Originally Posted by
Six jours
At least you're honest, John. None of the breathless "80 percent safer!!!" foolishness.
Of course, that doesn't make for much of a debate. I have always maintained that, all other things being equal, helmets probably make cycling a little bit safer. The difference is, however, so small that it makes no sense to mandate helmets, or to argue that anyone who chooses not to use one is an idiot, organ donor, Darwin candidate, etc.
IMHO, all the "anti-helmet" folks want is to be let alone.
Actually, I sense a different "agenda" by the anti-helmet people. I sense that whenever someone tries to say that helmets have worked, at least for them, that these people want to degrade their reasoning. At one point, I thought that Closetbiker was simply responding to me, and vise versa, in a kind of vicious cycle. So I simply quit writing for a while. I see that Closetbiker has found someone else to respond to. So this is not the "anti-helmet" folks wanting to be left alone, but a conscious effort to degrade the efforts of others who feel that helmets have value.
Since I'm not a researcher, I'll let the others defend any particular numbers that they put out there. But being a safety and health professional, I will not say that helmets have no value, as I know that they do. I have had coursework in epidemiology, and do know a bit about how to interpret studies. The studies that I've cited above show that helmets have value. If a good argument can be made to have people use helmets, then there is no need for mandatory helmet laws. But that effort needs to be made.
In scuba diving, the industry came to a consensus standard on the safety equipment needed for divers to become certified to dive. These are enforced on dive charter boats.
But the bicycle industry has no consensus standard for bicycling, be it the equipment necessary to be on the road, or for the bicyclist to wear. One study I saw showed teens not eager to wear helmets, because of social factors. There is no consensus standard on training bicyclists like in diving, which may be fine for our freedoms, but leaves something to be desired for the kids in a community, especially in poorer communities without much infrastructure for this type of thing. 'Just something for you to think about.
Here are some interesting You Tube videos about bicycle helmets and accidents. I would not want to be in the accidents shown on the track without a helmet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1Q_Il3enZ0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0tMhlhnga0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9YI1pSeVTQ&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYVQp...eature=related
John