What Do I Need?

HELMETS

There are many items that will make your riding experience safer and more enjoyable. The most important thing you should wear is a helmet. Some statistics from the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute:

  • The "typical" bicyclist killed on our roads is a sober male over 16 not wearing a helmet riding on a major road between intersections in an urban area on a summer evening when hit by a car.
  • About 540,000 bicyclists visit emergency rooms with injuries every year. Of those, about 67,000 have head injuries, and 27,000 have injuries serious enough to be hospitalized.
  • Non-helmeted riders are 14 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than helmeted riders.
  • Head injuries account for more than 60 percent of bicycle-related deaths, more than two-thirds of bicycle-related hospital admissions and about one-third of hospital emergency room visits for bicycling injuries.

Helmets are cheap and provide a great amount of personal protection in an accident or crash. A typical helmet can cost about $20. A helmet is the simplest thing thing you can provide to protect yourself:

  • Bicycle helmets have been shown to reduce the risk of head injury by as much as 85 percent and the risk of brain injury by as much as 88 percent. Bicycle helmets have also been shown to offer substantial protection to the forehead and midface. (sic)
  • It is estimated that 75 percent of bicycle-related fatalities among children could be prevented with a bicycle helmet.
  • Universal use of bicycle helmets by children ages 4 to 15 could prevent between 135 and 155 deaths, between 39,000 and 45,000 head injuries, and between 18,000 and 55,000 scalp and face injuries annually.
  • Child helmet ownership and use increases with the parent's income and education level, yet decreases with the child's age. Children are more likely to wear a bicycle helmet if riding with others (peers or adults) who are also wearing one. In a national survey of children ages 8 to 12, 53 percent reported that a parental rule for helmet use would persuade them to wear a helmet, and 49 percent would wear a helmet if a state or community law required it.

There are many different styles of helmets. You will want to pick the helmet that works best for you, but you should avoid skate style helmets as they do not provide enough protection for cyclists. A review of helmets can be found on the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute's web site.

Make sure the helmet you choose fits. A properly fitted helmet is one that sits comfortably flat on your head about 1/2" above your eyebrows. The chin strap should be attached with the 'Y' of the strap below your ears and no more or less than two fingers fitting between your chin and the strap. Once the helmet is on your head, you will want to rock it forward and it should not slide forward. Some helmets have an adjustment in the back to provide a more custom fit. If the helmet doesn't fit properly, do not wear it. The helmet is the wrong size and you should look at another style or size.

It is VERY important that the helmet is strapped while riding. In a fall, an unstrapped helmet will fly off your head before you hit the ground providing zero protection.