3 ms·

Head injuries are a leading form of death for car occupants, so why don’t we wear helmets when driving? “While car accidents contribute about 14% of the aggreg

Head injuries are a leading form of death for car occupants, so why don’t we wear helmets when driving? “While car accidents contribute about 14% of the aggregate TBI cases in the US, they are the leading cause of TBI-related deaths among children and young adults” https://treatnow.org/knowledgebase/car-accidents-and-brain-injury-statistics-2020/ https://treatnow.org/knowledgebase/car-accidents-and-brain-i...

JumpCrisscross 4y ago
Do helmets protect against TBI? A piece of metal going 50 mph is a different beast from blunt-force trauma.
paulryanrogers 4y ago
Because cars have more and more airbags?
jbandela1 4y ago
Seatbelts and airbags in modern cars are basically doing what a helmet tries to do which is protect your head from hitting something hard (like the windshield or steering wheel etc. In a modern car driving along a normal road, I don't think a helmet would add much additional protection. Speaking from experience treating traumatic brain injuries, the brain injuries that are common in a car (as long as you are wearing a seatbelt and don't get the) is something called diffuse axonal injury (DAI) also know and traumatic axonal injury (TAI) which is diffuse brain injury caused by the (de)acceleration/rotational acceleration. A helmet would not be much help against those types of injuries.
crackercrews 4y ago
> Head injuries are a leading form of death for car occupants, so why don’t we wear helmets when driving? What percent of bicyclists have been in an accident that would benefit from a helmet? Must be at least 10x the percent of car occupants who have been in such an accident.
oliwarner 4y ago
It is critical to understand that "car accidents" does not mean "occupants in car accidents". It means accidents involving a car; many will be car vs pedestrian and car vs [motor]cyclist.
- midasuni 4y ago
  So pedestrians should wear helmets to protect themselves from cars, same as cyclists?
  - oliwarner 4y ago
    If your model and data is simple enough, that's one conclusion you'll come to.

JumpCrisscross 4y ago

Do helmets protect against TBI? A piece of metal going 50 mph is a different beast from blunt-force trauma.

paulryanrogers 4y ago

Because cars have more and more airbags?

jbandela1 4y ago

Seatbelts and airbags in modern cars are basically doing what a helmet tries to do which is protect your head from hitting something hard (like the windshield or steering wheel etc. In a modern car driving along a normal road, I don't think a helmet would add much additional protection. Speaking from experience treating traumatic brain injuries, the brain injuries that are common in a car (as long as you are wearing a seatbelt and don't get the) is something called diffuse axonal injury (DAI) also know and traumatic axonal injury (TAI) which is diffuse brain injury caused by the (de)acceleration/rotational acceleration. A helmet would not be much help against those types of injuries.

crackercrews 4y ago

> Head injuries are a leading form of death for car occupants, so why don’t we wear helmets when driving? What percent of bicyclists have been in an accident that would benefit from a helmet? Must be at least 10x the percent of car occupants who have been in such an accident.

oliwarner 4y ago

It is critical to understand that "car accidents" does not mean "occupants in car accidents". It means accidents involving a car; many will be car vs pedestrian and car vs [motor]cyclist.

midasuni 4y ago
So pedestrians should wear helmets to protect themselves from cars, same as cyclists?
- oliwarner 4y ago
  If your model and data is simple enough, that's one conclusion you'll come to.