Time magazine poll - Should skiers be required to wear a helmet for safety?

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Currently, on the main page on the Time magazine web site, there is a poll about helmets while skiing, no doubt related to Natasha Richardson's unfortunate death.

I'm quite surprised to see how many people think that helmets should be required. It seems to me to be similar to head protection while participating in many activities, in that it affects only the person wearing a helmet or not, (assuming the person is an individual participant and not in an instructional position, etc.)

If a well known person who was skydiving had a hard landing, hit their head, and died later, do you think there would be a similar reaction?

[matthewcline 0]

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If a well known person who was skydiving had a hard landing, hit their head, and died later, do you think there would be a similar reaction?

I think the answer is, Yes.

Matt

An Instructors first concern is student safety.
So, start being safe, first!!!

[quade 3]

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If a well known person who was skydiving had a hard landing, hit their head, and died later, do you think there would be a similar reaction?

Maybe. Although the general population has kind of written off skydivers anyway. Most figure that if we're willing to put up with the idea of skydiving, we already have accepted an amount of risk that far exceeds dying to a small bump on the head.

Hence the jokes about skydiving helmets being stupid by hack stand up comedians.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[cocheese 0]

No. Time magazine doesn't care about skydivers.[/:P]

[gearless_chris 1]

My first thought was no. Then I remember my DZO telling us that AAD's were very unpopular until a famous guy died in some kind of a tracking incident. That was what brought about the surge in AAD's, that and the CYPRESS being much more reliable than the other designs. I'm going to say that some would wear helmets that wouldn't have otherwise.

"If it wasn't easy stupid people couldn't do it", Duane.

My momma said I could be anything I wanted when I grew up, so I became an a$$hole.

[d_squared431 0]

NO...

Helmets are a great protective item to have if the inpact is within the guidlines to the impact rating of the helmet. Helmets are only good for one hard hit and then you have to get a new one. With that said, most skiing and snowboarding deaths are not from head trauma.

I do think people should wear helmets. I do not think there should be a requirement saying you have to wear one on the slopes thou-.

Same argument came about back when kennedy and bono died on the slopes.

TPM Sister#130ONTIG#1
I love vodka.I love vodka cause it rhymes with Tuaca~LisaH
You having a clean thought is like billyvance having a clean post.iluvtofly

[billeisele 122]

most skiing helmets are more about style than protection

they should not be required but encouraged

Give one city to the thugs so they can all live together. I vote for Chicago where they have strict gun laws.

[lawrocket 3]

Skydiving really opened my eyes to risk management. I have frequently cited the differences between skiing and skydiving. Very few people on a ski slope - especially bunny slope - consider the possibility of death or serious injury. The risks of skiing, like those of SCUBA, are just far more subtle that the blatant risks of a skydive.

Very few skiers regularly acknowledge that if they make a mistake they may die, versus a skydivers who know that they will die. The perception of safety from a fully functional canopy likely results in a lot of deaths and erector-set skeletal composition of many jumpers.

Should helmets be required? No. Strongly recommended? Yep. Since skydiving I don't ride a bike without one (nor do my kids - and I set the example).

I think that it would be nice if people skiing had a bit more cognizance of the risks. Snow ain't that doft. Neither are trees. Catch an edge at the wrong place and you can die - even on a bunny slope.

A helmet, I'd venture to say, would have probably made this incident not only survivable, but probably not even notable.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[d_squared431 0]

If the helmet fit right, then yes it would have made a difference. If a helmet is too big and you hit your head you will get a double impact which will make it worse. Just because someone is wearing a helmet doesn't mean that they won't suffer head trauma.

I have hit my head a few times and the worst concussion I have had was due to a helmet that was too big. With winter sports a helmet is a false sense of security.

TPM Sister#130ONTIG#1
I love vodka.I love vodka cause it rhymes with Tuaca~LisaH
You having a clean thought is like billyvance having a clean post.iluvtofly

[Jewels 0]

I am a strong advocate for helmets, but I wouldn't mandate them. Along with that position, though, I also believe that I shouldn't be penalized for enhanced injuries that someone may sustain if we are in an accident and they aren't wearing a helmet. For example, the person who hits a motorcyclist who has elected not to wear a helmet shouldn't bear the full liability in a civil court if that person dies when they might have lived had they been wearing a helmet. In giving people the freedom to choose whether to wear a helmet, I would also expect them to assume the financial risks of their choices as well.

TPM Sister #102

[DJL 232]

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With that said, most skiing and snowboarding deaths are not from head trauma.

OK, I'm curious now. What are most skiing and snowboarding deaths from?

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[Andy9o8 0]

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I am a strong advocate for helmets, but I wouldn't mandate them. Along with that position, though, I also believe that I shouldn't be penalized for enhanced injuries that someone may sustain if we are in an accident and they aren't wearing a helmet. For example, the person who hits a motorcyclist who has elected not to wear a helmet shouldn't bear the full liability in a civil court if that person dies when they might have lived had they been wearing a helmet. In giving people the freedom to choose whether to wear a helmet, I would also expect them to assume the financial risks of their choices as well.

This is precisely why I advocate mandatory motorcycle helmet laws - because it's not just a "personal freedom" issue; it does affect others, as everyone's auto liability insurance premiums are affected by the increased risk that the biker you injure might be seriously injured or killed due to a lack of a helmet.

[Jewels 0]

Spoken like a lawyer! You speak my language.

TPM Sister #102

[lawrocket 3]

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I am a strong advocate for helmets, but I wouldn't mandate them. Along with that position, though, I also believe that I shouldn't be penalized for enhanced injuries that someone may sustain if we are in an accident and they aren't wearing a helmet. For example, the person who hits a motorcyclist who has elected not to wear a helmet shouldn't bear the full liability in a civil court if that person dies when they might have lived had they been wearing a helmet. In giving people the freedom to choose whether to wear a helmet, I would also expect them to assume the financial risks of their choices as well.

This is precisely why I advocate mandatory motorcycle helmet laws - because it's not just a "personal freedom" issue; it does affect others, as everyone's auto liability insurance premiums are affected by the increased risk that the biker you injure might be seriously injured or killed due to a lack of a helmet.

Which is precisely the reason why I think it is economically less of a drain for a donorcycle rider to die rather than spend the next 40 years requiring $300k per year of medical care and monitoring. A helmet may have been more efficient for society.

In my experience, wrongful death cases are often far less expensive than when the person actually lives.

Just a different perspective. The highest money cases aren't where the person dies but where the person barely lives.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[d_squared431 0]

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With that said, most skiing and snowboarding deaths are not from head trauma.

OK, I'm curious now. What are most skiing and snowboarding deaths from?

Getting stuck in tree wells, avalanches, broken necks,complications from hard landings, jumping off chair lifts or falling off them(internal bleeding). These are more common then head trauma.

TPM Sister#130ONTIG#1
I love vodka.I love vodka cause it rhymes with Tuaca~LisaH
You having a clean thought is like billyvance having a clean post.iluvtofly

[BillyVance 34]

I didn't wear a helmet or have one when I started skiing in college in upstate NY. I wiped out a bunch of times, but never hit a tree. I only went skiing one more time after my college years were over and after I started skydiving, and took my Factory Diver helmet with me. I took the face shield off, and my ski goggles fit in there perfectly. My head was nice and warm at 10,000 feet at the top of the mountain.
I don't think it would help me if I hit a tree or ski lift pylon at 50 mph, but it would help in simple falls where I might bounce my head on some ice or hard packed snow.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[ryoder 1,387]

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OK, I'm curious now. What are most skiing and snowboarding deaths from?

IIRC, Sonny Bono and that member of the Kennedy family who died around the same time in the 90's both hit trees.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[ryoder 1,387]

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OK, I'm curious now. What are most skiing and snowboarding deaths from?

Getting stuck in tree wells

I had never heard of tree wells being a hazard until my first year living in CO when I found myself at Arapahoe Basin, sliding into a tree well with the only thing preventing me from goiing under being the ski pole I was grasping sideways across the mount of the well. That was an eye-opener!!!

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[diablopilot 2]

Welcome to the Nerf Party State. We will pad the world for your protection whether you like it or not.

----------------------------------------------
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[DavidB 0]

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Which is precisely the reason why I think it is economically less of a drain for a donorcycle rider to die rather than spend the next 40 years requiring $300k per year of medical care and monitoring. A helmet may have been more efficient for society.

Unless it happens in New Jersey in which case the insurance company is no longer responsible after 12 or 15 years.

When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

[d_squared431 0]

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OK, I'm curious now. What are most skiing and snowboarding deaths from?

IIRC, Sonny Bono and that member of the Kennedy family who died around the same time in the 90's both hit trees.

The year those two died I also hit a tree and it was the first time I had ever worn a helmet. If I did not have that on I would have been seriously injured. I was racing about 6 people down a course practicing for a comp the next week. I was in 2nd when I flew off a roller and went inverted head first into the trees. As I hit the snow I got in a fetal position, slid between two trees on my back hit and curled up on the 3rd one, and felt branches cracking on my helmet. At that point my left knee slammed against another tree and popped. Looking at my helmet there were 4 puncher marks and numerous scratches. I was very lucky I had that helmet on. My knee was tender and sore but didn't really hurt so like a young dumb ass I continued to ride that day. Later that night I could barely walk and went to the ER. That was the start of my knee problems...

TPM Sister#130ONTIG#1
I love vodka.I love vodka cause it rhymes with Tuaca~LisaH
You having a clean thought is like billyvance having a clean post.iluvtofly

[DJL 232]

Similar story here except it was broken ribs and my back. Was doing a little back country and needed to land a jump and turn down a trail. Was too far back on the skis and went over the side of the train.

Started wearing a helmet, wrist guards, and various pads when I switched to snowboarding. Much easier to learn when you're not spending the day rebruising yourself.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[piisfish 135]

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If a well known person who was skydiving had a hard landing, hit their head, and died later, do you think there would be a similar reaction?

nope. They'd ask to ban skydiving alltogether

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[Jewels 0]

You're absolutely right about living being more costly. I used death just as an example, but the same principal applies to the kind of catastrophic injury you're describing. I'm just getting at the idea that I don't think people should be financially responsible for additional injuries that are sustained by not wearing helmets. Of course, then the problem becomes one of proving what the injuries would have been with and without helmets and at some point it's inevitably speculative but I guess I see it as a comparative negligence kind of problem.

TPM Sister #102

[lawrocket 3]

Of course. There are a couple of different ways of looking at it. But it's been a long-held concept that you take a "victim" as you found him. The glass plaintiff may be particularly fragile. Like the difference between punching a guy in the nose and punching a hemophiliac. No, you didn't intend to kill him.

What I'd be in favor of is comparative negligence. If a person was in a car accident and suffered severe head injury from hitting the windshield, but would have been generally fine has he worn a seatbelt, I would have no problem with it.

My wife is hotter than your wife.