Elizabeth Rosenthal writes in the New York Times that strongly encouraging bicyclists to wear helmets creates the false impression that bicycling is dangerous. This is a statistically unsound fear that discourages people from riding. So advocates for bicycling should stop pressuring people to wear helmets:
On the other hand, many researchers say, if you force or pressure people to wear helmets, you discourage them from riding bicycles. That means more obesity, heart disease and diabetes. And — Catch-22 — a result is fewer ordinary cyclists on the road, which makes it harder to develop a safe bicycling network. The safest biking cities are places like Amsterdam and Copenhagen, where middle-aged commuters are mainstay riders and the fraction of adults in helmets is minuscule.
“Pushing helmets really kills cycling and bike-sharing in particular because it promotes a sense of danger that just isn’t justified — in fact, cycling has many health benefits,” says Piet de Jong, a professor in the department of applied finance and actuarial studies at Macquarie University in Sydney. He studied the issue with mathematical modeling, and concludes that the benefits may outweigh the risks by 20 to 1.
He adds: “Statistically, if we wear helmets for cycling, maybe we should wear helmets when we climb ladders or get into a bath, because there are lots more injuries during those activities.” The European Cyclists’ Federation says that bicyclists in its domain have the same risk of serious injury as pedestrians per mile traveled.
Also what's the deal with against traffic riders? They are just as terrible as the absent-minded motorist.
Won't somebody please think of the children?!?
Living in one of the rare English cities where thousands cycle through the center every day, I'd like it to be law so that lights and helmets were required and said law was enforced. One of my students got so badly clipped that they're now off for weeks at a time on pain management courses. I'm not saying a helmet would have stopped it, but every little helps. If it involves fatal mistakes, I feel laws should be made to protect people from themselves.