Re: Helmet efficacy test

On 3/25/2025 11:11 AM, Zen Cycle wrote:

 

On 3/25/2025 4:19 AM, floriduh dumbass wrote:

On Mon, 24 Mar 2025 21:20:38 -0400, Frank Krygowski
<frkrygow@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>

Bicycling has never been a major source of serious traumatic brain
injury (TBI). On a nationwide basis, bicycling's contribution to TBI
counts is low enough to be off most "causes" charts. Bicycling causes
fewer then 1% of U.S. TBI deaths, far fewer than pedestrian travel, and
far fewer on a "per mile" basis. And historic data over the years shows
quite clearly that bicycle helmets are not preventing either fatalities
or concussions.

>
Impossible to document that.

 Wrong, as usual.
 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7025438/
 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-35728-x
 https://www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/News-Releases/2021/New-CDC-Report-Finds- More-Adults-Are-Dying-from-Bicycle-Related-Accidents-CPSC-Says-it- Highlights-the-Importance-of-Helmets
 https://www.nsc.org/safety-first/bicycle-safety-statistics-may-surprise- you?srsltid=AfmBOoq4LC_IGLItTnDBXBm4Yu6K20nqSHjsZbqpkk-jQ2y4Y1J7hfbf
 https://biausa.org/public-affairs/media/keep-your-brain-safe-while-biking
 https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/150/3/ e2022058878/188764/Helmet-Use-in-Preventing-Head-Injuries-in? autologincheck=redirected
 These all contradict Frank, but that isn't the point of this message.

I'm willing to discuss any of those. A couple quick points: Several discuss "head injury" not "brain injury." Bike helmet promoters bank heavily on conflating the two in order to scare the public. The most notorious example I'm aware of was the notorious Thompson & Rivara 1989 paper that generated the false claim of "85% benefit." T&R actually counted abrasions of the ears as "head injuries" when computing benefit. Yes, technically, it's part of the head - but it's not what people have been led to think about.
Second quick point: That T&R study has been thoroughly discredited. One issue which should make it obviously invalid to anyone with scientific knowledge is that its levels of protection have _never_ been corroborated by subsequent studies.
There's much more I could say, but those are quick and easy points.
As to documentation of my points above: Yes, you can find enthusiastic propaganda making it sound like bicycling is a major source of brain injury. But if it doesn't give numbers for other sources, the claim has not been demonstrated. You'd have to compare with other activities - for example, descending stairs; or walking in a city; or riding in a car. Or heck, just look up the total numbers for brain injuries in America and compare with bicycling.
The easiest data to find, in my experience, is brain injury fatality data. What I've found is over 55,000 TBI fatalities per year in the U.S. In that time period there were about 500 bicycle TBI fatalities, so significantly less than 1% of the total.
Will we ever get helmets on the other 99%?
And have helmets reduced those deaths? Have they reduced bicycling concussions, the most common (albeit mild) brain injury? I've found no evidence. In the years that helmets suddenly went from rare to common, there was no corresponding drop in bike fatalities. Pedestrian fatalities actually dropped more during that time. And recorded bike concussions have actually risen.
--
- Frank Krygowski