Pubes
Or is it just hype spread by makers of bicycle helmets.
Answer
Short answer:
wearing a bicycle helmet in everyday riding/commuting will slightly reduce the risk of an injury on the top of your head while simultaneously increasing the risk of an injury to the front of your head (face/chin) and neck (spinal column). Injuries to the brain (rotational trauma) are likely to increase, too - but in the usual studies, brain injuries are only regarded after the head has been cracked open (or they prove to be fatal). The absolute numbers for these shifts are on the boundary of statistical evidence - cycling per se is pretty safe, so there are simply too few (evaluated) accidents with head injuries to gather sufficient data for a reliable analysis.
On about the same level of statistical relevance, wearing a cycling helmet in everyday riding also seems to increase the probability of suffering an accident, most probably through risk compensation, both from the cyclist and their environment.
Regarding survivability: taking both of the above effects into account, for commuting cyclists, the net effect is zero within statistical limits. For competitive cyclist, the question doesn't arise since race rules will usually prohibit you from participating if you don't wear a helmet.
Long answer: read the studies for yourself, e.g. starting at http://www.cyclehelmets.org/
Short answer:
wearing a bicycle helmet in everyday riding/commuting will slightly reduce the risk of an injury on the top of your head while simultaneously increasing the risk of an injury to the front of your head (face/chin) and neck (spinal column). Injuries to the brain (rotational trauma) are likely to increase, too - but in the usual studies, brain injuries are only regarded after the head has been cracked open (or they prove to be fatal). The absolute numbers for these shifts are on the boundary of statistical evidence - cycling per se is pretty safe, so there are simply too few (evaluated) accidents with head injuries to gather sufficient data for a reliable analysis.
On about the same level of statistical relevance, wearing a cycling helmet in everyday riding also seems to increase the probability of suffering an accident, most probably through risk compensation, both from the cyclist and their environment.
Regarding survivability: taking both of the above effects into account, for commuting cyclists, the net effect is zero within statistical limits. For competitive cyclist, the question doesn't arise since race rules will usually prohibit you from participating if you don't wear a helmet.
Long answer: read the studies for yourself, e.g. starting at http://www.cyclehelmets.org/
Why do we have to wear helmets when...?
Zoe Love
Why do we have to wear helmets on bicycles?
If you think about it, there are more risks driving in a car and we don't wear helmets in the car?
There were nearly 6,420,000 auto accidents in the United States in 2005. And 42,636 people killed.
And as for bicycles 350,000 children ages 14 and under were treated in hospital emergency rooms for bicycle-related injuries. And 250 children ages 14 and under died in bicycle-related crashes. Motor vehicles were involved in 230 of these deaths. Yet we wear helmets on bicycles not cars? Wearing a helmet in a car could've saved 1,000s of people as many die from brain related injuries. And why do we wear them on bicycles?
Answer
To protect your head\ brain, if your hit by a car on a bike your head could hit the ground with the same force as the car or be crushed under another car.
Cars have seatbelts & airbags to restrain your head from hitting anything hard, the car is also like a cage which stops your head from hitting the ground.
I think a helmet would restric your vision and increase the chances of an accident
I'm sure if wearing a helmet did drastically improve survival rate it would be compulsory
To protect your head\ brain, if your hit by a car on a bike your head could hit the ground with the same force as the car or be crushed under another car.
Cars have seatbelts & airbags to restrain your head from hitting anything hard, the car is also like a cage which stops your head from hitting the ground.
I think a helmet would restric your vision and increase the chances of an accident
I'm sure if wearing a helmet did drastically improve survival rate it would be compulsory
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