Originally Posted by
wphamilton
"Usually?" Sometimes, of course. But "usually" - I have heard that before but I haven't seen any stats that support it. Have you?
I do know that there are a lot of fatalities in bike-auto collisions due to traumatic brain injury. A helmet is useful in those cases.
As for why motorcyclists wear heavier helmets than cyclists, you know why.
I doubt that you will ever find a stat about the number and severity of injuries in fatal car-bike interactions. I know that in my time as a paramedic, car-bike fatalities were usually a gigantic mess. I can't recall ever having been to the scene of one where the cyclist was pretty much okay except for the massive head injuries. I mean, when you really get tagged by a car, there's a lot of energy involved. It'd kind of be like jumping off an overpass and expecting a helmet to save you. It's possible, I suppose, but more in a theoretical kind of way.
As for the assertion that a bicycle helmet is useful in preventing traumatic head injuries, well, that's been debated for years here, and is unlikely to be settled any time soon. Let's just say that it's not exactly a settled issue.
And yes, I
do know why motorcyclists wear heavier helmets than bicyclists. It's because motorcycle helmets are expected to help prevent brain injury in high-energy crashes. Kind of like those involving bicyclists and motor vehicles. If bicycle helmets were actually useful for that type of accident, then motorcyclists wouldn't have to bother with the multi-pound full-face down-to-the-neck deals they use.