This is a great source for real data about the issues.
Cycle helmets: an international resource
If you study the science you will see that there is no consensus about the efficacy of helmets, and the data actually shows that brain injuries tend to increase the more people use helmets.
Please note that that does not mean helmets make things worse. It is plausible, however, that the false belief that helmets actually protect you make people less cautious.
Ok, the bolded part is just plain silly. It's like implying, because there's a strong correlation between injuries and wearing a parachute, that parachutes themselves are dangerous, and not the jumping out of airplanes. The people most likely to wear bike helmets are those doing the most dangerous stuff. Of course they're going to have more injuries. The question is whether they'd have more or less injuries with or without a helmet.
It is plain sill, even though I pointed out immediately that I was not saying what you are whinging about.
FYI, the statistics show that the more people wear helmets, the more likely it is they will get hurt. Head injuries actually increase with helmet use, even when cycling rates remain constant. Again, I am not blaming the helmets, just pointing out that the hype about them being effective is overblown.
This is about the hype and science, hence me posting it in science and technology. The consistent outrage and misunderstanding of the point demonstrates that being anti science is completely bipartisan, and even extends to otherwise intelligent people.
It actually ties in with something else I read today.
One of the most important things that I've learned in my time writing for Ars Technica is how little I know. Look at my back catalogue of stories and you will notice that most of my articles are combinations of quantum mechanics and optics. Every now and again I venture into the fraught territory of cosmology, materials sciences, and climatology. Even more rarely, I head off into the wild and write something about medicine or biology. I only ever write these articles if the papers on which they are based are written clearly; I want to be reasonably certain that I haven't mangled the research entirely. Yet, if you let yourself be flushed down the intertubes, you will find physicists and engineers like myself expounding on topics that are far outside their field of expertise. These people are often so badly wrong that it is hard to know where to begin in any argument to counter them.
Why my fellow physicists think they know everything (and why they're wrong)
Human nature makes people hold onto opinions even when new facts are presented. I have the same problem, and work hard to make sure it rarely controls me. You should consider the possibility that, just because you know helmets make you safer, it does not mean that they always work, or even work more often than not.
Long hair also prevents some head injuries, and has even saved people's lives. I wouldn't recommend people have long hair before they get on a bike, nor will I tell them that helmets will prevent any significant portion of brain injuries. The science does not back that statement up.
