After New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani posted a social media video showing him listening to concerned citizens and deciding to wear a bicycle helmet, social media exploded. Some people praised the mayor for modeling good behavior while others wished he had kept the focus on larger safety solutions, like protected bike lanes. Needless to say, the conversation was not all that nuanced. So what’s the truth about bicycle helmets? What are they designed to do in the event of a crash and what kind of crash are they designed to help you survive? Who sets the standards that ensure that bike helmets meet a minimum level of safety? What does science say about mandatory helmet laws? And, to ask a much larger and more philosophical question, what is it about the mere mention of bicycle helmets that causes the conversation about bike safety to go off the rails, even among people who are normally rather informed about other issues related to public health? What are we talking about—or not talking about—when we’re talking about helmets?
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SHOW NOTES:
Watch Mayor Mamdani’s helmet video.
Streetsblog: “A Helmet Won’t Save Mayor Mamdani from a Crash.”
New York Times: “Mayor Mamdani Wears a Bike Helmet. Finally.”
Popular Mechanics: “How a Bike Helmet Protects Your Head.”
Injury Prevention: Systematic reviews of bicycle helmet research
Safety Science: “Cycling fatalities: When a helmet is useless and when it might save your life.”
Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute: “Bicycle Helmet Standards Summary.”
Cycling Industry News: “Are helmet standards overdue a revision?”
Consumer Reports: “When You Really Need to Replace Your Bike Helmet.”
Journal of Safety Research: “The unintended impact of helmet use on bicyclists’ risk-taking behaviors.”
Injury Prevention: “A systematic review of correct bicycle helmet use: how varying definitions and study quality influence the results.”
Canadian Journal of Public Health: “Factors associated with bicycle helmet use and proper fit: a cross-sectional survey of Montreal cyclists during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Dr. Ian Walker: Bicycle overtaking studies
British Medical Journal: “No clear evidence from countries that have enforced the wearing of helmets”
Urban Cycling Institute: “How Do Helmet Laws Impact Cycling Ridership?”
The Conversation: “Have helmet laws put the skids on Australia’s bike share scheme?”
Cascade PBS: “Nearly half of Seattle’s helmet citations go to homeless people”
Seattle Times: “Racial disparities prompt calls to repeal King County’s bicycle helmet law.”
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