Originally Posted by
genec
Just to give an example... I have been hit 3 times by cars... hard enough to require a new bike each time... only the third time did I go to a hospital and was a police report written.
due to the possiblility of severe consequences, wouldn't you say someone would go and have their head checked for internal damage just to be safe?
If someone falls and hits thier arm, it wouldn't result in the same potential of damage as if they had hit their head. Someone could just put up with the pain for while. If the pain doesn't subside, you can always go in later with less possibility of further damage than if you, bonk or jerk your head. The last thing you would want to do is stay at home with a possibility of internal bleed.
Helmet advocates often quote an over-representation of hospital visits for head injuries. I think I recall some figures being something like 30% of all bike injuries are for head injuries. This is a misrepresentation because being checked for something and actually having something are 2 different things. The number of head injuries are not nearly as high as many are led to think.
Checking for hospital stays for an injury condition would be more reliable than checking for visits when the patient simply goes home due to there being diagnosed for a trivial injury after examination.