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Northwindlowlander t1_j9ophti wrote

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

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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