Are Bike Helmets Required?
Depending on what state you live in that answer can vary. If you live in New Jersey you are only required by law to wear a helmet if you are 17 years old or younger. A better question you might ask is “should I wear a bike helmet?” It may or may not surprise you to know that there is a lot of debate about that very question and naturally, I have some opinions about that. The debates about helmets revolve around some key questions such as “do helmets really increase the safety of cyclists?” Or “Helmets don’t prevent crashes so what’s the point?”
The bike industry obviously wants you to wear a bike helmet because it’s a good source of revenue. Emergency room doctors and nurses want you to wear a helmet because they have firsthand experience in seeing the results of severe head trauma. I think the decision to wear a bike helmet or not comes to down to some basic questions such as “What’s the likelihood that I will have a fall that causes a hard impact to my head?” If you are cruising along at low speed on a boardwalk cruiser, your probability of a head trauma causing crash are low compared to a downhill mountain bike racer going down steep rocky inclines at high speed.
Let’s agree on one thing though, hitting your head really hard is not good for your head. That’s why helmets are a good idea for football, and hockey, and car racing, and downhill skiing, and, in many situations, cycling. Statistically speaking, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, bicycle helmets prevent serious brain injury in 88% of serious crashes. Also, cyclists who sustained a head injury while riding without a helmet are three times more likely to die than folks wearing a helmet. You can see the full report here https://www.ntsb.gov/news/events/Documents/2019-DCA18SS002-BMG-4-MitigatingHeadInjury.pdf
But the bottom line is that bike helmets that are sized and fitted properly work! So, again, the question comes down to how likely you are to be involved in a serious crash.
On a personal note, I have had occasion to break 4 bike helmets over the course of my time as a cyclist.
The type of riding that I do has me regularly traveling at high speeds (more than 35 miles per hour) and in situations that have increased potential of interaction with cars (on the road) and rocks (on trails).
The decision for me is pretty easy-I wear a bike helmet when I ride. I will likely continue to wear one until there is separated bicycle infrastructure that greatly reduces the probability of a serious crash.
Keep in mind one thing you may have missed earlier-your helmet has to be the correct size and adjusted properly to work as advertised. I can’t tell you how many times I see people cursing along with the straps hanging down low and the helmet sitting way back on their head looking as though it may blow right off any second. Wearing your helmet improperly could be worse than not wearing it at all!
An easy check to see if your helmet is set up properly is to grab it at the top and try to roll it forward or back off your head. If it rolls off, you need to adjust the clips and tighten the strap. The other test is what I call the “big mouth” test. With the helmet buckled on your head, open your mouth wide. You should feel the helmet pull down onto your head. If you can’t feel that the helmet is too loose!
One question we often get is “are expensive helmets better protection that cheaper helmets?”. Not necessarily but generally, the more expensive the helmet is the better the fit options will be as well as having safety features such as “MIPS” or other technology designed to reduce the incidence of concussions in the event of a crash. Also, higher price helmets will likely have better ventilation and be lighter weight. Those features may not make you safer but certainly you will be more comfortable.
So, should you wear a bike helmet? Only you can make that choice. For me personally it’s cheap insurance that has proven it’s value. If you want help choosing the right helmet for your riding, stop by the shop and we’ll point you in the right direction!