[SystemSafety] Bicycle Helmets

[Peter Bishop]

 From the the quote below, we see that
6 in 117 fatal accidents were cyclists with helmets

If only 1 in 7 cyclists wear a helmet, and we assume helmets have no 
effect, we would expect 117/7 ~ 17 helmet-wearing cyclists in 117 fatal 
accidents.

At first sight the observation there are only 6 fatal accidents with 
helmets indicates a halving of the risk of death to the cyclist, but 
with the small numbers involved I am not sure it is statistically 
significant (even before we worry about behavioural differences between 
the two cyclist populations).

Peter Bishop

[begin translated quote]

Only every seventh cyclist in Germany wears a helmet, but Science has 
determined it yet again:
bicycle helmets reduce the risk of deadly head injuries. Tasked by the 
(Association for) Accident
Research for Insurers (UDV), the Institute for Forensic Medicine 
(Instutit für Rechtsmedizin) in
Munich analysed 543 bicycle accidents. Amongst 117 fatally injured 
cyclists, only 6 wore a helmet.
More than half the victims died from craniocerebral trauma. UDV Head 
Sigfried Brockmann said "most
of the cyclists had lived had they been using a helmet".

[end translated quote]

-- 

Peter Bishop
Chief Scientist
Adelard LLP
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