupid bill folds down into the users face and they crash.
how does this look less bad?
Yeah, if bike helmets came with those permanently affixed, I'd likely eschew the bike or risk the head injury.
I don't know if this looks better !?
The thing is, it doesn't really look any better. With bike helmets, people just need to get over themselves and start wearing them because they do save lives. About all I can suggest is that people look around until they find one that fits them properly and is less ugly than most.
This helmet may look okay, but it isn't all that practical. The more traditional helmets with all their vent holes are built that way for a reason : the are very light and create a lot of air flow over you head to help cool you down or at least mitigate the insulative qualities of the styrene.
This helmet here may be more fashionable (I don't particularly care for it myself), but it is probably on the heavy side and have minimal ventilation.
I don't care much about the helmets, it's the fugly spandex bikers wear that bothers me.
agreed. Looks worse
I feel sorry for the kid they chose to do this photo shoot...
That's gotta be one of the ugliest helmets I've ever seen...that's supposed to be an improvement?
Regardless, if you're so vain that you won't protect your skull because you think you look silly, then there's probably nothing worth protecting up there anyway.
Exactly what I was gonna say. Today's bicycle helmets actually look pretty badass with all the aggressive vents and sculpting. I outta get a new one, mine looks ghetto as hell, and is probably not so safe after 10 years. This new "fashionable" helmet looks like the fugly helmets from the 80s that nobody wanted to wear.
Anyway, the fashionistas who think they're too cool to wear a helmet won't be missed when they crack their skulls.
/off for a moto ride
Amen
Its like wearing a prop half helmet, because it makes you look cool on your motorcycle, than whether or not it'll keep your skull intact.
@UnixSystemEngineer
I found out that like motorcycle helmets, its a safe bet to replace them every five years. Supposedly after five years that foam is no longer optimum for keeping your skull intact.
I'd rather be vain about the color of my protection gear than anything else!
@Unix
I bet those aggressive vents and sculpting would go great with your tribal tattoo.
what's this got to do with tech?
I'm a Tech, and I Bike with my son in my free time. So, I show no hate for this story.
It was posted on Wired.
Aerodynamikzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
It's because 'commission for helmet' is an anagram from 'Mom lissome for in-tech'.
You must not be from around here but this is engadget.
It was under Wired's home --> Style section. not really related to anything with a transistor.
and ugly...
It's fairly simple - you can be vain for forty minutes on a bike if you're comfortable with the prospect of death or becoming an incontinent drooling vegetable.
*Puts on helmet*
Laters.
Whatever. I never wore a helmet. I think you can see and hear way more without a helmet on, so if you want to be aware of your surroundings - and you better be on a bicycle in heavy traffic or no helmet in the world can save you - then no helmet is better. And unlike a Motorbike (where a helmet is a must) you can't go very fast on a bicycle - comparatively.
Let's face it in the city, the most likely deadly accident is getting hit by a car. A helmet doesn't help much there - awareness, on the other hand, enables one to drive defensively so that if a stray car comes from behind, we jump on the sidewalk. I was going through San Francisco at high speeds, never felt unsafe, never had an accident, broke all traffic rules like bikers do, but really, really paid attention.
All in all, if we weigh the number of situations in city traffic where a helmet would help, vs the number of situations in city traffic where it would help if we could see and hear that tiny fraction better without helmet, I believe the latter wins hands down. Unless of course you like to do stupid shit where it's likely you end up on the pavement.
I do wear helmets when mountainbiking - because when you ride for fun, you might want to go downhill through the forest at unsafe speeds. I guess that's the whole point. Therefore, need helmet. Saved my head from a very bad injury or even death once, helmet was broken, I had a mild headache.
@nikster...huh?
You can see and hear more without a helmet on? What are you doing, wearing a motorcycle helmet on your bicycle? I don't buy that for a second; it doesn't cover your ears and it doesn't block your vision; not even your peripheral. Maybe....MAYBE...a fraction of a percent of your peripheral above you, but I doubt being hit by falling objects is really of concern. I'm sorry, but the suggestion that a helmet is actually dangerous because it "impairs your vision and hearing" is total bullshit.
Let's face it, speed isn't a factor. If you're doing 15-20mph (an average city speed for me) and bite it for any number of reasons - swerving to avoid an opened car door, traffic, a careless pedestrian, debris in the road...you name it - a helmet can mean the difference between a few broken bones and splitting your skull open. Last I checked, cracking a few ribs or breaking your collarbone aren't exactly fatal; extensive head trauma, on the other hand, is a bitch.
I don't wear a heltmet because I have no regard for my own safety. Don't kid yourself with bullshit like "The helmet was stifling, and obscureed my vision, so I removed it."
I don't even think bike helmets look bad. To me they say: Hey there goes someone smart enough to care about their life and/or the lack of horrible facial scarring. Wearing a helmet? Good for you!
So taxpayers' money is being used to create helmets for people to stupid to use a normal one? Why does no one understand that natural selection must take it's course.
"to stupid"
"it's course"
love it.
anyways, along with looking dumb, helmets are pretty hot and uncomfortable. i'll take the risk.
HAHAHA, that was pretty great. Yeah, aesthetics really have nothing to do with why I don't wear a helmet. It's more about the inconvenience of having to carry it around when I'm not riding coupled with the uncomfortableness of riding with it.
^^ You sir, just failed.
I would argue that being in a wheelchair for the rest of your life is also pretty inconvenient.
I'm going to bet your also one of those people who listens to your iPod whilst cycling in busy streets too.
BenieRose - http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=20744
Or if you get a regular helmet you could do what a lot of other people do and lock it up with your bike. I doubt you've really tried to wear a helmet since most of the mid - high end ones are plenty light and comfortable. After a couple of minutes of wearing mine I hardly notice its on.
Because the same idiots who think they don't need a helmet think they don't need health insurance. So when they show up at the hospital and have to be kept on a ventilator and in a coma for the next bazillion years you'll be footing the hospital bill. I think just one of these idiots staying in the hospital for a year can pay for all the stupid helmets.
Q: Why is your head sweating so profusely?
A: Because all the front air holes on my helmet are blocked. But don't I look great?
Vain motherf*****s.
The obvious question is: "why has the city of New York commissioned a fashion project?" It's not as if they're researching new safety methods, oh no, they just want the current safety method to look good. RIDICULOUS!!
I can't tell if you're being serious. I'd hope not but I am going to assume you are. It's more than a fashion project, they want helmets to look good to encourage people to use them. This has obvious benefits. It's just like giving out free condoms: to promote safety.
Because they have all this "economic stimulus" money that they need to waste ...err use... before it gets yanked away?
Seriously, clamping a chunk of fabric to the front of one of the most ugly bike helmets in the world does not make it beautiful. I find it hard to believe that people sensible enough to ride bikes are that concerned about how their bike helmet looks... and if they are concerned, there is a decent selection of nice looking helmets out there already.
Instead, as already mentioned, people don't wear helmets for other reasons:
1. When they were kids, bike helmets didn't exist. Now that they are 40+, and they survived this long, they assume that they can make it to the finish line without wearing a helmet.
2. Hot and uncomfortable, ruin their hair-do by sweating.
3. Don't want to carry one around with them when they are on foot (although I tend to just run my bike lock through one of the openings on the helmet and leave it with my bike... but then, I don't have a tasteful fabric insert on mine which will get wet and dirty if I leave it attached to my bike).
They shouldn't be "encouraging" people to wear helmets, it should be a law, just like seat belts, and it should be heavily enforced. I'm thinking $200 if you're caught w/o one and extra $50 for each consecutive time, till you got to an even $1000, at which point the bike is confiscated.
Yep, if you're stupid enough to drive on a bike in heavy traffic without a helmet you should be paying for it, so that when your head is splattered all over the road the city won't have to pay from its own coffers to clean that mess up.
Oh and those cyclists with a child seat at the back (how in the name of all that's good and pure is this EVER a good idea?!?!?!?) - those people should be put in jail and the kid given to child services.
Chances are if your head is "splattered all over the road," the helmet wouldn't have done enough to prevent serious injury, i.e., one that would leave you largely incapacitated, or death. And children riding their children on the backs of their bikes? I don't see the issue. Assuming the child is secure, I'd rather the child in the back, where the little bundle of joy is less likely to suffer serious injury and distract the parent, than in the front where it's more likely to be injured and distract mommy or daddy with its cuteness and whatnot. Unless you're proposing that the child not be on a bike at all, which I feel is just excessive. I don't think any good parent would bike haphazardly with a child on board, just like a good parent wouldn't drive in the same manner. Every form of transportation has its risks and the travelers are always at the mercy of those around them.
But I do agree, given the influx of riders, there should certainly be more regulation because accidents aren't always the drivers faults. I've witnessed many wild cyclists.
Because it costs society a lot in the short term, thats why.
I enjoy my regular bike helmet. It saves my life about two months ago. That's all that really matters.