(Dave Rabinowitz) said:Do a google search on bicycle head injury statistics and look at any of the more than 14,000 hits
to get a better idea of the real potential impact of helmet usage.
Treat the results with caution, though, for many reasons including:
- some studies which claim to prove helmet effectiveness also prove that helmets reduce leg injuries
- helmet laws do not generally apply on private land which is where over 90% of child head injury
cycle accidents happen
- cyclist injury rates in Virginia, Australia, rose following compulsory helmet legislation
- claims of up to 85% head injury reductions from helmet use fail tyo account for the proportion of
head injuries which are to parts of the head & face not covered by helmets
- helmets are designed for loss-of-control accidents up to about 12mph so most adult cyclists will
be riding outside their design parameters much of the time, and all accidents involving motor
vehicles will exceed the design capabilites of the helmet.
I am of the view that children are the one group for helmets definitely work, but since the majority
of these accidents happen offroad legislation is not an effective way to promote helmet use for
these children. Nor are helmets the first, best way to improve their safety on or off road (better
bike skills are the starting point there). It is not a coincidence that the most ardent helmet
advocates are paediatricians.
There is a danger that helmets are seen as some kind of panacea, the polystyrene foam deflector
beanie as magic talisman. They distract attention from primary safety and increase the perception of
danger, which is a self-fulfilling prophecy in that it deters cycling, and the best way of making
cycling safer is undoubtedly for more people to do
it.
For adult cyclists riding a bike even without a helmet, and with only the average level of skill,
the health benefits outweight the increased dangers by up to 20:1, depending on the particular
study and methodology used. Cycling is *not* dangerous in terms of whole-life risk, so helmets are
one possible way of making a safe activity even safer. Your chances of suffering serious head
injury in a car crash, particularly the worst type of torsional brain injury, are greater than in a
bike crash.
As an aside there is only one study I know of which incontrovertibly links helmets with fatality,
and that relates to children strangled by their helmet straps while on play equipment.
Guy
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