🚀 go-pugleaf

gwright@interlynx.net (gwright@interlynx.net) says...
> Any adult too stupid to wear a helmet while biking should not be forced
> to wear one by law.  However, don't force the rest of us to pay for
> their medical coverage when they injure their heads in bike accidents!!!

Consider these points...

1.  Helmets do not stop accidents from happening.  Education can, 
arguably, stop accidents from happening.

2.  If you suffer a head injury on a bicycle, statistically, you have a 
25% chance of dying from it.  (Robinson, D.  An Assessment of the 
Mandatory Bicycle Helmet Law in Australia.)  Motorists have fully a 19% 
chance of dying from a head injury.  There isn't much difference between 
these figures, and since there's so many, many more motorists out there 
than cyclists, why isn't anyone concerned about getting helmets on 
motorists instead?  We'd save more lives that way.  (Or is it too 
inconvenient and expensive to worry about?)

3.  Sydney, Australia implemented a helmet law for cyclists and saw 
regular cycling reduce in frequency by 38%.  (Robinson, D.  An Assessment 
of the Mandatory Bicycle Helmet Law in Australia.)  Expressed in 
potential life-years gained vs potential life-years lost, regular 
cycling's net benefit to personal health outweighs its risk of injury by 
a factor of 20 to 1.  Thus, the reduced health benefits caused by lowered 
levels of cycling will result in more medical problems than the health 
benefits produced by requiring everyone to wear helmets.  (Hillman, M, 
Presentation at Velo Mondiale/Pro-Bike/Velo-City Conference, Montreal, 
1992.)

In my opinion, helmets are part of the life-saving equation, but not 
necessarily the largest or most important part.

Darren Stone
dstone@ea.removethis.com