Hembrow's interpretation is a classic example of cherry-picking stats.

The report states that in the Netherlands alone, annually 67,000 cyclists get first aid due to a crash, 8000 are admitted to the hospital and 190 are killed; that of those admitted to the hospital, 27% have head or brain injuries; that 3/4 of those injuries did not involve a motor vehicle (not surprising, given high ridership and excellent bike facilities); and that the report suggests the head injury rate might be cut in half if helmets were used.

Despite this, and despite the overall pro-helmet tilt to the report, Hembrow plucks out one and only one stat to support his anti-helmet views.

This is why if you're going to compare the safety of cars vs bikes, you need to be extremely careful and detailed if you plan to use a statistical analysis.

The original report is here btw: http://www.swov.nl/rapport/Factsheet...le_helmets.pdf