Steven Bornfeld wrote:


Safety measures shouldn't be discarded because they are not 100%
effective.

Perhaps that's true.

But safety measures shouldn't be strongly promoted unless their benefits
are proven in large populations.

They shouldn't even be considered for mandating unless it's proven that
the resulting benefits outweigh the detriments - including the important
benefit of personal freedom, for one's self and one's family.

And they shouldn't receive the lion's share of promotion unless other
measures are much less effective.


Unfortunately, bike helmets seem to look relatively useless in large
population studies (as opposed to limited case-control studies with
self-selected subjects).

Mandating, and perhaps even strong promotion, of bike helmets tends to
drive people away from cycling, by making it seem extraordinarily
dangerous. And promoters have successfully convinced the public that
cycling is, indeed, dangerous - despite data to the contrary.

And it's still true that often, the ONLY thing people hear about bike
safety is "Always wear a helmet!!!!" Nothing about rules of the road,
lights at night, maintaining the machine, etc.

I've seen enough helmeted families riding facing traffic, or riding at
night without lights, to know that the emphasis needs to be changed.


Recently, a member of my extended family was in for some minor medical
care - interestingly, related to being hit by a car while walking. The
physician heard mention of bicycling, and asked "Do you always wear a
helmet?" When the answer was "No," there was some scolding.

Think about that. Nothing about "Do you follow the rules of the road?
do you ride on the right? Do you use lights at night? Is your bike
mechanically sound?" And of course, nothing about "Do you wear a helmet
when crossing the street?" _despite_ the recent car impact!

Clearly, the emphasis is mistaken.


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Frank Krygowski [To reply, remove rodent and vegetable dot com,
replace with cc.ysu dot edu]