Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Now you can die while staying "comfortable and stylish"!

When you ask average Americans if they feel safe riding bicycles in our cities, they would likely say no. But unfortunately, if you ask them how to make it safer for cyclists, they will still tell you - make them use helmets!

 It's 2018. This topic has been beaten to death. More and more people already realize that helmets are not going to save us. Yet still, there is a large percentage of population who thinks that these styrofoam hats are THE solution.

 Take this newest offering from Park & Diamond - a collapsible helmet that looks like a hat:
According to the inventors, the biggest problem with bicycle helmets is that they are difficult to transport and ugly, which is why not many cyclists want to use them. Their offering is superior because it will keep you "safe, comfortable and stylish". Riiight...

 Somehow, I can't picture this (or any other) helmet keeping me safe in this situation:
No matter how stylish your helmet is, it's nearly useless when you're being flattened by a large SUV. Of course, if you want to wear pretty helmets I won't be stopping you. Get one! Just please don't fall for the usual BS in Park & Diamond's business pitch:
  • "wearing a helmet reduces the risk of traumatic brain injury by 87%"
  • "97% cycling fatalities occur when the rider is not wearing a helmet'
  • "more than 90% of bike commuters don't wear helmets"
The first two completely false claims have been already widely discussed. The last one is difficult to agree with for someone who rides to work everyday and sees fellow commuters on the way. By my take, overwhelming majority of them wear helmets and it is evidenced in data:
As you can tell, United States is a country with one of the highest helmet wearing rates in the world. If helmets were the miracle cure, cycling in USA should be much safer than anywhere else. Unfortunately, data shows exactly the opposite. We have the highest deaths/km cycled ratio.
Even worse, our death rates are so high despite fewer trips done by bicycle compared to other countries. Notably, only Australia scores even worse and that's a country where wearing helmets is mandatory! 
 
By now it should be pretty obvious that Australian model is useless - giving people helmets (or actually forcing to wear them) doesn't lower number of fatalities. Instead, we should be doing what they did in Denmark or Holland - build safe infrastructure.

 Unfortunately, this would be a very difficult proposition here in the United States. Most Americans can't picture anything else than driving everywhere, because they've never experienced anything else. And they are ready to defend this status quo - to the point when a very modest tax increase on gasoline could help properly maintain our roads (which, I think, is what every driver wants), it is met with fierce opposition:

But no. "Cars must stay" - we say, even though we suck at driving, especially around our own kids. If a bad crash happens, we blame it on others - pedestrians, sun glare or those damn cyclists who refuse to wear helmets (Isn't that right, Park & Diamond?). Some would really want to follow Australia's example and make styro-hats mandatory quoting that it's worth it, even "if it only saves one life". As MBTom pointed out - that just doesn't add up: 


I do not wear a helmet on my daily commute but you may want to. When you do - at least pick a "comfortable and stylish" one.
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