to wear or not to wear...

a helmet, that is.

For many cyclists, that is the question. Since I began bicycle commuting about three years ago, a few of my students and co-workers have been inspired to do the same, leading to some discussion about helmets. No, I answer, wearing a helmet is not required by law. Yes, I wear a helmet. No, I do not necessarily believe that wearing a helmet will protect riders from injury. Yes, I do prefer riding helmetless. No, I did not wear a helmet as a child, or a teen, or a twenty, thirty or forty-something. In fact, until three years ago I almost never wore a bicycle helmet. I deemed it unnecessary, unattractive and a nuisance.

What changed? Not my hairstyle -- I still have long hair. Not my experience -- I have never fallen and hit my head while cycling. (My knee, yes. My gluteus maximus, yes. My tailbone, yes. But I haven't yet started wearing kneepads or tailbone pads.) But what has changed is my attitude. Prior to becoming a bicycle commuter, I was a recreational cyclist. I rode to the store, to friend's homes, to the library, on the trails around town. But I generally rode during low-traffic times, in fair weather only, at low speeds and for short distances. In short, although I complied with traffic rules and rode my bike on the street, I did not think of myself as a particularly serious cyclist.

When I began commuting to work, that changed. Suddenly I was riding my bike during rush hour, on busy city streets, in all weather. I was interacting with motorists in a new way, not exactly competing, but definitely being tested and on exhibit. Drivers' perception of me became exponentially more significant than it had ever been before. And I started wearing a helmet.

Arguments against mandatory bicycle helmets usually have two main points: 1) helmets are not effective in preventing injuries and deaths; 2) helmet-wearing cyclists take more risks and are less careful than those who do not wear helmets. In both of these statements there is, no doubt, more than a kernel of truth. 

It doesn't take scientific studies to convince me that if a cyclist going 25 km/hour is struck by a car driving two to four times faster, only a miracle will prevent serious injury or even death. Helmets are not even consistently effective in preventing concussion. A recent article on the CBC website states that "A 1996 study found that more than half of U.S. riders who sustained concussions were wearing a helmet." Apparently since bicycle helmet safety standards were established in 1999, much new information has emerged about concussion causes and prevention, but helmet design and requirements have not kept pace. So the helmet I wear every day while riding to and from work may or may not protect me if I fall and hit my head. Great. But, I tell myself, there are no good statistics on how many concussions were prevented by wearing a helmet. After all, when Hubby fell off his bike and hit his helmeted head, he did not rush to Stats Can to report his near miss. No one, other than a few friends and family members, is privy to this bit of information. And absolutely no one knows what would have happened had his head been bare. I'm sure his is not the only such story.

As for the second argument -- perhaps this is true. But for every helmet-wearing cyclist who considers himself invincible because of that piece of glossy-plastic-coated molded styrofoam on his head, there must be two or three like me, who wittingly or unwittingly follow the advice of Robert Hurst, author of The Art of Urban Cycling, and "wear helmets but ride as if they don't." After all, it is my inherently cautious nature that compels me to wear a helmet, and that nature doesn't change the moment I cover my head.

So, why do I wear a helmet and recommend that others do, too?

The possibility of protection from a head injury carries some weight, to be sure. But my real reasons are a little more subjective.

First, I want to be perceived as a serious cyclist, someone who takes my own and others' safety seriously. Wearing a helmet is one way I attempt to communicate this to those around me. 

The bottom line for me, however, is something I have never seen directly addressed. Recently there have been a few cycling accidents in Edmonton. In news articles about such accidents, a subtly condemnatory line can frequently be found: "The man/boy was not wearing a helmet." Never mind whether the outcome would have been different had a helmet been worn. Who really knows, anyway? But for some reason, this piece of information is included. And this clinches it for me. If my entry into "that good night" is precipitated by a cycling accident, I do not want my epitaph to be, "The cyclist was not wearing a helmet."