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> You are free to make the helmet decisions you see best for yourself and loved ones. Not when that is made illegal. > Almost three-quarters of fatal crashes
by wtbob 11y ago
> You are free to make the helmet decisions you see best for yourself and loved ones.
Not when that is made illegal.
> Almost three-quarters of fatal crashes (74%) involved a head injury.
That's unsurprising, particularly if 'head injury' includes a broken neck; people rarely die from broken wrists these days.
> Nearly all bicyclists who died (97%) were not wearing a helmet.
What percentage of bicyclists don't wear helmets? What percentage of bicyclists in accidents don't wear helmets? That's important.
And of course, what percentage of cyclists who died without helmets would have lived with them? That's the only number that counts, and every bit of research indicates that helmets only make a small improvement in survivability of certain crashes, while also increasing the rate of neck injuries and the rate of accidents in general.
- JoeAltmaier 11y agoYeah a helmet is sort of a hail-Mary. We say "I'm hurtling down the road at 20mph on a contraption make of pipes and sharp things, wearing shorts and a t-shirt. But I've strapped a block of Styrofoam to my head, so I'm Safe!" Its clearly not enough. But what is? Its kind of like, you cycle, you sign up for the risk.
- jacquesm 11y agoIt's a harsh realization for some that not all risk can be abolished. Life is risk and it is impossible to enjoy much of it if you're not prepared to take any risks. What weirds me out is that it is always other people who wish to put limits on what kinds of risks one can take, after all, nobody stops them from wearing a helmet if they so desire and that should be all there is to it, but no, you too have to wear a helmet.
- JoeAltmaier 11y agoI'm actually going to wear a helmet. Because, its all I've got.