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julie78787 t1_j9oh794 wrote

Reply to comment by PaulRudin in ELI5: Why do people wear different types of helmets when skiing and bicycling? by LucasUnited

I've not seen the data in years, but it is out there.

Bicycle helmets - To wear or not to wear? A meta-analyses of the effects of bicycle helmets on injuries

This article points out that cervical spine injuries aren't reduced, and as many bicyclists will tell you, there are plenty of other bones left to break. However, when it comes to protecting your skull, a bicycle helmet will do that better than no helmet.

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PaulRudin t1_j9oiagj wrote

Right, but even if we we're to accept those results at face value*; they don't necessary contradict what I said. The study is "among crash involved cyclists". There's evidence that motorists drive closer to cyclists wearing helmets, so it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine that wearing a helmet increases the risk of being involved in a crash in the first place.

If you're looking for the risk of KSI with or without helmets; then that's the thing you need look at amongst all cyclists... not restricting it to the population of "crash involved cyclists".

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* which I don't necessarily - for some papers at least you can show that using the methodology in the paper it follows that wearing a helmet reduces the risk of leg injuries...

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julie78787 t1_j9olzhc wrote

I've seen all manner of arguments against using helmets which have nothing to do with injuries among "crash involved cyclists".

In a typical year I like to bike about 5,000 miles. Cars have close-passed me, tried to run me off the road, cut me off, yelled, spit, cursed, you name it. I've had drivers mad at me for going the speed limit, not going the speed limit, being in a bike lane, being within 3' of the curb, pretty much all of it. I used to have a bus driver who hated to let me ever get around him because once I got in front of him I'd slowly gain distance because he had to stop to pick up and let off people.

What I care about is what happens if or when my head hits something.

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Joaquin_Portland t1_j9p8sdv wrote

I wear a helmet for two reasons:

I don’t always see low hanging tree branches

If I am injured or killed by being struck by someone driving a car, I don’t want the damages to me or my family reduced because I wasn’t wearing a helmet.

That’s also the reason why I don’t run stop signs or red lights.

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julie78787 t1_j9tpvzo wrote

I wear a bicycle helmet because I'm convinced by what I've read that they reduce brain injuries. I could handle major issues with limbs. I couldn't handle a TBI that screwed up my ability to think or reason or function.

I don't think they make me invincible, which I suspect is a confounding factor for overall injuries. 35 years ago I decided to keep my speed down because descending at 55mph was scary as could be. I've not been much over 35mph in the last 5 years and even 30mph is starting to be scary as I get older.

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Northwindlowlander t1_j9ophti wrote

Some of the evidence is glorious- Dr Ian Walker, serious scientist and researcher, wearing a wig and riding along while intentionally wobbling.

The fun part is when you throw in the impact of NOT cycling- ie, people being deterred from exercising, because they think it's dangerous, or the helmet is too expensive, or because it looks stupid. Australia's helmet mandate laws almost certainly caused more negative health impacts than positive, partly because people exercise less and partly because the reduced number of cyclists make it more dangerous for the remaining cyclists.

I totally believe there are net safety benefits to wearing a helmet, personally. But I also totally believe that they're pretty trivial statistically. Serious head injuries are relatively uncommon and, as a complicating factor in road accidents, often come along with other injuries. Minor head injuries are also worth protecting against though!

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bingybunny t1_j9sqkjx wrote

sure the helmet protects your head when you're biking. but what about going up on a ladder? the roller rink? sprinting at 16 mph? getting out of a bathtub. 30,000 people die in cars every year, but no crash helmets for drivers?

People don't wear a helmet for lots of activities. if you need one for riding a dutch bike you should just wear one all the time, like when driving a convertible or walking in winter or descending a long flight of stairs

if you're racing or doing bmx or downhill dirt jumping, sure, wear a helmet, it's not going to prevent a spine injury tho

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Northwindlowlander t1_j9uku3y wrote

>30,000 people die in cars every year, but no crash helmets for drivers?

That is really not a good argument- cars are built from the ground up for safety, you are wearing the helmet and also about 10 other helmets.

Agree with everything else though, pretty much.

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imdb_shenanigans t1_j9pp946 wrote

This was the moment when a simple explanation ended the thread. But you like to dig over-analytical holes when none is needed. This is what happens when you get too much into data that it just becomes something to prove a point across no matter what.

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