this post was submitted on 11 May 2025
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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? > > > Keep Urbanity rolling: > > Join our Patreon for early releases, credit at the end of each video, and bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/ohtheurbanity > Contact form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1NeALCmO6ELwJAGPyV46BVbl5JXzjlWl6emH3ZRNiCiw/edit > Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN5CBM1NkqDYAHgS-AbgGHA?sub_confirmation=1 > Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ohurbanity > BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/ohtheurbanity.bsky.social > > For professional inquiries, please fill out the following contact form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1NeALCmO6ELwJAGPyV46BVbl5JXzjlWl6emH3ZRNiCiw/edit > > 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) > >
  2. 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) > >
  3. 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) > >
  4. 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) > >
  5. Dehumanization > The effect of safety attire on perceptions of cyclist dehumanisation (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369847823001018#b0200) > >
  6. 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/ > >
  7. Dutch statistics > https://swov.nl/en/fact-sheet/cyclists > https://www.veiligheid.nl/sites/default/files/2022-06/Rapportage%20%28Snor-%20en%20brom%29fietsongevallen%20in%20Nederland.pdf (English summary included)
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[–] grumpo_potamus@lemmy.world 1 points 6 hours ago

Grew up riding mountain bikes, skateboards (street) and snowboards 25+ years ago. I laughed at the snowboarders wearing helmets and told friends who were getting into the sport not to bother with them. Got married and my wife made me get a helmet (lame, but whatever), then I had some kids.

8 years ago, I crashed snowboarding on an easy green run when going in for lunch. I was with a friend (rare for me as I usually went alone) and was taking it easy on an otherwise chill day. I ended up with two broken vertebrae, a tibial plateau fracture, a broken shoulder, and a concussion - i have no recollection of the accident, going down the hill in a sled on a backboard with patrol, taking an hours-long ambulance ride from the mountains, or any of my time in the ER - I apparently just kept repeating the same couple of lines to anyone I talked to, including my wife.

I got back into biking a couple years ago and am now riding more than I ever did growing up - I avoid cars/paved roads and mostly ride gravel, single track, and multi-use paths now. I wear a helmet every time i go out. I went over the handlebars a week and a half ago while riding alone. I didn't hit my head - just a hard landing, some scrapes and a bruised ego - but just another reminder how quickly things can go bad and how little control over the situation you have when it does.

A sweaty head and some random person thinking i don't look cool aren't really big concerns of mine (i also don't think I look very cool so I guess that makes two of us).