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Good Reasons to Wear a Bike Helmet

By Henry J. Fishman, M.D.
ConsumerAffairs.com

September 14, 2006

Bike Safety • Bicycles Still a Major Source of Injury • Bike Helmet Laws Reduce Injuries, Study Shows • Cycling-Related Head Injuries Increasing • Good Reasons to Wear a Bike Helmet

Wearing a bicycle helmet could save your life. That's the conclusion of an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Doctors in Seattle studied nearly 1,000 people injured while riding bicycles. They found that the most severe head injuries occurred in young people, and that wearing a helmet makes a huge difference.

Helmets reduce the risk of head injury by 85 percent and of brain injury by 88 percent.

So, get yourself a helmet before you start bicycling. A good quality helmet weighs less than half a pound. It should have a hard outer shell, at least a half inch of tough foam padding.

You can pick up a good-quality helmet for $20 to $80. Bike helmets look a bit funny and may seem inconvenient. On the other hand, they could save your life. In a serious fall, helmets can prevent severe head injuries and are very important to your health.

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