Ocean Beach kiteboarding accident

[Tony Soprano]

http://www.sfexaminer.com/kite-surfer-s ... t-highway/

[g00mbs]

Wow, my wife just message me about it while I'm here at work. I hope the person involved pulls through.

Major head injuries are never a good thing.

[androka]

Hope that guy is ok, sounded pretty terrible.

[sflinux]

http://www.ktvu.com/news/16445517-story

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Ki ... 37371.html

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/video/ ... way-in-sf/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -hurt.html

[Tony Soprano]

No helmet, his small kite had a problem, he went out on a 9m in wind gusting 50.

[Aloha]

:[

[mighty]

Sad - hope he makes a speedy recovery. It was definitely intense out there on a fully depowered 7m wave kite. Stay safe when the winds are up!

[ozreiuosn]

I cringe when I hear newsreporters try to talk about kitesurfing. One says he was kitesurfing. Another interviewed a witness that saw him just standing on the beach. No mention of a helmet (or about the lack there of)

But it's cool to see that KRON talked about the safety mechanisms rather than try to scare the viewers with sensationalism.

[Thor29]

No helmet, his small kite had a problem, he went out on a 9m in wind gusting 50.

So how did not wearing a helmet contribute to the accident? Would a helmet have prevented the bad judgement? Would it keep your lines straight and fly the kite for you? Would it prevent you from being lofted? Would it release the bar and hit the QR for you? Heck, would it even protect you from serious injury when you are hit by a car?

Of course, if we all put on helmets then the people who keep harping on them would move on to body armor, after all, almost every one of the people who got seriously injured in the last few years broke ribs or damaged internal organs.

Sorry for the rant, but I get so sick of the helmet BS. They only do one thing (absorb a small amount of impact energy if you land on your head) and they don't even do that as well as everyone thinks they do. They don't prevent you from hitting a tree when snowboarding, they don't stop cars from hitting you on your bicycle, and they certainly don't pick the right kite size for the wind speed.

[Tony Soprano]

No helmet, his small kite had a problem, he went out on a 9m in wind gusting 50.

So how did not wearing a helmet contribute to the accident? Would a helmet have prevented the bad judgement? Would it keep your lines straight and fly the kite for you? Would it prevent you from being lofted? Would it release the bar and hit the QR for you? Heck, would it even protect you from serious injury when you are hit by a car?

Of course, if we all put on helmets then the people who keep harping on them would move on to body armor, after all, almost every one of the people who got seriously injured in the last few years broke ribs or damaged internal organs.

Sorry for the rant, but I get so sick of the helmet BS. They only do one thing (absorb a small amount of impact energy if you land on your head) and they don't even do that as well as everyone thinks they do. They don't prevent you from hitting a tree when snowboarding, they don't stop cars from hitting you on your bicycle, and they certainly don't pick the right kite size for the wind speed.

Most of your rant is about how a helmet will not prevent you from hitting your head in the first place. But if i do get hit in the head, I personally would like to have a helmet on regardless of any scientific studies. Most water sports helmets do have a disclaimer or say CE EN 1385 Water Sport Safety Standard that covers there ass.