A reposting of my response to the Helmet Poll in another recent thread:
"I started racing, long distance touring and commuting by bike in 1969. Except for racing I never wore a helmet, including 2 bike trips across the US and one across Canada.
Ten years later, after losing two close friends in bike accidents and watching enough crashes in races, club rides and on training rides I gave helmets a second look. I started wearing a bike helmet. At this point my logic is, if I'm going to wear one I'm going to wear one on every bike ride. It's insurance against the unpredictable so why should I try to predict when I might need the bike helmet."
Since that post:
I just spent two days shooting a fight scene in a movie. In the scene I am body slammed full force by a 350 lb guy into the side of a parked car, kicked in the groin hard enough to raise me off the ground by the same guy wearing heavy work boots, collapse to my knees and then am thrown hard to the pavement. The scene took
2 days to shoot so I did this again and again. Anyone who does not think that a little bit of foam and plastic provides substantial protection should work a day like this without that kind of protection.
Granted this could be construed as an argument for a bicyclist to wear a thin layer of body armor under their clothing but when I compare the integrity and strength of my bike helmet to the bits of padding I wore on the set I cannot help but put even more trust in my helmet to make a difference as to the severity of head injury I might receive should my head hit the ground or an object.
And yes, I know the head, and more specifically the brain, takes impact differently than other parts of the body but so do the kidneys, the spine, the knees and the testicles. Each area is specific in how it can take a hit. But well designed foam and plastic specific to those areas will make a substantial difference in protection from injury.
I'll give far more weight to my personal experience than the tons of questionable, biased and often outdated "studies", inadequate "statistics" and the deluge of personal insults doled out by internet "experts" on both sides of this issue.
My 2 cents is that common sense and your own personal experience will be a far better guide as to whether or not to wear a helmet while biking than 99% of the stuff you will read in this thread- my post included.
