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> Helmet laws arguably does not work very well for bicycles.

Yeah, the evidence is actually pretty compelling that requiring bike helmets is a net negative to society. It's unfortunate how little it gets questioned.



I'd love to see some data-backed analysis of this, links would be appreciated.



That article is light on actual data, lots of lines like this:

> Many people also suggest that wearing a helmet makes cyclists themselves less cautious in their riding, increasing the chance of an accident.

So if you are willing to believe a data point like that, then clearly helmets make people less safe.

Having been in a high speed accident, a helmet saved my life.

The article also states that walking is no more dangerous than riding a bike, though physics disagrees.


>> That article is light on actual data, lots of lines like this:

> Many people also suggest that wearing a helmet makes cyclists themselves less cautious in their riding, increasing the chance of an accident.

That very sentence linked to http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/7/2/89.full , which indeed lacks data.

There's are points to be made (with some data) though, like: http://www.drianwalker.com/overtaking/overtakingprobrief.pdf

> Having been in a high speed accident, a helmet saved my life.

I'm glad you're alive. If you're in a serious accident a helmet is a very good thing to have. No one argues that. The point is that serious accidents are very rare. People seem a lot less likely to ride a bike if they need to wear a helmet—I wear a helmet 95% of the time and I do not understand why—and the health benefits from cycling far outweigh the risks. The article even says: "Helmet proponents are right about one thing: If you're in a serious accident, then wearing a helmet makes the odds of a head injury significantly lower — by somewhere between 15 and 40 percent."

> The article also states that walking is no more dangerous than riding a bike, though physics disagrees.

I believe that is because stats are by "per kilometre travelled" (at least the 2012 British study). People usually bike longer distances than they walk.

Another alternative is a https://hovding.se/. A lot of people in Stockholm wear one, but they are quite expensive.




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