The real lesson is that studies like this can't be boiled down to clickbait. Helmets make each individual cyclists isolated action safer. The question then bec

The real lesson is that studies like this can't be boiled down to clickbait. Helmets make each individual cyclists isolated action safer. The question then becomes whether cyclists ride more, in more diverse, less protected settings, and are exposed to more risk because of road design? Or do they take more risks intentionally? And for what purpose? Both, or neither, can turn out to be true. Making cycling safer can't be reduced to "don't bother with helmets." Much less is it valid to say helmets are a "nanny state" matter. On top of which, none of this directly bears on whether, in making lack of a helmet a premise for a traffic stop, we gave cops another tool for harassing minorities. In some places, like LA, the vast majority of cop "work" is cop-initiated traffic stops, disproportionately of minorities, that does nothing to enhance road safety and leave just a sliver of resources for property crime and other things that matter much more to the people of the community.