Originally Posted by
Captain Slow
On the way to work one morning in 2006, I had a jogger step out right in my path... I was going maybe 15mph and never had the chance to brake. We collided, head to head... really hard. The impact split my helmet... It fell apart when I stood back up. Meanwhile, the jogger didn't regain consciousness at the crash site. I thought I'd killed him. (He's okay now, but he was in hospital for quite some time.) Me, I went on to work that same day, mild concussion and all.
I'm sold on helmets...
The issue is not that simple
Last year we had a cyclist and a roller-blader collide on a MUP.
Guess who was wearing a helmet, who wasn't and who died?
Kinda makes the "organ donor" argument a little bit ironic, eh?
- Oh and BTW, I guess the OP's question isn't going to get answered huh?
Suffice it to say, in the general population of the USA/Canada, more ride without helmets than with, but in certain circles they are more popular. In few places, even those with strictly enforced MHL's, not everybody wears them. I've heard up to 90% wearing rates (but those reports have been in the media and might be stretching it) but I've seen studies that show 75 - 80% maximum usage. Makes sense. There's going to a faction of people who will not go along with the majority no matter what the issue is. World wide, usage is far below 50%. In most places it's effectively 0%.
In my MHL province wearing rate is about 50%. I re-read a news clipping I've kept that was printed 3 years before our MHL was enacted (a dozen years ago) where an official mentioned voluntary wearing rates stall at about 50% and laws are needed to get them higher. When they enacted our law and there was enforcement, ridership dropped about 30% and overall usage rate bumped up to 75% because those who didn't want to wear a helmet just stopped riding. These days, enforcement is lax, ridership is up and the rates have dropped to 50/50