🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <4ihihp$v37@nuacht.iol.ie> Garry Lee <glee@iol.ie> writes:
>The quoting of opinion from one country which is supposed to supplant
>the evidence from numerous other studies is itself dodgy science.
>
>Sometimes humans have to forget statistics and use their heads.

This is rediculous. If you're going to question statistics, you must
do it intelligently (i.e. use your head).

>Why do motorcyclists wear them?

I've been keeping an eye on this since I started motorcycling about seven
years ago. A motorcycle helmet will reduce your chance of death from head 
injury by %50, resulting in an overall fataity decrease of about 7%, since
most people die from chest wounds, bleeding, etc. Helmet law enactment
generally reduces fatalities by a few percent, usually because usage rates
were high before law enactment. What was surprising was how, in Quebec,
the moto helmet law reduced the accident rate significantly (can't 
remember the number) presumably due to the eye protection that comes with 
many helmets. Yet eye protection is not required on a motorcycle in Canada.
I'm posting this from memory, so some of this could be a bit off.

I wear a helmet because even though I'm less likely to bonk my head than
break a leg, the results of head injury can be more severe. I also find
my helmet comfortable, in that it does a great job at keeping crap out of
my face, it keeps my hair from turning into a tangled mess, and keeps the
wind noise down.

>If you are heading towards the ground in mid-air would you prefer to
>be wearing one?

But how likely are you to be heading towards the ground in mid air? I once 
broke my wrist when I fell on a patch of ice, but I don't walk around with 
wrist protectors. 

If the down-under stats showed a drastic increase in usage but no decrease 
in injuries, we must ask *why*. Either head injuries are so infrequent that
they don't show up in the stats, other factors such as false sense of 
security come into play, or helmets don't work in the real world (most 
people don't wear them properly anyway). What do you think it is?  

>Have a read of this.
>http://www.bhsi.org/webdocs/henderso.htm

Post the relevant bits so that we can discuss it.

Jody