Ive been thinking about this quite a bit lately. About two months back I was at a local park and watched a skilled skateboarder hit his head really badly 50-50ing a foot-high flat bar. His board slipped out under him, both of his feet went behind the bar so that His ankleswere locked into the top of the bar and slingshotted him headfirst into the concrete. Out cold, blood everywhere, came to making horrible morning sounds, eventually getting a ride to the hospital.
Again, this dude was a good skateboarder, who wasn’t doing “stupid shit” he wasn’t “prepared for,” he just got a little to comfy and a perfectly shitty sequence of events had him getting a substantial head injury. I’ve never seen someone that good get hurt that badly on something that small, and it definitely opened my eyes a bit
There’s no logical reason not to wear a helmet on a board. It’s a culture thing, and a lot of outsiders would probably see it as a cultural problem endemic to skateboarding. I’m not saying everyone should/has to wear a helmet, but I do think it’s a conversation worth having, especially once some of our childhood idols start going out like pro wrestlers and football players.
okay, I'll have this conversation. there's even less of a "logical" reason not to wear a helmet every time you ride in a car, something that causes way more head injuries and death than all the hangups on 3-foot quarterpipes and 20-stair handrails in the world combined. Ask yourself and every other "responsible", "well-intentioned" person why they don't wear a helmet in their car, why they don't make their kids wear helmets in the car, and why they don't pester their neighbours about wearing helmets while driving, then come back and tell me what you find out. Otherwise, I just consider it an insulting, naive imposition, to insinuate that my behaviour is somehow illogical or irresponsible, that my decisions are more superficial than someone else's, just because theirs are in line with mainstream practices.
Sorry Hypnotoad, this is a pet peeve of mine and I'm not trying to blast you specifically, i've just heard way too much crap about it being a "cultural thing" or "cool", as though these weren't factors in everything we do.
In all seriousness, the reasons people don't wear helmets driving are basically the same as in skateboarding, it's some combination of personal freedom, risk vs. convenience, and coolness does factor into it heavily. The main differences are that driving is way more dangerous and there's a huge financial incentive for car companies not to do anything that takes away from the "coolness" of the automobile and its association with personal freedom.
Anyone who wants to wear a helmet should do so whenever and wherever they like and I would never put anybody down for it. But people trying to argue that it is "logical" need to take a look at themselves and then fuck off.