"The fact is, there's no evidence that the injury would have been any worse had they not been wearing a helmet. You cannot study something that never happened. In fact people are still having nasty head injuries even wearing bike helmets. I believe this is for lots of different reasons, not the least of which is the fact that helmets are designed for low speed impact which many collisions are not."

Bike at 30 mph (or some other speed), hit something head on, flip over your handle bars, land directly on your head. Do this without a helmet. Record your injuries. Now do the exact same thing under the exact same speed and conditions while wearing a helmet. Record your injuries. If your injuries are worse without the helmet, then helmets do improve safey. If your injuries are worse with a helmet then helmets do not improve safety.

That is a true scientific test, with everything controlled (the same) except the variable (helmet) that you are testing. My guess is that landing the same way each time, the helmet will decrease injuries 100% of the time. Of course this does not mean the will prevent all injuries, but no helmet manufacturer, and no one in here is saying they will.

Attempting to say that helmets are not improving safety because your are more likely to be injured in a car or while walking does not cut it. The variables are different. While in a car you have a metal box (the frame of the car) protecting you, as well as (usually) airbags, seatbelts, and other safety devices. While walking sure you can trip and fall, but a fall from standing height while walking is not the same as falling off a bike at any speed. The fact is that using these examples to say helmets do not reduce injury is comparing apples to oranges. The dynamics of each type of injury are completely different.

Attempting to say, as some have, though not necessarily here, that wearing a helmet is less safe because people wearing helmets feel more invincible, and therefore ride more dangerously, is also innacurate. The manner in which people ride does nothing to the helmets effectiveness. It is not the helmet that makes these riders less safe, as the helmet will protect no matter how they ride (or fall). It is in fact their attitude and feeling of invincibility that increases their chance of accident that makes them less safe.

Not trying to pick arguements with anyone, just pointing out what i percieve as inacuracies in some of what has been said, both in this forum, and in my discussions wil other people about helmets.

As a side note, i find this helmet/no helmet discussion startlingly similar to discussions about seat belt use in cars, where people often use some similar arguments, such as "people think they can drive more agressively with a seat belt on" or "if im in a wreck i dont want to be trapped inside the car by the seatbelt" or "in high speed colissions the seat belt can cause injuries to internal organs". Still i have never seen anyone without a seatbelt walk away from a rollover (to use one example) completely uninjured. Every rollover i have seen where someone was wearing a seatbelt they walked away, literally, without a scrape.Sorry that thats slightly off topic. Just thought the similarities were. interesting.