Quote Originally Posted by Crankin View Post
Not only do I see differences in people's thoughts about this by country/continent, but also by region in the US.
Again, I still don't get why this should be an issue. But then, I don't think people should have a choice about wearing a seatbelt. And I admit, I do say things to others about some of this stuff... one time, when both of my kids were in car seats, I was driving home from work, with the 2 empty car seats in the back. A very young couple pulled up next to me, with a small infant in the arms of the woman. I said something to them, like "get a car seat," and the guy got all crazy and followed me for quite awhile.
Another thing is, why do people think it's OK to insist that children wear helmets, but not for adults? Like our heads won't suffer when we hit them? You wouldn't be upset if your spouse had a TBI, but you would if it was your kid?
It seems like my opinion is in the minority on this thread, and I'm OK with it, but I do get upset with issues of safety, health, etc.

I don't think anyone doubts that if you get into an accident where you happen to fall on your head, a helmet will help.
From my understanding the question is more if statistics that say that you are more likely to get a head-injury while walking or driving a car are correct. If they are correct the question would be - are you never leaving your house walking without a helmet? Because then, you are actually risking more than when doing so while biking.
Because on any activity where you fall on your head (like standing still in the garden for my anecdotic example earlier in the thread) a helmet will help. But no-one would wear a helmet ALL the time because of that (and I hope not any time soon).
It's not the same like not using a seat-belt.

Still, I do use a helmet some of the time. This thread even got me intrigued and I am searching for a helmet for the city. But thats just me. It doesn't mean that it makes sense from a statistical point of view.
What we believe to be unsafe and what is unsafe isn't always the same. I always get upset when parents have their children in a seat on the rear rack (picturing what will happen if the bike falls over) - but most people seem to be ok with this risk. One mother even told me this "feels" safer than putting her daughter in a trailer.

Maybe it's also a question of environment. Areas where there is a lot of cycling are maybe just bike-friendlier than other areas or countries. Probably it really IS less dangerous to cycle in cities like Amsterdam for example, where you can see a lot of "unsafe" practices from cyclists.