Naw, its not the effectiveness of helmets that is at the core of this matter. That provides for some great nit-picking, and we often get way too caught up in that. But even the staunchest non believer concedes that helmets are effective some of the time, under some circumstances. They also admit, as do most pro helmet advocates, that the helmet is not the key to safety - YOU ARE. In other words, everyone is pretty sure they do something useful... and that they also have limits.

What is really at the core of this continuous debate is that many would force helmets upon us upon us, for the contrary reason that it is "for our own good." Contrary? Yes. This is contrary because the advocates of helmets, themselves, admit the odds are exceedingly long that anything will happen to you will riding a bike.

Just go look at their websites - their own statistics support that you will be injured or die from myriad other ways, long before you succumb to a cycling accident. Or listen to them speak... " I wear a helmet, just in case...."
Sure, bad things happen to good people... we already know that. But they happen to people on ladders, riding horseback, swimming at the lake, or sick with the flu. And yes, occasionally, on a bike.

Hello? Any news there?

Yet, here they come with their constant, droning song that not only MUST you wear them, but you should be thankful to them for looking out for you. Oh, and you should also be happy to pay for the privilege of doing all this. Worst of all? You are a nincompoop if you resist.

The assumption on their part is simply this: Anyone who doesn't like helmets, or who may not be convinced of their efficacy, is too stupid to be allowed to look after themselves. Obviously, such mental cases need someone with more (self-appointed) sense than they have to take control of the matter, for their own good. "Social babysitters," I like to call them.

Just between us, I stopped needing a babysitter a long time ago. I prefer to make up my own mind.