crosspostato da: https://piefed.social/post/741601

Few topics in cycling inspire as much controversy as helmets. Some people insist they’re essential, calling non-wearers reckless and invoking harsh and violent imagery: “enjoy your traumatic brain injury”. “You’ll regret it when you’re in a hospital with a feeding tube”. You hear suggestions of denying access to public healthcare. On the opposite end, helmet skeptics argue that they’re a distraction. I’ve actually heard people call them “magic hats” that “don’t offer significant protection (if any at all)”. Helmets dehumanize cyclists and send the wrong message. They’re dorky and uncool, rather than fashionable and European.

So what’s the truth about helmets?

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References:

  1. Protection provided

Bicycle helmets – To wear or not to wear? A meta-analyses of the effects of bicycle helmets on injuries (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001457518301301)

  1. Risk compensation

Drivers overtaking bicyclists: Objective data on the effects of riding

position, helmet use, vehicle type and apparent gender (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001457506001540)

Bicycle helmet wearing is associated with closer overtaking by drivers: A response to Olivier and Walter, 2013 (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001457518309928)

Emotional reactions to cycle helmet use (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001457512001169)

Risk compensation theory and bicycle helmets – Results

from an experiment of cycling speed and short-term effects

of habituation (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1369847816305666)

Risk compensation? – The relationship between helmet use and cycling

speed under naturalistic conditions (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022437517307302)

Bicycle helmets and risky behaviour: A systematic review (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369847818305941)

  1. Level of risk

Sport-related major trauma incidence in young people and adults in England and Wales: a national

registry-based study (https://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/injuryprev/30/1/60.full.pdf)

Active Living and Injury Risk (https://www.thieme-connect.de/products/ejournals/abstract/10.1055/s-2004-819935)

Epidemiology of injury in professional cyclists (https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/44/Suppl_1/i4.2)

  1. Discouraging cycling

Do the Health Benefits of Cycling Outweigh the Risks? (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2920084/)

Bicycle helmet research [CARRS-Q Monograph Series - Monograph 5] (https://eprints.qut.edu.au/41798/)

The effects of provincial bicycle helmet legislation on

helmet use and bicycle ridership in Canada (https://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/16/4/219)

Recommend or mandate? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the

effects of mandatory bicycle helmet legislation (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S000145751830397X)

Helmet law makes nonsense of bike hire scheme

(https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/helmet-law-makes-nonsense-of-bike-hire-scheme-20100722-10my2.html)

  1. Dehumanization

The effect of safety attire on perceptions of cyclist dehumanisation (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369847823001018#b0200)

  1. Claims bike helmets don’t help

https://www.cnet.com/science/brain-surgeon-theres-no-point-wearing-cycle-helmets/

https://www.rwcpulse.com/blogs/peeking-at-plans/2023/09/25/bike-helmets-01/

  1. Dutch statistics

https://swov.nl/en/fact-sheet/cyclists

https://www.veiligheid.nl/sites/default/files/2022-06/Rapportage (Snor- en brom)fietsongevallen in Nederland.pdf (English summary included)

  • pulsewidth@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Had a workmate that said helmets are ‘just for kids’, he was riding his bike home from work one evening and slipped on some sand on the path while rounding a corner that he’d ridden hundreds of times prior. No cars involved, nothing but him his bike and a pavement. His head hit the cement path, and he was dead before an ambulance arrived.

    No helmet.

    His funeral was the largest I’ve ever attended (200+) and his teen son reading a eulogy was something I’ll never forget.

    I miss him. He was a great guy, intelligent and funny and always had interesting stories, enjoyed discussing conspiracies - but more the ones with evidence (COINTELPRO etc) over pure speculation. The one dumb thing I thought he did regularly was ride daily without a helmet.

    So yeah, you guys who think helmets make no difference - you’re wrong. The impact forces delivered to your skull is enormously reduced by wearing a helmet, and everyone that chooses not to wear one is convinced, “that won’t be me, I ride safe, I know the path well”. You’re wrong, and you’re gambling with your life - for what?

    • Vandals_handle@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Had a doctor who also rode share a story with me. He and a friend had finished a ride and were in the car park, friend took off helmet as the chatted and cooled down, friend then remounted and began riding to his car, slipped on debris at 5 mph, fell, stuck his head, dead before the ambulance arrived.

    • socsa@piefed.social
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      2 months ago

      And I have had my life saved in almost the exact same situation by a helmet. This conversation is stupid. Head injuries are still the most common serious injury involving a sole cyclist - that’s without cars, pedestrians, dogs or anything. Literally thousands of people every year hit their head just falling off bikes.

    • limelight79@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      A friend of mine was in a bike crash during an event (large group ride, not a race), and he firmly believes the helmet saved his life. Even with it, he had a concussion that kept him off the bike for months. (I wasn’t there and don’t recall any details of the crash, if I heard any.)

      That said, nothing is perfect. Another friend of mine slid on some leaves, crashed, and died several days later in the hospital. He always wore a helmet, too.

      I always wear mine when riding.

  • tankplanker@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    When I was a teenager I had a bad wipe out cycling off road doing about 30mph that resulted on me landing on my head. I was knocked out, swallowed my tongue, and if it wasn’t for my friends stopping myself from choking to death I would have been dead, as it was I had a concussion and an overnight stay in hospital. But if I had not been wearing a helmet I would have been dead on impact. I think its pretty telling that all my friends invested in helmets after that.

    Even in non car areas you can fall from relatively low speeds and have a bad time.

    What I do not like is that a significant number of other road users are more likely to see you as less human for helmet wearing than not: https://road.cc/content/news/cyclists-wearing-helmets-seen-less-human-301661 This has a negative impact on how they treat you on road.

    • LousyCornMuffins@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      My dad was a bit more fortunate than you with his accident. He broke a few bones, but was otherwise none the worse for wear. His helmet? The chunk gouged out by his impact was large enough in circumference to accommodate a regulation softball. I don’t think he’d have survived losing that much head.

      I just bought the bike of my dreams on an absolute whim, but I haven’t ridden in years. I gotta get a good fucking helmet.

  • socsa@piefed.social
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    2 months ago

    Even if you exclude injuries from automobiles, head injuries are far and away the most common serious injuries people get while cycling. This entire debate is idiotic. Wearing a helmet is such an easy thing to do and has basically zero downsides.

    • lgsp@feddit.it@feddit.itOP
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      2 months ago

      This argument is not sound: according to the video, if you exclude dangerous cycling activities (mountain bike, downhill…) the rate of head injuries you get biking is similar to the one you get for example when running. So either you think that also runners should wear an helmet, or your point is not backed by data.

  • NightShot@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Most stupid discussion ever. I remember a couple of years ago when there where motorcycle riders protesting a new helmet law ( I think it was NYC). Dude won the Darwin awards smashing his head and it was concluded that he probably had lived if he had a helmet.

    • Vandals_handle@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Have a cousin who is a nurse, she mentioned seeing an anti-helmet protest on the news, amongst the protesters were some of here dialysis patients. I guess one way to speed up the transplant queue.

  • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
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    2 months ago

    Bikes mixed with faster metal objects? Wear a bucket and pray to god.

    Bikes separated from cars and people on specific thoroughfares? Doff the lid and ride easy.

    It’s not the bikes’ fault, but that’s not really relevant – they squish the same either way when up against a car, at fault or no. The only true prevention is separation so the cars can’t get close.

  • wabafee@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    I have seen far enough people died who could have survived if they wore a helmet. I rather keep wearing one. The same thing when in any two wheeled vehicle.

  • Jerkface (any/all)@lemmy.ca
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    3 months ago

    Biking is safe whether or not you wear a helmet. The life-extending advantages of biking outpace the life-shortening risks either way. If wearing a helmet makes you more comfortable and you bike more, then that makes a bigger difference than the helmet itself.

    • Jerkface (any/all)@lemmy.ca
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      3 months ago

      Conclusions

      On average, the estimated health benefits of cycling were substantially larger than the risks relative to car driving for individuals shifting their mode of transport.

      https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2920084/

      Even without a helmet, cycling is a safe, beneficial activity. Helmets offer significant protection if you fall off your bike or crash it (though much less if a car hits you) but the absolute rates of injury are small enough that this is a personal judgement call.

  • CarbonatedPastaSauce@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Ever since I learned in motorcycle training that having your head go into a immovable surface (curb, tree, etc) at just 10mph can easily kill you, I wear one while skiing and bicycling. Just like seatbelts in a car, I don’t feel safe enough anymore without wearing one. I’ve always worn ‘heavy’ helmets for the motorcycles anyway, so the lighter ones for bikes and skiing are barely noticeable.

    • jimmux@programming.dev
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      3 months ago

      Yeah, the truth is, there are a lot of opinions out there but the vast majority of people are absolutely clueless about how vulnerable human brains are. We have to learn everything the hard way.

      If you can wear shoes, you can wear a helmet. It’s not that hard.

  • over_clox@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    As a BMX flatland rider (not in traffic), I’ve found that helmets cause the rider to be unnaturally top heavy, which affects the abilities of the rider to perform a lot of tricks, particularly the many one wheel tricks the sport has to offer.

    If anything, in BMX flatland, elbow pads, knee pads, shin guards, and perhaps gloves, offer the most necessary protection for the sport. Pretty much all flatland riders ditched helmets back in the 90’s for the very reason I mentioned, it affects the balance while performing complex tricks.

    Now as far as regular road commuting, even though I’m not one to wear a helmet, I would tend to recommend a helmet for the average rider. Vehicles are big and heavy, and plenty of drivers out there don’t pay nearly enough attention to bicycles or pedestrians.

    And that in itself brings up another question:

    If bicycle riders should wear helmets, then shouldn’t pedestrians also wear helmets…?

      • over_clox@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        There are a lot of things that shouldn’t be, but we gotta face the facts. There are way too many ignorant drivers that either barely know how to drive, might be just plain assholes, or just staring at their phone instead of the road…

        Ignoring electric bicycles and high speed riding/racing bicycles, I’m not sure if I see the activity of riding a bicycle any more or less dangerous than walking, unless of course the bike rider doesn’t have good balance or awareness of their surroundings, which could apply to either bicyclists or pedestrians.

        Both bicyclists and pedestrians share pretty much the same risks when traveling near vehicle occupied roads. If anything, I feel that pedestrians are generally more at risk. They are smaller in the visual field of vehicle drivers, they move slower, and they’re not wearing reflectors or protective gear.

        The average comfortable cruising pace on a bicycle tends to be around 12 miles per hour. Most bicycles are pretty agile and quick to control. I mean, compare the stopping distance of a ~4000 pound vehicle going 12 miles per hour to the stopping distance of a ~200 pound rider plus their bike, to the speed and stopping distance of a ~175 pound pedestrian on foot…

        So, if anything, pedestrians are more in danger, at least the way I see it.

          • over_clox@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            No, the key bit there is why do pedestrians cross the road? To get to the other side, same as bicyclists.

              • over_clox@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                Oh that’s so hilarious that I forgot to laugh…

                How the hell does any cyclist or pedestrian get across the road to get to the store or to their friend’s house, or to work even?

              • over_clox@lemmy.world
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                2 months ago

                I actually had to look up ‘grade crossing’ to even understand what you were getting at.

                Rare? Hah, it happens every single day here! Not saying it should though, also not saying that trains should have a right to just fucking park on the tracks here and block traffic either, but they do.

                But… What does that have anything to do with crossing the road or highway, either on foot or on bicycle?

                • LovesTha🥧@floss.social
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                  2 months ago

                  @over_clox Yes, the concept is from rail, but it applies to all crossings/intersections.

                  The point is we lost a lot when we decided that it was okay for death machines to have right of way all around us. We shouldn’t accept it as normal.

      • over_clox@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Go ahead, look up professional BMX flatland competition. None of the pros wear helmets, and it’s not in any of their rules. For the very reason I mentioned, it affects delicate balance.

        Look up Jomopro and Voodoo Jam…

        https://youtu.be/fMOkI4DQm_0

        https://youtu.be/8w68P63ykww

        Literally nobody in BMX flatland wears a helmet anymore. If they did, then the pro competitions would require it.

        Experienced flatlanders know better, helmets just distract the rider and throw off the rider’s natural flow, and actually make it even more likely to wreck.

        Flatland ≠ Traffic

      • over_clox@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Clearly you’ve never rode flatland then. Flatlanders don’t fall on their heads, they fall on their knees and elbows, and sometimes the top tube smacks their shins.

        It’s the stunt riders that do ramping and other tricks that leave the ground that risk crashing on their head. Flatlanders stay on the ground. Well, minus the occasional bunny hop.

        Like I said, basically the entire BMX flatland community has already agreed on this back in the 90’s. Go ahead and find me even one single flatland rider these days that wears a helmet. The last video clip I saw of flatlanders wearing helmets is from 1985.

  • garretble@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    For me, the truth is I barely notice I’m wearing a helmet, and cars barely notice me as a cyclist even exists.

    So even if a helmet only does half of what it claims to do, I’ll take that chance in an accident with a giant metal box on the road.

  • Vandals_handle@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Studies in USA show automobile drivers perceive helmet less bicycle riders to be more dangerous so they give them more space. Therefore it is safer to not wear a helmet, up until the point your head makes contact with something. That said I always wear a helmet. Been hit by cars twice, twice cracked my “styrofoam hat” but not my skull.

  • Eat_Your_Paisley@lemm.ee
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    3 months ago

    If you feel safer in your Styrofoam hat wear one, if you don’t then don’t.

    We’ve been debating this shit for 40 years

    • htrayl@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      The dipshittiest of comments. Spend some time learning some basic crash physics.

    • KingOfTheCouch@lemmy.ca
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      3 months ago

      People that care about you would prefer you to wear a Styrofoam hat instead of a soup brain too.

    • Showroom7561@lemmy.ca
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      3 months ago

      We’ve been debating this shit for 40 years

      And yet the belief that people chose to wear helmets because they “feel” safer is still a thing?

      Helmets objectively protect your head and a good part of your face in minor and moderate impact situations… Like the type of crashes affecting most cyclists (i.e. falling do due to poor or slippery surfaces).

      In a catastrophic crash, they likely won’t save you, since the rest of your body is likely meat soup.

      Over the last 40 years, there has been clear evidence to support helmets, and the tech is only getting better.

      The evidence is so strong that even doctors in the Netherlands are rallying in support of their use.

    • Annoyed_🦀 @lemmy.zip
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      3 months ago

      I can headbutt tree branch with styrofoam on, i have to avoid all branches and leaves without it. You’re welcome to not wear it, not sure what your condescending comment is all about.