Why You Should Wear A Helmet When You Ride
Statistics from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
Fatality Facts: Bicycles - 2005
Two percent of motor vehicle-related deaths are bicyclists. The most serious injuries among a majority of those killed are to the head, highlighting the importance of wearing a bicycle helmet. Helmet use has been estimated to reduce head injury risk by 85 percent.1 Twenty states and the District of Columbia have helmet laws applying to young bicyclists; none of these laws applies to all riders. Local ordinances in a few states require some or all bicyclists to wear helmets. A nationwide phone survey estimated that state helmet use laws increase by 18 percent the probability that a rider will wear a helmet. Helmets are important for riders of all ages, especially because more than 80 percent of bicyclist deaths are persons 16 and older.
The following facts are based on analysis of data from the US Department of Transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).
782 bicyclists were killed in crashes with motor vehicles in 2005. This is down 22 percent since 1975 but 25 percent more than in 2003.
Eighty-six percent of bicyclists killed in 2005 reportedly weren’t wearing helmets.
BHSI Note: We don’t know where the numbers in the bullet point above and the chart below originated. The data to make that determination is not usually collected in the field.
Bicycle Deaths by Helmet Use
1994-2005
Year No Helmet Helmet Total*
Num
1994 776 (97%) 19 (2%) 796
1995 783 (95%) 34 (4%) 828
1996 731 (96%) 27 (4%) 761
1997 785 (97%) 23 (3%) 811
1998 741 (98%) 16 (2%) 757
1999 698 (93%) 42 (6%) 750
2000 622 (90%) 50 (7%) 689
2001 616 (84%) 60 (8%) 729
2002 589 (89%) 54 (8%) 663
2003 535 (85%) 58 (9%) 626
2004 602 (85%) 87 (12%) 722
2005 673 (85%) 76 (10%) 782
*Total includes other and/or unknowns
*Twenty-three percent of bicyclists killed in 2005 had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or above 0.08 percent.
*About 7 times as many bicyclist deaths in 2005 were males compared with females. At every age more male than female bicyclists were killed and the rates of bicyclist deaths per million people were higher for males than females. The highest rate of bicyclist deaths per million people occurred for 13-15-year-old males.
*Deaths among bicyclists younger than 16 have gone down dramatically since 1975 (79 percent), while deaths among bicyclists 16 and older have increased dramatically (96 percent).
*Bicyclist deaths in 2005 occurred most often in June and October and between the hours of 6pm and 9pm
*Deaths among bicyclists younger than 16 have gone down dramatically since 1975 (79 percent), while deaths among bicyclists 16 and older have increased dramatically (96 percent).
*More bicyclists were killed in urban areas than in rural areas in 2005 (66 percent compared with 30 percent).
*Thirty-four percent of bicyclist deaths in 2005 occurred at intersections.
*Fifty-nine percent of bicyclist deaths in 2005 occurred on major roads other than interstates and freeways, and 34 percent occurred on minor roads.
*Forty-six percent of bicyclist deaths among children (younger than 16) and 63 percent among people 16 and older in 2005 occurred on major roads. Child bicyclists were more likely than older bicyclists to have been killed on minor roads (53 percent compared with 29 percent).
Downloaded August, 2007. For tables, graphs and more detail see the IIHS site.
I always wear a helmet. I’ve crashed while riding a bicycle 4 times. During 3 of those crashes I hit my head. In the first crash, I fell 20 feet at 15mph and landed on my head and my wrist. I crushed my wrist (broke 3 bones), knocked a fist-sized chunk of styrofoam loose in the helmet, and was knocked unconscious for approximately 5 minutes (according to the guys I was riding with). I firmly believe that had I not been wearing a helmet, I’d either be dead, paralyzed, or severely disabled right now.
The other two crashes were different. In both of them, due to the terrain where I crashed, my helmet never contacted the ground, while my skull did.
So a helmet has only been effective in 25% of the crashes I’ve been in. I could also say that it’s only been effective in 33% of the crashes where my head hit the ground.
Based on my own experience, I question how effective a helmet actually is in a crash. Even though I question it, I will still always wear it, because I never know when I’ll crash, or how severe the crash will be.