Michael O'Hair

I'll add my two cents to this.

I have seen many, many "family groups" where the kids are wearing helments and one or more adults are not. I believe this sets up an image problem: helmets are for kids. I have told a couple of grown ups that it's hard to be a parent when you've taken a serious hit in the head.

On the other hand, I have seen far too many people who have donned their helmet and obviously equated it with some sort of magic armor that allowed them to ride between traffic and parked cars at 4 MPH, blithely unaware of their surroundings and the physics behind getting run down by a 4000 pound car.

It is my opinion that the term "skid lid" definitely applies to bicycle helmets. They are good for minor accidents, but when the plastic hits the asphalt at speed (30 MPH or more), not even a Snell Approved motorcycle helmet can guarantee much beyond "..Well, it would have been worse without a helmet."

The problem is simply one of common sense: riding in traffic raises the risk of wrecks, therefore wearing a helmet helps shave the odds a bit. Unfortunately, legislatures do no deal in common sense. Case in point, Hawaii was going to outlaw 2-piece wheels on cars until someone pointed out that almost all cars came equipped with 2-piece wheels.

Who out in OBRA-land has the actual data? How many people on bicycles suffer non-superficial head injuries (defined as requiring admission to a hospital) with and without helmets?

----- Original Message -----
From: john
To: obra@list.obra.org
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 5:03 PM
Subject: Re: [OBRA Chat] Helmets will be mandatory in Vancouver, WA

I know this is just a sliver of arguments for and against but personally i think we should require helmet use for any sort of vehicle because most auto accidents involve head injury to the occupants. Plus I know when i slap on a helmet and drive, I feel more secure and safe (subconsciously or not) and so i drive a little more reckless(subconsciously or not).