Wear Your Helmet! Bike Shares Linked to Brain Trauma

By Hannah WeinBerger
Rating: ***

          Have you ever gone biking without a helmet? Had a close call with some oncoming traffic? There are lots of people who like to bike, and many of those people cannot be bothered to wear a helmet while pedalling down the street. Maybe they think that they're too cool, or maybe it was too bulky to bring with them and maybe that's about to change.

          This article highlights the pros and cons of bike share systems. These systems are beginning to pop up in major cities all around the world, there is even a bike share in Toronto. But researches are noticing an increase of 14% in brain injury risk in cities that have bike share programs. The researchers claim that because bike shares do not provide helmets, there is an increased risk--and injury rate--of brain trauma. In spite of this, bike shares also seem to be improving the overall health and wellness of the cities population. In Montreal, for example, commute times have decreased by 20% when they added a bike share system, men saw decreased heart disease and women became less depressed overall. Bike share users even had lower injury rates than the cyclists in general. Therefore there are advantages and disadvantages to having bike share systems in cities, but that is the case with most things.

          This article has made me rethink all of the times when I have forgotten, or purposely left behind my helmet while biking. It has made me wonder how close I've come to falling and potentially injuring myself during these situations and has reinforced my desire to always wear a helmet. I have been on rides when someone has come extremely close to getting hit, and if they hadn't been wearing a helmet it would have been disastrous. I learned that if bike share programs, which encourage more people biking and less helmets, can cause a 14 percent increase in the risk of brain trauma, it is worth while to protect your head, no matter how strange helmets may look. If a bike helmet is good enough for professional cyclists, then it's good enough for me.

Article:
Weinberger, Hannah. "Wear Your Helmet! Bike Shares Linked to Brain Trauma." Outside Online. N.p., 16 June 2014. Web. 16 June 2014. <http://www.outsideonline.com/news-from-the-field/Wear-Your-Helmet-Bike-Shares-Linked-to-Brain-Trauma.html>.