Originally Posted by corrado33

Alright guys.

Let's take a step back and try to discuss this without resorting to insults or emotions. I don't care who started it.

Let's try to move this thread into a direction where we post studies and rational, unbiased, websites on the problem at hand. (Or at least websites that admit their biases.)

I'll start.

Here's the study that EVERYONE and their mother get's the helmets are 85% safer statistic (even though that's not what the study says.)

https://www.med.illinois.edu/m2/epid...ctions/3-5.pdf
Hopefully you'll be able to see it, since I'm at a university I have better access than most. If you actually bother to read the study more than the abstract (and you have any sort of experimental training.) you'll see that the study was conducted poorly and the conclusions that were drawn were...dubious and a bit reaching. Many sites agree with me on these points.

Now, here's a safe cycling website discussing helmet use and also has a few notes about this study further down the page.

http://bicyclesafe.com/helmets.html

Some of the interesting things on this page.

Helmets DO make falls a bit safer. However, wearing a helmet makes BIKING more dangerous. They sited a "study" (I haven't read it.) where they found that cars tend to pass helmeted bikers more closely than non-helmeted bikers, increasing the risk of getting hit.

This is one of their conclusions.
Research has failed to show any net protective value of bike helmets.

We all have opinions strongly laced with emotions and experiences. Let's try to keep those out of the discussion and read what scientists and people more level headed than we are have to say.

EDIT: So I don't seem biased, here's a site advocating for the USE of helmets. They DO admit their bias however.

Should I Wear a Bike Helmet?