crosspostato da: https://piefed.social/post/741601
Few topics in cycling inspire as much controversy as helmets. Some people insist they’re essential, calling non-wearers reckless and invoking harsh and violent imagery: “enjoy your traumatic brain injury”. “You’ll regret it when you’re in a hospital with a feeding tube”. You hear suggestions of denying access to public healthcare. On the opposite end, helmet skeptics argue that they’re a distraction. I’ve actually heard people call them “magic hats” that “don’t offer significant protection (if any at all)”. Helmets dehumanize cyclists and send the wrong message. They’re dorky and uncool, rather than fashionable and European.
So what’s the truth about helmets?
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References:
- Protection provided
Bicycle helmets – To wear or not to wear? A meta-analyses of the effects of bicycle helmets on injuries (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001457518301301)
- Risk compensation
Drivers overtaking bicyclists: Objective data on the effects of riding
position, helmet use, vehicle type and apparent gender (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001457506001540)
Bicycle helmet wearing is associated with closer overtaking by drivers: A response to Olivier and Walter, 2013 (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001457518309928)
Emotional reactions to cycle helmet use (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001457512001169)
Risk compensation theory and bicycle helmets – Results
from an experiment of cycling speed and short-term effects
of habituation (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1369847816305666)
Risk compensation? – The relationship between helmet use and cycling
speed under naturalistic conditions (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022437517307302)
Bicycle helmets and risky behaviour: A systematic review (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369847818305941)
- Level of risk
Sport-related major trauma incidence in young people and adults in England and Wales: a national
registry-based study (https://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/injuryprev/30/1/60.full.pdf)
Active Living and Injury Risk (https://www.thieme-connect.de/products/ejournals/abstract/10.1055/s-2004-819935)
Epidemiology of injury in professional cyclists (https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/44/Suppl_1/i4.2)
- Discouraging cycling
Do the Health Benefits of Cycling Outweigh the Risks? (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2920084/)
Bicycle helmet research [CARRS-Q Monograph Series - Monograph 5] (https://eprints.qut.edu.au/41798/)
The effects of provincial bicycle helmet legislation on
helmet use and bicycle ridership in Canada (https://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/16/4/219)
Recommend or mandate? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the
effects of mandatory bicycle helmet legislation (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S000145751830397X)
Helmet law makes nonsense of bike hire scheme
- Dehumanization
The effect of safety attire on perceptions of cyclist dehumanisation (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369847823001018#b0200)
- Claims bike helmets don’t help
https://www.cnet.com/science/brain-surgeon-theres-no-point-wearing-cycle-helmets/
https://www.rwcpulse.com/blogs/peeking-at-plans/2023/09/25/bike-helmets-01/
- Dutch statistics
https://swov.nl/en/fact-sheet/cyclists
https://www.veiligheid.nl/sites/default/files/2022-06/Rapportage (Snor- en brom)fietsongevallen in Nederland.pdf (English summary included)
Biking is safe whether or not you wear a helmet. The life-extending advantages of biking outpace the life-shortening risks either way. If wearing a helmet makes you more comfortable and you bike more, then that makes a bigger difference than the helmet itself.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2920084/
Even without a helmet, cycling is a safe, beneficial activity. Helmets offer significant protection if you fall off your bike or crash it (though much less if a car hits you) but the absolute rates of injury are small enough that this is a personal judgement call.