The Bike Helmet Paradox

The Atlantic reports:

On that note, imagine we had to wear helmets while jogging. We would be safer. The helmets would inevitably save some lives, even if only by deflecting an occasional errant meteorite. But if we started ticketing all un-helmeted joggers, or giving stern looks to people running without helmets, what would that do for public health on the whole?

The question is does compulsory helmets cause more health harm than it prevents?

Yes, there are studies that show that if you fall off a bicycle at a certain speed and hit your head, a helmet can reduce your risk of serious head injury. But such falls off bikes are rare — exceedingly so in mature urban cycling systems. On the other hand, many researchers say, if you force or pressure people to wear helmets, you discourage them from riding bicycles. That means more obesity, heart disease and diabetes. And — Catch-22 — a result is fewer ordinary cyclists on the road, which makes it harder to develop a safe bicycling network. The safest biking cities are places like Amsterdam and Copenhagen, where middle-aged commuters are mainstay riders and the fraction of adults in helmets is minuscule.

Bike share schemes would work far better if you can just grab a bike, even if you don’t have a helmet.

In an ideal world, everyone wears a helmet, and it doesn’t make them any less inclined to bike. It doesn’t mess up their hair before a date, and cost them their one shot at true love. They bike unaffected, to their sustainable local food markets to buy fresh fish, nuts, and wine; before biking home to their loving families. There are wide, accessible bike lanes on every road, and a gentle breeze is ceaselessly at everyone’s backs. 

But it’s not an ideal world, and we should take every chance to question practices and adapt to the ways people really work.

I don’t think helmets should be compulsory. They’re a good idea, but people should judge their own risk.