Are helmets laws counterproductive?

[legalskier]

Here's an interesting take: the reduction in injuries doesn't reflect positively on helmets as much as it betrays a reduction in ridership, which in turn results in an overall reduction in life-years that would have been gained if those riders had continued to cycle (if I understand correctly). If that sounds confusing, here's the link to the article, which cites lots of stats:
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Wearing+bike+helmet+might+make+safer/3239860/story.html

For example,
....a surge in bicycle helmets from 1991 to 2001 -- to the extent that 69 per cent of child cyclists and 43 per cent of adult cyclists wore helmets by the end of the period -- was accompanied by a decline in ridership and an increase in cyclist accidents, resulting in 51 per cent more head injuries per cyclist....Clarke cites research showing that life-years gained by cycling outweigh years lost to accidents by a factor of 20 to 1. If five per cent of cyclists stopped cycling because of helmet laws, he said, any benefit from helmets would be lost.

 

[riverc0il]

Uh. Had a response typed out and lost it. Gah. I am 100% against helmet laws but this article is full of flaws and holes. Journalists should leave research to researchers rather than piecemeal together a bunch of studies (and some "claims" not even based on studies) for an argument.

Even if the data is correct that 5% of riders stopped biking specifically because of the helmet law, that is a one time event that eventually becomes the accepted standard so in the long term it is a non-issue AND this also assumes that 5% do not do other activities that are equally health conscious such as running or whatever.

 

[smitty77]

One could also make the correlation to the decrease in cyclists to the surge in popularity of the internet during the years in question - which is less of a stretch than comparing it to the adoption of helmet laws. Funny this was brought up now - I was just thinking about our local helmet laws the other day when I saw a kid riding his bike up the street with a "skater style" helmet perched on the back of his head with the chin strap unbuckled. He's not breaking the law, but he's not protecting himself either.

I've worn one most of the time as a kid and ALWAYS as an adult (by which time helmets were much lighter and flow more air over the scalp) but I think it should also be a personal choice for anyone over 16.