Cars at intersections and cars pulling out of driveways are far more likely to cause a crash than a passing vehicle being too close.

When a car passes you on a bike, the driver has almost always seen you, and thus is trying not to hit you. The real danger is from drivers who don’t see you – that happens at intersections and driveways.

You’re right though, that “own the road” is the best advice for making passing cars give you room.

I’m skeptical of the study that claimed that passing cars give less room to helmeted cyclists. For obvious reasons, it’s wasn’t a double-blind study, and the rider in the study was the researcher himself. There’s was way too much room for the researcher to influence the data.

Top safety rules for cyclists:

(1) Bike with the traffic, not against it.
(2) Stay off the sidewalks.
(3) Be visible.
(4) Wear a helmet.

Therefore, all people in a moving car should be encourage (or hell, required) to wear a helmet.

Does it still make sense to you?

I may look like a dork riding across L.A. with my big ass crash helmet, side mirror and lights, but for my exoskeleton it’s the only way to ride.

“There are many other studies. The largest, covering eight million cyclist injuries over 15 years, showed no effect on serious injuries and a small but significant increase in risk of fatality.[42] Although the head injury rate in the US rose in this study by 40 % as helmet use rose from 18 % to 50 %,[42] this is a time-trend analysis with the potential weaknesses mentioned above; the correlation may not be causal. Association with increased risk has been reported in other studies.[43] Different analyses of the same data can produce different results. For example, Scuffham analysed data on the increase of voluntary wearing in New Zealand to 1995; he concluded that, after taking into account long-term trends, helmets had no measurable effect.[44] His subsequent re-analysis without accounting for the long-term trends suggested a small benefit.[45] Scuffham’s later cost-benefit analysis of the New Zealand helmet law showed that the cost of helmets outweighed the savings in injuries, even taking the most optimistic estimate of injuries prevented.[46]”

In other words, anyone who claims that there is a simple answer is wrong – make your own mind up.

[He] has been riding a bike in New York City for more than 25 years, long before it was fashionable or we had bike lanes and cycletracks.

There were no bike lanes in NYC 25 years ago? I started biking in NYC before then and I could have sworn there were bike lanes even in those days. Not many as now, of course, but there were some.

For those people who are looking for an argument not to wear a helmet you will find support in the number of deaths. The benefit of the helmet is that it reduces the severity of an injury and is therefore very practical when you realise that you can suffer brain injury from a simple fall. Humans walk naturally, riding a bicycle is a learnt complex skill.

I can’t believe how much I prefer riding without a helmet. Maybe it’s because I didn’t have a helmet at all until I was 25. But I’m pretty sure my two little kids are better off that I reduce my odds of brain injury on my daily commute with that ugly yellow thing. Maybe it’s time for a sexier helmet.

Two accidents myself as a cyclist which invovled alot of air time apiece and resulted in head first landings’Air Corps private Phill reporting for duty Sir’

Bottom line is I’d be dead and im not and fixie girls think they look hotter w/out helmets…Do what you want but dont scream too much to the Paremedics if you dont do anything to look after yourself.

18 mile a day in Central London and I love it.

Why take the risk

I have no beef with people wearing them if they choose but don’t look down your noses at those of us who choose to make an informed decision not to bother with them.

The Wikipedia article has quite a good summary of the pros and cons: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_helmet

All we need is the self righteous indignation and he’s the perfect cyclist.

No. When I ascend to the throne, they’ll be no bikes, nor hansom cabs.

The idea is that the helmet makes you more likely to be hit, though if you are hit a helmet makes you safer.

The confusion comes from the fact that many studies assume that the accident will happen regardless of whether or not the helmet is being worn.

This one: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17728326 was link to above, and seems to just look at head injuries, and assumes that changing trends are due to helmet use. It does seem to me that one can say helmets are safer for children, and for adults, I think it can be read two ways.

But then of course there is risk. What we need is a nice info graphic showing the risk of cycling with/without a helmet compared to crossing the street, or smoking a cigarette or drinking until you can’t see anymore…

There is a reason that the CTC (the largest cycling organization in the world that I’m aware of), does not endorse mandatory helmet laws or helmets in general really.

i.e. That is, the discouragement to cycling that helmets indubitably provide far outweigh any putative safety benefits. The discouragement is important since there is documented evidence that fewer cyclists being on the road *does* decrease cycling safety. Contrariwise there is no decent proof that cycle helmets improve safety individually or collectively.

Safety in Numbers

(1) How big is the risk of an accident in the first place?

(2) Does a rather flimsy helmet really reduce the damage in such an accident in a measureable way.

Before even thinking about (2), (1) should be explored and answered.

As fas as I know the risk of riding a bike and having an accident is abut as risky as taking a shower and falling, taking the stairs and falling, and the like. I won’t even go in washing your windows, the number one reason of domestic falls.

If someone claims that his or her decision on using a bicycle helmet is based on probability of injury, I expect him or her to wear a helmet during all these activities.

If a helmet breaks in an accident it didn’t do much. Snapping polystyrene doesn’t take much force, crushing it does.

I hope all the people arguing for compulsory use of bicycle helmets wear helmets while driving or walking (both higher-risk activities), wear steel-capped boots, don’t take baths, live in single-storey homes, etc etc.