Heading Out of Danger
by Richard Ballantine
According to the London Evening Standard [February 1, 1994], eight bicycle-mounted police officers in Maidstone, Kent, want to stop wearing cycle helmets while riding on duty, because they feel that the helmets look ridiculous and cause people to laugh at them. This attitude says more about the officers' perceptions of themselves than about what other people may think of them, but is typical of a widespread antipathy to the use of helmets for everyday cycling.
Some people find wearing a helmet embarrassing because it seems over the top -- a bit like wearing wellies and carrying an umbrella when the sun is shining brightly. Others find that a helmet restricts their sense of pleasure and freedom. Cycling should be casual and carefree, they say.
On the opposite side are a considerable number of cyclists who routinely wear a helmet when riding a bike. This is a relatively recent phenomenon. Serious helmets (as opposed to the network of padded leather strips used by racers of yore) were only introduced about 20 years ago. Their popularity has certainly grown rapidly, but their function is not always properly understood.
A number of cyclists wear helmets because they think this is what cyclists should do. This is partly the result of deliberate propaganda. Many cycle magazines and books strive as a matter of policy to only use pictures of cyclists wearing helmets. It's seen as the responsible thing to do.
The assumption that helmet use increases cycling safety is a particularly prevalent canon of faith in the US. It's a funny world: US cyclists are notorious for riding without lights and with total disregard for traffic regulations, but the majority wear helmets. Indeed, in the US, the outcome of litigation over a bike/car accident can be affected by whether or not the cyclist was wearing a helmet.
But do cycle helmets actually increase safety? Dr Meyer Hilman's study 'Cycle Helmets: The case for and against', found that nearly all cycling fatalities and most serious injuries result from cyclists being hit by motor vehicles, a magnitude of trauma against which helmets are largely useless. Moreover, claims the study, wearing a helmet may generate a false sense of security leading to less cautious riding and so a greater risk of accident.
But the fact that cars are the chief danger for cyclists and cycle helmets are a poor defense against cars does not bear on the most relevant reason for wearing a helmet. Among experience riders, car/bike crashes account for under 20 percent of all accidents. If you ride a bike, you can count on eventually taking a spill. Wet leaves, gravel, an errant dog, a patch of oil, a metal manhole cover or just plain miscalculation -- sooner or later, one way or another, everyone comes off their bike.
You can break arms, legs, ribs, etc., and mend again. But the head is fragile. A drop of just two feet onto a hard surface can fracture the skull. And while bones can mend, brains do not always reassemble. Whenever the subject of helmet safety comes up, I think of a friend of Bob Rubinstein, publisher of Fiets bicycle magazine in Holland. The friend was simply sitting still on a bike when she fell over and cracked her skull. At the time Bob told me the story, the girl had already been 18 months in a hospital, in a deep coma.
Such stories -- and I know many -- are the reason I am completely unresponsive when someone says "I feel ridiculous wearing a helmet". I think it is dense not to wear one. What's more, a helmet has some useful advantages. In hot sunshine, it provides a welcome bit of shade. When it's raining, a helmet covered with a lightweight shower cap is an effective mini-umbrella. In cold weather, a padded helmet cover will help to keep the head warm. To me, a helmet is a useful accessory, in the same class as gloves, shoes and lined shorts.
I haven't a problem in the world with the 'image' of a helmet. Using one is the same as wearing stout boots for hiking or a wide-brimmed hat in the desert -- it's the right equipment for the job. Anyone who thinks otherwise simply does not know any better.
Yes, a helmet is unlikely to be of much help if you tangle with a 18-wheel, 12-ton lorry. So far as safety on the road is concerned, the significant aids for cyclists are preventative: bike-handling skills, roadcraft and experience. Active awareness and full use of your wits are your best defenses, especially against motorists.
But long after motor vehicles
are ancient history, people will still ride bikes. And they will wear helmets.
Cycling, even in transport mode, is a sport, one in which using a helmet is
a commonsense precaution. So if you feel any diffidence about using a helmet,
hang in there. You'll soon get used to it. Indeed, one day when someone raises
the question of helmet 'image', you'll wonder what they are talking about.
© Richard Ballantine
Cycling
Today, May 1994