On Fri, 27 Jun 2003 17:11:17 +0000 (UTC), (Dave
Rabinowitz) wrote:

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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