I was wondering how it could happen... (look in thread)

[Telesque]

I know you've probably got the point by now, but the answer is 'yes'.

And, for that matter, you can get brain damage from crashing a car, even while wearing a helmet, if the situation suits it. Heck, even highschool football players (helmets!) can get some pretty serious head injuries.

That's why we urge alertness and safety- whether you're on a bike, or in a car- all the time. Wear your kit, get a good helmet, and pay attention to everything you and the other drivers are doing.

[Digginit]

Coup/ Countre-coup head injuries. These injuries are the result of the brain bouncing around inside the skull. Your helmet cannot protect your brain from these kinds of injuries. If your head is travelling at a high rate of speed and suddenly hits, say, a tree, your helmet may protect your skull, but your brain (due to its momentum inside your skull) will hit the front of the inside of your skull. It can result in serious brain damage.

Brain injuries due to bleeding. When your brain bounces around inside your skull, the blood vessels that run between the inside surface of your skull and the inside of your brain can tear apart, causing hemorrhage. The result can be serious brain damage.

A helmet protects your skull and brain injuries that result from a crushed skull. There are other brain injuries that a helmet will not protect you from.

Peace~
linz

[isnowbrd]

Coup/ Contra-coup head injuries. These injuries are the result of the brain bouncing around inside the skull. Your helmet cannot protect your brain from these kinds of injuries.

Not entirely true. A good helmet has layer of foam that is designed to reduce the G forces put on your head by absorbing the impact. This also reduces the impact of your brain on the inside of your skull.

To reduce your chance of permanent brain damage, definitely wear a helmet. (Notice I said to "reduce" your chance. It is still quite possible to get your melon juices severely mixed even with a helmet)

[Digginit]

Coup/ Contra-coup head injuries. These injuries are the result of the brain bouncing around inside the skull. Your helmet cannot protect your brain from these kinds of injuries.

Not entirely true. A good helmet has layer of foam that is designed to reduce the G forces put on your head by absorbing the impact. This also reduces the impact of your brain on the inside of your skull.

To reduce your chance of permanent brain damage, definitely wear a helmet. (Notice I said to "reduce" your chance. It is still quite possible to get your melon juices severely mixed even with a helmet)

That's fine and good....it IS good to reduce the liklihood....I ALWAYS wear a helmet, but don't believe that it will protect you, with much effectiveness, from these kinds of injuries. Seen too many of them in the ER. The problem is that it doesn't take that great of an impact to sustain some pretty significan brain damage. I do believe that the helmet reduces the severity of the brain damage from coup/countrecoup injuries, but it doesn't prevent it from occurring.

linz

[Slap-Bassist531]

Ahh thank you all for being patient with me and telling me how all of it would happen and I always have worn a helmet and I always will. (Especially since my dad showed me a site of a guy who crashed into something or another and wasn't wearing a helmet (he was riding a moped too) and well his head was WIPE open and the brains were all over the ground..) So thanks to you all for being so hostile to me.

[Telesque]

Ahh thank you all for being patient with me and telling me how all of it would happen and I always have worn a helmet and I always will. (Especially since my dad showed me a site of a guy who crashed into something or another and wasn't wearing a helmet (he was riding a moped too) and well his head was WIPE open and the brains were all over the ground..) So thanks to you all for being so hostile to me.

Erm. You mean hospitable? Hostile is kinda of the opposite of 'nice'.

[Mag7C]

I got hit by a car (while driving a car) and got a concussion without my head hitting anything. At least that's what they told me.

2 impacts in a crash: Impact of your body against the outside world (seatbelt/steering wheel/handlebars/pavement/etc), followed by impact of your organs against the inside of your body (skull/ribcage/etc).

So even if the helmet protects your head from outer wounds, the inside can still get shaken up.

I realize the topic is pretty much closed, but I had to add my 2 cents anyway .

[Magnum]

Look at Sammy Sosa. How many muscles in his back did he tear out from a sneeze last year? He was on the DL (disabled list) for over a month. Meanwhile, somewhere a woman is getting the big "O" from a sneeze. Life ain't fair the way it deals out the cards.

Anything can cause brain damage. A light tap in the wrong place could do it while a strong punch in another won't.

What probably kills most with brain damage is not the hit, it is probably the pressure of fluids that builds up after the hit that causes brain damage.

Watch an episode of Life in the ER, it is on discovery or TLC, they have cameras in real hospitals and follow doctors around. I've seen some nasty stuff on that show.

Added: The more I think about it, you can probably figure it out using physics and math. All you have to do is figure out how much energy is being transfered in an accident, and where (Force = mass X acceleration, then you can divide that by the surface area of where the force is absorbed). It is probably better to be in an accident at 60 mph and take the hit and spread out the impact force over the entire back of your body, than to be in an accident at 20 mph where you land on the back of your head.

I know you are going to laugh at this, but it ain't a bad idea to learn how to fall. When I was taking karate classes, one of the first things they taught us was how to fall, to spread the force of a fall over the greatest area of the body. If you get real good at it, maybe you can even roll after an accident so you take zero damage. Our teacher told us a story about a former black belt student who was working as a window washer, and fell from 5 stories in the air, and rolled when he landed and walked away with next to no damage.

[Magnum]

me and my mom were talking about motorcycles and cars and some kids lately have been dying in car crashes (3 died in a porche and one flew out of window) then there was another one where some kids were racing and they crashed the car flipped over a few times and I believe 3 died.

What kids have porsches to drive??

[Telesque]

me and my mom were talking about motorcycles and cars and some kids lately have been dying in car crashes (3 died in a porche and one flew out of window) then there was another one where some kids were racing and they crashed the car flipped over a few times and I believe 3 died.

What kids have porsches to drive??

Rich snotty little ingrates.

And the occassional good apple. But rarely.

(Oh, and as regards Magnum's post about rolling - I believe they give this advice to you in Skydiving instructions as well. )