- HELMET WARS
- [Better
get your waders on. Make that a rubber suit.]
-
-
- THE
BRITISH HELMET CURMUDGEONS: CYCLEHELMETS.ORG The threat of mandatory
helmet laws for adults in England has spawned the helmet skeptics.
An impressive list of articles presented and/or skewered.
-
- "BICYCLE HELMETS:
IT'S TIME TO USE THEM" Link to editorial by well-known
pro-helmet researchers Thompson, Rivara and Thompson, 2000.
-
- A CASE-CONTROL STUDY
OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF BICYCLE HELMETS Abstract of the widely-cited
1989 article by Thompson, Rivara and Thompson from the New
England Journal of Medicine. Even if it's good data (which
is highly debatable) does data concerning child bicyclists transfer
to adults?
-
- EFFECTIVENESS OF BICYCLE
SAFETY HELMETS IN PREVENTING HEAD INJURIES Thompson, Rivara and
Thompson, JAMA, 1996 (Abstract on JAMA site).
-
- THE EFFICACY OF BICYCLE
HELMETS AGAINST BRAIN INJURY Curnow, Accident
Analysis and Prevention, 2003. (Short abstract on sciencedirect.com.)
-
- TRENDS IN SERIOUS HEAD
INJURIES AMONG CYCLISTS IN ENGLAND Interesting data from
the 1990s showing decreasing head injury rate among wrecked riders
could easily be explained by other factors besides helmets.
-
- A DECREASE IN BICYCLE-RELATED
HEAD INJURIES IN HELMET WEARING AGES IN SWEDEN (Abstract) Authors of 2007 article
would like to ascribe a decrease in head injuries among Swedish
children to increased helmet use; the fact that head injuries
increased among adults during the same period won't stop them
from doing just that. See this 2005
article which showed helmet use among all Swedes was increasing.
-
- HELMET
LAWS AND CYCLE USE (pdf) Article from Injury Prevention,
2003, by D.L. Robinson, Macpherson, Parkin and To.
-
- EFFECTIVENESS
OF HELMET LEGISLATION TO INCREASE HELMET USE: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW
(pdf)
2006 article from Injury Prevention by Karkhaneh, et al.
-
- CYCLE HELMETS: THE CASE
FOR AND AGAINST
Abstract of Meyer Hillman's 1993 article.
-
- EPIDEMIOLOGY OF BICYCLE
INJURY, HEAD INJURY, AND HELMET USE AMONG CHILDREN IN BRITISH
COLUMBIA
By Linn, Smith and Sheps. Abstract and full text on the Injury
Prevention journal site. More kid data.
-
- NO CLEAR EVIDENCE FROM
COUNTRIES WITH MANDATORY HELMET LAWS 2006 article by D.L.
Robinson on BMJ site. See also Riley Geary's letter
to BMJ.
-
- CHANGES IN HEAD INJURY
WITH THE NEW ZEALAND BICYCLE HELMET LAW Abstract of article
by D.L. Robinson, 2000 (on sciencedirect.com).
-
- NEW
ZEALAND BICYCLE HELMET LAW: DO THE COSTS OUTWEIGH THE BENEFITS
(pdf)
2002 article by Scuffham and Taylor, Injury Prevention.
-
- TRENDS IN CYCLE INJURY
IN NEW ZEALAND UNDER VOLUNTARY HELMET USE Scuffham and Langley,
Accident Analysis and Prevention, 1997.
-
- THE WALKER HELMET/PASSING
DISTANCE STUDY
Abstract of the most talked-about cycling-related research in
decades. 2007.
-
- ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT
BICYCLE HELMETS FOR THE POTENTIAL TO CAUSE ROTATIONAL INJURY Abstract
of 2007 article by Chinn and St. Clair.
-
- OBLIQUE IMPACT TESTING
OF BICYCLE HELMETS Abstract of 2007 article by Mills
and Gilchrist in the International Journal of Impact Engineering.
-
- RISKY
BUSINESS: SAFETY REGULATIONS, RISK COMPENSATION AND INDIVIDUAL
BEHAVIOR (pdf)
2000 article by James Hedlund, Injury Prevention.
-
- THE RISK COMPENSATION
THEORY AND BICYCLE HELMETS Link to 2001 article by Adams
and Hillman.
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NOTE: A page like this should
come with its own desalinization plant considering all the grains
of salt that need to be taken with the inconclusive and generally
stinky statistics presented here. Suffice to say that anyone
heard to be drawing solid conclusions based on such surveys and
studies as these is likely to be terribly wrong as well as deserving
of a vigorous forehead slap. Be very careful with these and other
publications that attempt to quantify the danger of cycling,
of particular facilities, etc. Now get out there and twist twist
twist those results to suit your various agenda, and remember,
this is just a small fraction of the total amount of research
out there.
