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Safety vests and helmets make cyclists look ‘less human’ to other road users
(theconversation.com)
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There's a long term debate about the effecacy of helmets. this article from 2014 summarizes it pretty well. All the studies, both in favor and against are relatively weak compared to what we might expect, but this is epidemiology, not biology.
The biggest indicator is simply that countries with heavy helmet use have more head injuries per 100,000 miles ridden than those with low helmet use. Even that is a correlation, but causality is unclear.
All I can say is I've hit my head hard enough to get a concussion while wearing a helmet. Pretty sure I would've died without the helmet.
So I'm glad I was wearing one, and I will continue to do so every time I ride.
I've never understood why people get so upset about being forced to wear helmets. Why take a risk when it comes to what is arguably the most important part of your body? Even if you're a perfect cyclist who will never fall over (and will never suffer any kind of mechanical failure, like the seat on my bike that broke off while I was riding down a hill) it's still a sensible precaution and worth some minor inconvenience like having to bring a helmet with you or leave it attached to the bike.
Unfortunately for the perfect cyclists out there, cars don't actually care about your bike handling skills.
As a cyclist, I rarely wear a helmet because there is enough data out there to show it may be more dangerous to do so. As a motorcyclist, I wear all the gear all the time, and won't even get on the bike without a helmet. Personally, I'm really following data and research as much as I can. Low relationship between helmet use and bike safety, high relationship between helmet use and motorcycle safety