Posted in: | Sep 15,2019
If you are an avid cyclist or an amateur, you should not even be considering bicycling without wearing a helmet. That goes for both adults and children. A new study shows that most cyclists who suffer head injuries in an accident were not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident.
New research published recently in the journal Brain Injury found that as many as four in five adults who suffered head injuries in accidents were not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident. Nine out of ten children who suffered head injuries in a bicycle accident were not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash.
The researchers focused on data involving more than 76,000 bicyclists across the country between 2002 and 2012. The study found that just about 12 percent of young bicyclists involved in accidents were wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. For male bicyclists, the rate of helmeted users who suffered injuries in accidents was 21 percent, while for female bicyclists, it was 28 percent.
The statistics show that wearing a helmet does not absolutely guarantee that you will not suffer a brain injury if involved in an accident, but the fact is that your risk of suffering a fatal brain injury shoots up when you are bicycling without strapping on a helmet.
It is also important to pay attention to the type of bicycle helmet you are wearing. Wear only one that is approved by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The helmet must meet the Consumer Product Safety Commission standards as set out in the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) Title 16, Part 1203. A helmet that is certified by the Consumer Product Safety Commission is not only believed to have passed the agency’s strict requirements for the quality, durability and safety of the helmet, but also comes with instructions on how the helmet should be worn. You could buy a non-certified, cheaper helmet, but you would be severely comprising your safety if you do so.
Remember, wearing a helmet is no guarantee against death or serious injury in a bicycle accident. Make motorists aware of your presence by wearing colorful clothing in the day and fluorescent clothing at night, and always obey all traffic rules.
The Indianapolis catastrophic accident lawyers at Montross Miller represent persons injured in bicycle accidents in the Indianapolis region and across Indiana.
