«Young people break their wrists because they shoot their hands out quickly when falling. Older people break their hips because they don’t get their hands out quickly enough. You’d much rather break a wrist than a hip.»
I once broke my wrist while landing from a unicycle fall (while trying to jump on a sidewalk). I felt unlucky to have a broken wrist, but maybe it saved my head.
I think some protection gear make people not learn to fall correctly. For instance wrist protectors for snowboard. When falling lightly without it, you quickly learn not to save yourself by planting your hands in the snow. But when having them, you don't get that feedback, so when a worse accident happen your instinct is wrong.
I once broke my wrist while landing from a unicycle fall (while trying to jump on a sidewalk). I felt unlucky to have a broken wrist, but maybe it saved my head.