An interesting article on Spiegel Online about additional safety when wearing a helmet during riding.
The answers doesn't seem so clear cut after reading the article. Especially if you don't understand German but also otherwise. Interesting enough, there is a photo from Robbie McEwen with helmet in the article. And if I am not mistaken, he is wearing the Specialized helmet that failed US safety standard tests.
Personally I would like to add that it is hard to imagine to ride without helmet and I rarely do. I do however occasionally eat in front of convenience stores without wearing a helmet while listening to David Hasselhoff on my ipod.
The problem with the discussion and with the studies cited is that they ignore that not every bicycle and not every cyclist is the same.
ReplyDeleteWill Mamachari riders creeping ahead at 10km/h benefit from a helmet when they fall of the bike? Probably rarely. Will a road racer benefit when a car takes her right of way while she is riding at 50km/h? Quite likely yes.
I wouldn't wear a helmet if I was riding a Mamachari to commute to the next station or to shops. I will never ride my road racer without a helmet...
BTW, this is also the problem with forcing cyclists on bicycle lanes (like in Germany). Of course Mamachari riders should have to use cycling lanes. But for road race cyclists this can hardly be considered safer than riding on the road.