Do you wear your helmet?

Bicycle injuries in U.S. becoming more severe.

By Anthony J. Brown, MD
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Bicycle injuries in the US have become more severe and there has been a marked increase in chest and stomach injuries.
Moreover, despite greater public awareness, helmet use has not increased and head injury rates have not fallen.
"There is a paucity of studies looking specifically at bicycle injuries," lead researcher Dr. Jeffry Kashuk, from the University of Colorado, Denver, told Reuters Health. In the last several years, greater environmental awareness, economic downturns, an emphasis on fitness, and other factors have fueled greater bicycle use in the US.
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The Future of Bike Helmets?

Will this new helmet design change the attitude of bikers towards wearing helmets? It has become quite common to use a bicycle helmet when mountainbiking or road racing. There bikers prefers the functionality and safety and nobody looks puzzled any longer when somebody wears a helmets when mountainbiking or road racing.
That’s completely the opposite when people ride their City or Trekking bike. Here bike helmets have a bad image. The colours and shapes are ‘something you don’t want to be seen with’. Over the years countries that have implemented an obligation to wear a helmet when biking have shown a dramatic drop in the use of bicycles in the city and for commuting. More...

Bikers wear fruit shells to avoid helmet law.

KANO, Nigeria (Reuters) - Police in Nigeria have arrested scores of motorcycle taxi riders with dried fruit shells, paint pots or pieces of rubber tire tied to their heads with string to avoid a new law requiring them to wear helmets.
The regulations have caused chaos around Africa's most populous nation, with motorcyclists complaining helmets are too expensive and some passengers refusing to wear them fearing they will catch skin disease or be put under a black magic spell. More...