On Thursday, March 21, 2019 at 4:44:34 AM UTC-4, Sir Ridesalot wrote:

I often wonder just how effective a bicycle helmet is. I have had a nasty fall where the helmet protected my head enough that I was able to continue my ride. Then again, I had a helmet that fell off the handlebar of my bicycle whilst the bicycle was motionless in my apartment and a good size chunk of the helmet broke off from the lower left side edge of the helmet. That makes me wonder.

Then there is this site that I came across just recently. After reading it, it seems that helmets don't meet many expectations. Full URL because many here don't like Tiny URLS.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyamo.../#4f36b4ee44e6

There have always been helmets that are more protective
and helmets that are less protective. In the U.S., the
magazine _Consumer Reports_ has tested a selection of
helmets every few years and given them CR's cryptic
ratings for impact protection. (CR uses five different
colored dots or other icons, rather than assigning
a certain number of stars.) It's been very consistent
that the cheapest helmets get the best rating. But
those cheap helmets are thicker and heavier. Helmet
companies slap lots of foam into cheap ones so they
pass government standards without lots of design time.
They spend lots of design time on expensive helmets
to shave weight, allow more holes for cooling etc. while
still (barely) passing the government standard test.

But look at the motivation for their push to improve
bike helmets - that is, aside from their desire to get
people to spend money in hopes that the insurance
companies won't have to:

"More than 800 cyclists were killed in crashes with
motor vehicles in 2016 – the highest number since 1991.
More than half weren’t wearing helmets."

What's the parallel statement for pedestrians? "More than
3500 pedestrians were killed. 99.9% weren't wearing
helmets." Or for motorists: "More than 30,000 were
killed. 99.9% weren't wearing helmets."

Again, the unspoken implication is that riding a bike
is SO DANGEROUS that nobody should ever do it without
first spending money so that your insurance company
might be spared paying for your medical treatment.
Except that every study done on the topic has found that
bicycling's benefits far outweigh its tiny risks.

This "bicycling is dangerous" meme needs to die.

- Frank Krygowski