Thursday, May 31, 2018

Why Forcing Cyclists to Wear Helmets Will Not Save Lives


Over the years, there have been noteworthy attempts by journalists and media channels to capture the problem with bicycle helmets. Most will fixate on one particular element of the problem such as scaring people away from cycling or police harassment. Others will make a gallant effort to touch on all the concerns, usually in list form. Unfortunately, the one thing that most of these articles, news clips, and videos have in common is a concluding plea for cyclists to always wear a helmet, as if they hadn’t paid attention to what they had just presented.

Today I was pleased to find an exception to this rule. This video from the Guardian does a good job of explaining a few of the main concerns about bicycle helmets. But most importantly, it ends with the very real point that car occupants suffer far more head injuries than cyclists. The final plea is not for cyclists to wear helmets, but for car occupants to clad their heads in Styrofoam instead. Well done!

Sue