Better Safe Than Sorry

Of the 618 bicycle-related deaths that occurred in 2010, around 100 of them could have been prevented, had the rider been wearing a helmet. Other than death, consequences of not wearing a helmet include concussions and damage to the spinal cord A great deal of these injuries can easily be prevented if helmets were worn, and an even greater amount could be prevented if helmets were mandatory by law. Although helmets may seem thin and lightweight, they provide the structure and support needed to ensure the rider's safety, should they fall off the bike. They are able to protect our body's most vital organ- our brain. Thousands of injuries and fatalities could be prevented each year if a law was passed requiring bicyclists to wear helmets at all times, and I believe the United States government should do so.

On impact, a helmet acts as a shock absorber, reducing the rate at which the head is decelerated by dissolving the impact into the soft liner as it crushes. Wearing a helmet will not give you headache, neck pain, visual defects or hearing problems. The Transport Research Laboratory conducted a study over 100 police forensic reports. They discovered that cycling fatalities showed between 10 and 16 percent of fatalities would have been avoided had the victim been wearing an "appropriate cycle helmet", meaning a helmet in good condition. The report also found that, in cases of serious cyclist casualties treated in English hospitals, 10 percent had suffered "injuries of a type and to a part of the head that a cycle helmet may have mitigated or prevented". So even in a fall at high speeds, brain damage can be minimized. Ten percent is a huge number if one were to think about the number of lives lost and the number of families ruined because the rider neglected to take a few moments to strap on a thin piece of protection. Unless it was the wrong size, or not properly strapped on, helmets could not possibly make riding a bicycle less safe. As the saying goes, "Better be safe than sorry".

Let us consider this, suddenly hitting your head against a door or an open shelf will definitely hurt and there is a good chance that a crack may occur in the bone of the skull. This is at about 5 to 6 miles per hour which is normal walking speed. Now imagine falling from a bike and hitting your head on the road at a much faster speed, say 20 km, 30 km, and 40 km per hour? Do you honestly believe that your skull can withstand that much force? What about still higher speeds which people seem to use while riding a bike when they are in a hurry? The soft inside cushions the blow and the metal shell acts by spreading out the force of impact over the whole helmet rather than a single area of the skull. When you fall without a helmet, the force is concentrated at the point of impact of the skull with the ground thus greatly increasing the risk of a skull fracture and brain injury.

Many cyclists feel that the roads