Originally Posted by
merlinextraligh
...The Effectiveness of Bicycle Helmets:A Review
Revised Edition Prepared by Dr. Michael Henderson
for the Motor Accidents Authority of New South Wales, Australia.
1995
"SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
Wearing a helmet substantially reduces the risk of head injury to a cyclist in a crash. This has been shown by a raft of strong evidence generated by epidemiological and biomechanical research, and cited in the present report. ....
Among the findings of the better studies are the following:
The effectiveness of crash helmets for motorcyclists has been studied for decades, and they are known to reduce the risk of severe head injury by about one-third
The most careful, conservative estimates from good studies show that the reduction in risk of head injury to a bicyclist as a result of wearing a helmet is in the order of 45 per cent. In other words, at the very minimum a helmet halves the risk of head injury.
Other estimates from controlled studies give even higher risk reduction figures. Depending on the type of impact and the severity of injury, the reduction in the risk of head injury as a result of wearing a helmet has been shown in several studies from all over the world to be in the range of 45 per cent to 85 per cent.
Those who do not wear helmets are several times more likely to sustain injury to the brain tissue than riders who do.
For children, an Australian study has shown that the risk of injury is reduced 63 per cent for head injury and 86 per cent for loss of consciousness, when a helmet is worn. For loss of consciousness, the risk is over seven times higher among non-helmet wearers than among helmet wearers.
In the two years after the compulsory helmet legislation was introduced in Victoria, the number of bicyclists with head injuries decreased by 48 per cent and 70 per cent in each of the two years, relative to the last year before the law.
In Queensland, the rate of head injury from bicycle crashes fell by more than half following the introduction of a helmet-wearing law; admissions to hospitals with bicycle-related injuries other than to the head remained unchanged over the same period.
Helmets designed to the Australian and Snell standards provide a margin of protection in the real world greater than the respective standards require.
Old-style helmets that do not comply with the Australian Standard reduce the risk of head injury by little or nothing.
The vast majority of head impacts occurring in the real world of traffic are easily survivable if a Standards-approved helmet is worn.
No studies have come to conclusions contrary to the above."
...
As for tossing around opinions without data, did anyone bother to read this? No one in the helmets don't work crowd apparently did, or at least they're ignoring it.
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You could fall off a cliff and die.
You could get lost and die.
You could hit a tree and die.
OR YOU COULD STAY HOME AND FALL OFF THE COUCH AND DIE.