Another major piece of work on bicycle injuries, published in the British Medical Journal.
Here are the conclusions.
“In our study comparing exposure-based injury rates in 11 Canadian jurisdictions, we found that females had lower hospitalisation rates than males. This difference in injury rates is consistent with other bicycling studies and studies of other transportation modes. We found that lower rates of traffic-related injuries were associated with higher cycling mode shares, a finding also reported elsewhere.
We did not find a relationship between injury rates and helmet legislation.
These results suggest that policymakers interested in reducing bicycling injuries would be wise to focus on factors related to higher cycling mode shares and female cycling preferences. Bicycling infrastructure physically separated from traffic or routed along quiet streets is a promising fit for both and is associated with a lower relative risk of injury.”
I was scolded the other evening by a MAMIL for not wearing a helmet.
I found it pretty sad that despite the fact I was riding a steel framed city bike, lit up like a christmas tree, at about 15 km/h on a designated bike route, my visible hair was so offensive to him that he felt the need to be a jerk to a stranger.
Here’s to hoping the province eventually gets around to looking at the evidence and getting rid of the helmet law for good.
+1 … they can be good (feel free to wear as desired) … but they are not necessary, and they should not be necessary.