Bicyclists Should Heed Helmet Advice

Bicyclists have been warned for years, yet most still don’t listen: Ride without a helmet and risk brain damage or death.

Many apparently figure a severe head injury won’t happen to them - and the odds are they’re right.

“Most of us have taken tumbles, and we have been very blessed in terms of not having had severe consequences,” said Dr. Gregory J. O’Shanick of Richmond, Va., national medical director for the Brain Injury Association.

Of 67 million bicyclists in the U.S., 2,500 riders die and 760 have brain injuries each year, he said.

The trouble with going with the odds-against logic is that, for the unlucky, the results are devastating.

“The brain is about the consistency of Jell-O,” O’Shanick said. “When your head comes into contact with the ground, what you see is microscopic tears in the actual substance.”

Although the brain has some ability to repair itself, crucial areas affecting such functions as memory, critical thinking and judgment may be damaged, O’Shanick said.

Research shows helmets reduce the chance of brain damage by 88 percent, but only 18 percent of riders wear a helmet at least most of the time, according to a report by the Brain Injury Association and Prudential HealthCare.

The report was issued as the association and the managed care company launched a campaign to encourage riders nationwide to bike with their heads, not on them.

Government also is getting involved. As of last spring, 15 states and many local governments had made helmets mandatory. But the law may not be enough. It probably will take a multifaceted approach to teach riders to cover their heads.