As someone who bikes to school rain or shine, I see a lot of people who ditch the helmet. I get it, they’re ugly and ruin your hair. That being said, at the beginning of my sophomore year I got my second concussion and later was hit by a car biking home from school. I understand the effects of TBIs (traumatic brain injuries) because I personally still am dealing with the impact.
Despite how ugly they are, helmets protect one of the most important body parts. In five years no one is going to think “Oh my god, remember how stupid Logan looked in their helmet,” but in that same amount of time, you can still be affected by head trauma. It doesn’t need to be bright, it just needs to be properly worn and replaced after an accident.
I am guilty of this too, I think they look ugly and take too long to put on, so I put my helmet on while biking through the parking lot. When I bought my current helmet it took over 30 minutes to find one up to my fashion standards, and every day I question whether or not a hairstyle will work with my helmet.
If I had to guess, about fifty percent of kids who bike to school at Westmont don’t wear a helmet, and if they do there’s a chance that it’s expired. After a while the protective materials can start to break down and be less effective. Safety regulations also change and your helmet might not be up to date. Wearing a helmet reduces the risk of a TBI by 53 percent. While such injuries are often not the injured’s fault, they are avoidable when people are educated about the topic. As we grow into our adult years the likelihood of wearing a helmet gets lower and lower, yet 88 percent of bicyclist-motor vehicle fatalities are adults. Recovering from such injuries is not easy; taking appropriate precautions is important to maintain health and well-being. Biking is a great form of exercise and is more sustainable than cars, but can be dangerous when the right safety measures aren’t taken. Just saying “I haven’t been hit yet,” and “It won’t happen to me,” are not enough. For the sake of your head, embrace the helmet.