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 ...

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:

  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)

  1. 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)

  1. Dehumanization

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

  1. 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/

  1. 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)

    • over_clox@lemmy.worldEnglish
      61·
      1 day ago

      There are a lot of things that shouldn’t be, but we gotta face the facts. There are way too many ignorant drivers that either barely know how to drive, might be just plain assholes, or just staring at their phone instead of the road…

      Ignoring electric bicycles and high speed riding/racing bicycles, I’m not sure if I see the activity of riding a bicycle any more or less dangerous than walking, unless of course the bike rider doesn’t have good balance or awareness of their surroundings, which could apply to either bicyclists or pedestrians.

      Both bicyclists and pedestrians share pretty much the same risks when traveling near vehicle occupied roads. If anything, I feel that pedestrians are generally more at risk. They are smaller in the visual field of vehicle drivers, they move slower, and they’re not wearing reflectors or protective gear.

      The average comfortable cruising pace on a bicycle tends to be around 12 miles per hour. Most bicycles are pretty agile and quick to control. I mean, compare the stopping distance of a ~4000 pound vehicle going 12 miles per hour to the stopping distance of a ~200 pound rider plus their bike, to the speed and stopping distance of a ~175 pound pedestrian on foot…

      So, if anything, pedestrians are more in danger, at least the way I see it.