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E-bike riders aren’t wearing helmets — and head trauma cases are through the roof
(www.tomsguide.com)
this post was submitted on 04 Mar 2024
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So.... Number of ebike riders rose by 50x since 2017. Makes sense, but doesn't mean it's more dangerous or anything to do with helmets
Are you really calling source on the fact that:
Biking without a helmet is dangerous.
Biking at 30 mph without a helmet is more dangerous.
?
Wearing a helmet increases your risk of injury: https://road.cc/content/news/268605-wearing-cycle-helmet-may-increase-risk-injury-says-new-research
Paradoxically, wearing a helemt makes people feel safer doing more dangerous things, so it increases the actual risk. However, the existence of cars without sufficient infrastructure makes biking significantly more dangerous, reguarless of everything anything the bike rider is doing. So in countries with functional bike infrastructure, like the Netherlands, people don't wear helmets because it's safer not to. In dysfunctional countries, like the US, people have to wear helmets.
Faster biking without a helmet is obviously dangerous, I don't know if this is also related to cars. In the Netherlands, eBikes with acceleators are considered motorcycles and require helmets but eBikes that are just pedal assist are considered regular bikes and people generally use the assist to go farther not faster.
For example, drivers will give unhelmeted cyclists more room while passing, on average.