On 1/14/2020 11:19 PM, Chalo wrote:
If injury and fatality rates among cyclists are a reflection of risk-- and I think they are-- them helmets don't help overall. In my cycling lifetime, helmet use has risen from approximately zero percent to something like half of all riders. There has been no statistically significant change in cyclist injury or fatality rates during that transition. Surely helmets provide some measurable physical protection, so I'm forced to conclude that they carry along with them other effects that more or less fully offset this benefit.

I don't wear a helmet when I ride, mostly because I can hear and see things around me better without one. I think that's a tangible safety benefit that functions to avoid, rather than only mitigate, a crash. I'd much rather avoid a crash than survive one.

You may not like wearing a helmet, but the statistical evidence on the
benefit of helmets is overwhelming and irrefutable.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/sep/22/bicycle-helmets-reduce-risk-of-serious-head-injury-by-nearly-70-study-finds