Remember kids... always wear a helmet. (The almighty bikeradar helmet thread)

I know an actuary that rides to work without wearing a helmet.

http://cyclehelmets.org/

Get the facts, kids.

I ware a helmet. I feel safer even if I am not. That is my choise though and anyone else can do what they like.

Always wear a helmet on bike... It takes no effort and it looks cooler than having your brains splattered all over the floor. Don't understand why you wouldn't wear one (except that a good one is expensive). Most people think adults who ride bikes are a bit weird anyway, so it's not it's the helmet that makes you look odd...

!!! Never heard that one before.

There's been another Cochrane Review since the one criticised on cyclehelmets.org. You can find the abstract here:

http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab005401.html

Although the results of the review support bicycle helmet legislation for reducing head injuries, the evidence is currently insufficient to either support or negate the claims of bicycle helmet opponents that helmet laws may discourage cycling.

I think it would be very interesting to see the references and find out what the overlap is with the previous review, if any. Can someone with Athens or whatever dig it out? (Or send me the pdf of the whole thing, if they're feeling generous...)

Main results
Five studies, all from North America, met the inclusion criteria. For each of the studies, bicycle helmet legislation had been enacted for children only. Adults were used as controls in four of the studies, whilst jurisdictions with no helmet legislation were used as controls in the fifth. Three of the studies reported on changes in head injury rates and three reported on changes in helmet use. There were no included studies reporting change in bicycle use or other adverse consequences of legislation. In two studies, statistically significant decreases in head injuries were reported following the implementation of helmet legislation compared with controls, whilst one reported a non-statistically significant decline. Bicycle helmet use increased statistically significantly post-legislation in all three of the studies reporting on helmet use.

Not being able to see the trials (or even the body of the review) is very frustrating! However, as far as I can tell from this precis, all three of the relevant studies compared head injury rates in children prior to helmet legislation with head injury rates in children following helmet legislation. (The adult control groups ensure that head injury rates in the general population remain consistent throughout the trial period).

If you're of the view that adult helmet use and child helmet use are different issues, then it follows that this study does not contribute to the "adult" helmet debate. Personally I think the authors should have picked this up, and perhaps reflected the distinction in the review title.

However, that's not to say that it undermines any case for helmets. I'm helmet agnostic [never seen any convincing evidence for - then again - never seen a decent trial either, and the idea that they could prevent injury makes obvious intuitive sense]. The problem with these reviews, as they acknowledge, is that they're not meta-analyses because there aren't any properly controlled trials. And the problem with controlled, blinded trials on an issue like this is easily illustrated by a classic BMJ article:

Parachute use to prevent death and major trauma related to gravitational challenge: systematic review of randomised controlled trials

Always wear a helmet on bike... It takes no effort and it looks cooler than having your brains splattered all over the floor. Don't understand why you wouldn't wear one (except that a good one is expensive). Most people think adults who ride bikes are a bit weird anyway, so it's not it's the helmet that makes you look odd...

Well, good luck to them and their backwards attitude. People in cars look odd. Lots of them have a wide wobbly bit in the middle around their waist - THAT looks odd.

It's all person preference. I wear one when commuting as I find the driving more aggressive and erratic. Out of the rush hours I like to not wear one as it feels much nicer riding without a helmet - wind in the hair and all that.

Whatever blows your hair back I guess

Although different studies appear to arrive at different conclusions, and although gormless fuckwits keep coming on here and telling other people what they should and should not do, the whole 'helmet debate' is a load of absolute bollocks.
All it achieves is further animosity towards cyclists, a minority road using groups who are relatively harmless, whilst completely ignoring the multitude of deaths caused by dangerous motor vehicle driving, especially because motor-vehicle drivers do not wear helmets.
Ignoring head injuries to cyclists may be folly, but the 'helmet debate' is simply another proxy method of diverting attention away from the main issue which ought to be discussed, which is the huge burden to society both in health and financial terms, of careless and dangerous motor-vehicle drivers.

Seeds: the cochrane library is open access:
http://mrw.interscience.wiley.com/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD005401/frame.html

as is the BMJ.

it may also be worth looking at BMC for things like this.

though the gold standard is the cochrane systematic review.

@RichardCheese ^^^+1
not to mention environmental.

It's all person preference. I wear one when commuting as I find the driving more aggressive and erratic. Out of the rush hours I like to not wear one as it feels much nicer riding without a helmet - wind in the hair and all that.

+1, exactly what I do

Anyway it would be good if people read the instructions before putting their helmets on. The beret and loose straps style seems to be very much in vogue this spring.

Wearing a helmet does not make your commute safer, unlike servicing your bike regularly, learning how to ride in traffic, using lights at night, and lots of other things.

http://cyclehelmets.org/

Get the facts, kids.

Yeah but you won't find them here.

@VeeVee

+1000000000000000

Screaming makes you safer. cf. Banshee woman thread.

As does carrying a knife, even better is carrying a gun. Preferably showing, even better if it has a bayonet, because they don't like it up 'em.

Seeds: the cochrane library is open access:
http://mrw.interscience.wiley.com/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD005401/frame.html

as is the BMJ.

Not to filthy continentals, unfortunately. I'll have to try and find one of those proxy things.

Screaming makes you safer. cf. Banshee woman thread.

As does carrying a knife, even better is carrying a gun. Preferably showing, even better if it has a bayonet, because they don't like it up 'em.
#

I heard of a lass in the states - somewhere like texas - who kept getting harrassed by young lads in cars when she was out on training rides. Apparently this stopped when she started riding with her glock holstered.

not sure if it was njs tho.

Wearing a helmet does not make your commute safer, unlike servicing your bike regularly, learning how to ride in traffic, using lights at night, and lots of other things.

Yeah but I don't wear a helmet in lieu of knowing how to ride or maintain my bike, those things are a given...

#

I heard of a lass in the states - somewhere like texas - who kept getting harrassed by young lads in cars when she was out on training rides. Apparently this stopped when she started riding with her glock holstered.

not sure if it was njs tho.

Good choice of weaponary.

I spoken to some yanks and some of them won't leave the house on a bicycle without a firearm.

Yeah but I don't wear a helmet in lieu of knowing how to ride or maintain my bike, those things are a given...

I wish!

Screaming makes you safer. cf. Banshee woman thread.

As does carrying a knife, even better is carrying a gun. Preferably showing, even better if it has a bayonet, because they don't like it up 'em.

This comment has made my day.

My title got changed!

So what are you now? Lord, Marquis, Baron?

You know what, I bet more people suffer injuries through accidents because they aren't wearing cycling gloves. Why are we not hectoring kids to wear cycling gloves all the time. Road rash can lead to nasty shit like tetanus.

got a text today about the peckham crash, prompted me to wear my helmet for the first time in a week or so, even in the heat...

OK, this has to be a repost but just in case it isn't....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNYksEYEnbw&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fsydneybodyartridehq%2Eblogspot%2Ecom%2F&feature=player_embedded

That was awesome. I never knew helmets made such good footballs.