Occasional or regular non-bike helmet cyclist?

[shootingstar]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/...rticle1984075/

Today's national newspaper in Canada interviewed a physician Charles Tator at a large acute care hospital in Toronto. Tator headed up for many years I think the critical care emergency unit. His speciality for last few decades is traumatic injuries, specifically spinal cord and head injuries.

Those who posed questions to him, were cyclists and non-cyclists across a broad spectrum of opinions on helmet use.

I worked at a hospital for spinal cord injured adults that was down the street from this acute care hospital. Our hospital received the permanently paralyzed patients after they underwent the critical/emergency care for rehabilitation at our hospital. At the time, I was there, we did have some patients that got press coverage because of their life-altering disability. We had some patients who became paraplegics or quadriplegics due to gun shot wound (spinal cord), football, hockey, falling from a ladder, roof, etc. One of the patients was Canada's Commonwealth Games silver medallist cyclist, Jocelyn Lovell. He was hit by a dump truck while on bike. Obviously his injuries were not on the head...but elsewhere which left him wheelchair bound for life.

Perhaps this is why even though I am not even a health care professional (I worked in the medical library there), I was left with a powerful impression where I valued my personal mobility (and life) even more. That plus being hit by a car as pedestrian when I was a teen.

Like some here, I consider a helmet a form of insurance and weighing personal risk to me is easy. There also have been sufficient personal anecdotes from TE members here who have been injured or who have direct health care/patient care work with patients with head injuries.

I'm not sure why people insist on only wearing a helmet, ---if there is a huge glut of head injury statitstics for cyclists that never wore helmets.

But then, it is your life and your risk assessment.