Yes, helmets are good. I wear one so that when I am thrown from the hood of a car, there is less of a chance of my head opening up when it hits the asphalt.

With that said, I think one of the concepts of this article is that enforcing helmet laws shifts the blame of people getting injured/killed by people operating motor vehicles onto the person on the bicycle. In reality, even with a helmet, being hit by a motor vehicle at 50mph is likely fatal and there are too many examples of drivers killing people on bicycles and then just driving away.

Helmet laws "protect" people on bicycles. Sinces there's a system to protect them, (helmets) the discussion of safety can end instead of continue on the dangers of road design and motor vehicles themselves. Essentially, the problem of people getting killed/injured on bicycles is a problem with motor vehicles, not helmets.

Yep. After I had a pretty bad fall without a helmet I will now on always wear a helmet no matter how short the trip.

@RaoulDook @salarua Worth mentioning per distance walked you are most likely to die walking than cycling but if someone tried to introduce a law requiring pedestrians to wear a helmet they would be ridiculed. I assume there is an air quote because helmet laws do not protect cyclists, they actively make things more dangerous

https://www.cyclinguk.org/briefing/cycle-helmets

You're missing the point of the article and the discussion.

Wearing a helmet only adds a hurdle to something where the very core concepts of which is supposed to be the accessibility and freedom it offers.

For the statistical likelihood of a helmet saving someone's life or from serious injury, is it really worth the spotlight that is constantly placed on them?

Ironically, all they seem to be used for is as a weapon for battering the idea of making cycling easier for the masses around the head.

The amount of comments I've seen from absolute meat heads who can't bear the idea of not driving their cars literally everywhere justifying their behaviour towards a bike rider or that one is somehow responsible for an incident that wasn't their fault because they didn't wear a helmet is fucking barmy.

Cycling is a method of transport no different to any other. You don't have to cart around bulky, awkward and fairly fragile items with you when you get to your destination in your car, on the bus or via train. Why mandate it for the cleanest form of transport beside walking?

Bluntly put, you can fall over, hit your head and die without a bike at all. Should you have to wear a helmet all the time in your day to day? Silly notion and simply an appeal to emotion/but sometimes fallacy.

Edit: to those downvoting, please explain how you feel my comment hasn't added to the discussion, since that's what it's for. It isn't a 'disagree' button.

i lock mine with my bike, since bike theft is rampant here.

@lntl @largess

Oh yeah. I refer you to the satirical NYT Pitchbot:

‪@dougjballoon‬

Like shooting ducks in a barrel but spot on.

You should also wear a fireproof coverall, who know