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From: Frank Krygowski <frkrygow@sbcglobal.net>
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
Subject: Re: Helmet efficacy test
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2025 22:09:20 -0400
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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