Originally Posted by
rtuuji
I am new to this sport and am curious about helmet use. Working in the ER for a few years now shows me anecdotally that more head injuries occur without a helmet. As a scientist, I dont take these personal figures to heart. I started reading this thread in hopes of some scientific data that presented the case for or against helmets based on a study of head trauma and helmet use, but after reading a few pages I was seeing that that was not the direction the thread was heading.
Does it really show that more injuries occur without a helmet, or does it only show that out of the head injuries that appear in the ER, more of the cyclists were apparently not wearing helmets? Is it possible that many injuries occur with and without helmets, which did not result in a trip to the ER? What is the statistical risk of injury of not wearing a helmet while cycling, compared to other active pursuits?
"Apparently" because I wonder if the anecdotal categorization arises from observation of scalp wounds, which most people will agree are effectively reduced by helmets. If so, that observation alone does not inform much about the risk of serious trauma.