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 ...

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:

  1. 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)

  1. 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)

  1. 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)

  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
    (https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/helmet-law-makes-nonsense-of-bike-hire-scheme-20100722-10my2.html)

  3. Dehumanization
    The effect of safety attire on perceptions of cyclist dehumanisation (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369847823001018#b0200)

  4. 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/

  5. 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)

  • Vrijgezelopkamers@lemmy.world
    11·
    1 day ago

    In the Netherlands and Belgium, where I am from, helmets are still very much optional. We have very strong cycling cultures and lots of people are opposed to it. They never used them and have cycled everywhere for decades.

    However. There are a lot more helmets riding around than ten years ago. Especially kids wear them a lot. Their parents less so, but their numbers are increasing. Older people are coming around very slowly. They get one when they buy a fast ebike. Not so much for a normal bike.

    For myself, I go cycling most weekends and always wear a helmet for that. Purely because it’s an appropriate thing to do. It’s part of the culture. I didn’t wear one for commuting or for getting groceries or going out, while those trips are A LOT more dangerous. So at one point I just realised how weird that was. And that there are no good objective arguments to not always wear a helmet. I’d absolutely hate to see it become mandatory, but I’d love to see more people make a positive choice to wear one.