Guy writes:
Above all I have been finding that bald statements like "helmets don't work" are met with disbelief
and defensiveness - you are suggesting that they are wrong (assuming they believe the magic hat
fallacy, which many people do). Taking them on the journey of discovery seems to work better. You
may infer form this that I have had rather a lot of conversations in rather a short period of time
with the "helmet-saved-my-life" brigade ;-)
Hello from the antipodes (NZ). The MHL came into effect ten years ago (January 1, 1994) I hope you UK guys can ward of the deluded helmet zealots. I have been staunchly anti helmet Law since the start and it has been interesting (and exasperating) observing the unfolding of this epidemic of delusion and self deception.
It's interesting to try and fathom the motivations, cognitive biases and errors that infect the thinking of those who have succumbed to the delusion of the magic hats.
Other posters have alluded to the "blame the victim" aspect of the law (Mike Sales?) and this leads to a theory in Social Psychology called "Belief in a Just World: A fundamental Delusion" (actually that is the title of the book written by the its originator - Melvin Lerner).
What this theory has to do with the helmet law is that is helps explain the erroneous thinking - the delusionary thinking that inhabits the (rabid?) minds of those dogmatic helmet law evangelists. The "Just Word" theory also ties in with psychological defence mechanisms - denial and a variant of the Fundamental Attribution Error - defensive denial (defensive attribution).
The Belief in a Just World presents the theory that people must mantain the belief that they live in a just world (you'd never have guessed - right?) - a world where people get what they deserve, either immediately or in the long run. This theory contends that this belief is a fundamental - if not essential - delusion, which enables people to function despite life's inevitable tragedies.
Defensive Attribution/Denial is is described as the tendency to blame victims for their misfortune by which they maintain their belief in a just world and avoid the disturbing reality that the calamity/misfortune /tragic event could happen to them too.
By investing in a grossly exaggerated belief in the cycle helmet's protective ability, people who have been primed with exaggerated head injury risk likelyhoods (see "availability bias" and "availability heuristic"😉 are able to allay the disturbing fear that an accidental misfortune (ie serious brain trauma) could happen to them, and thus the magic hat delusion (talisman) is the antidote to anxiety, a dummy which gives comfort to distressed infant, it enables them to restore belief in a just world.
Being forced, under threat of law, to wear a cycle helmet amounts to being forced to pay homage to other peoples comforting delusions...
Roger