Ugh, drivel. Even people in high-reputation positions can, and do, spout nonsense. There are many risks when bicycling, including motorists treating bicyclists even worse on average when they wear helmets. But when when the head hits the road, a helmet substantially reduces the likelihood of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Just like crumple zones in cars substantially reduce auto-accident-related injuries.
Been there, done that, got a crushed helmet and concussion rather than a life-altering TBI or death.
However, Dr. Henry Marsh, a neurosurgeon at St. George's Hospital in London, believes many cycling helmets are simply "too flimsy."
As the Telegraph reports, Marsh was speaking at the Hay Literary Festival. There, he threw caution to an erudite wind by saying: "I ride a bike and I never wear a helmet. In the countries where bike helmets are compulsory there has been no reduction in bike injuries whatsoever."
So when you break his actual argument down, it comes down to:
- "many are too flimsy" (what about non-flimsy helmets)?
- "I never ride with a helmet" (so that settles it?)
- "In countries where ...", citing no studies, and ignoring studies with different results.
Not impressed. Meanwhile I'll go with Høye's meta-analysis, unless someone can point me to (substantial) counter-arguments or critiques:
doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2018.03.026. Epub 2018 Apr 17.
Bicycle helmets - To wear or not to wear? A meta-analyses of the effects of bicycle helmets on injuries
Alena Høye
Abstract
A meta-analysis has been conducted of the effects of bicycle helmets on serious head injury and other injuries among crash involved cyclists. 179 effect estimates from 55 studies from 1989-2017 are included in the meta-analysis. The use of bicycle helmets was found to reduce head injury by 48%, serious head injury by 60%, traumatic brain injury by 53%, face injury by 23%, and the total number of killed or seriously injured cyclists by 34%. Bicycle helmets were not found to have any statistically significant effect on cervical spine injury. There is no indication that the results from bicycle helmet studies are affected by a lack of control for confounding variables, time trend bias or publication bias. The results do not indicate that bicycle helmet effects are different between adult cyclists and children. Bicycle helmet effects may be somewhat larger when bicycle helmet wearing is mandatory than otherwise; however, helmet wearing rates were not found to be related to bicycle helmet effectiveness. It is also likely that bicycle helmets have larger effects among drunk cyclists than among sober cyclists, and larger effects in single bicycle crashes than in collisions with motor vehicles. In summary, the results suggest that wearing a helmet while cycling is highly recommendable, especially in situations with an increased risk of single bicycle crashes, such as on slippery or icy roads.*
I wonder if the real problem is that the forehead/front of the head is poorly protected and the thing that usually hits the ground, while moving forward. In my experience, trying to get a cheap helmet to not "slide up" is nearly impossible without it becoming very uncomfortable.
I dunno about that. I've been in a bicycle accident where I believe the helmet saved me - in more ways than just impact protection. I also scraped my left knee badly against the pavement. If I hadn't been wearing a helmet, I would have scraped up the left side of my face as well.
I’ve been the beneficiary of wearing a helmet - but ask professional hockey players why they don’t wear face masks or why concussions are less in rugby rather than football, and you start to see that there is a seed of a point.
I would have died if I weren't wearing a helmet a couple years back. The conjecture on the part of this brain surgeon about how people _would_ act is a flimsy supposition.
Been there, done that, got a crushed helmet and concussion rather than a life-altering TBI or death.