Study That Spurred Bike Helmet Fetish Was Repudiated By Its Own Authors

The authors of a study that helped foment the public and governmental obsession with bike helmets later issued research that undermined their initial findings.

The 1989 study, by Frederick P. Rivara, Diane C. Thompson, and Robert S. Thompson, found that helmet usage reduced head injury by 85 percent, and the risk of brain injury by 89 percent.

Network blog Wash Cycle reports that other researchers were not able to replicate the results -- a red flag. And a few years later the original researchers issued a report, recently reprinted, that basically repudiated their landmark study.

Their other conclusions (looking at just the abstract, because I don't have access to the full article) include:

• 51% of injured cyclists wore helmets at the time of crash.
• Only 22.3% of patients had head injuries and 34% had facial injuries.
• Risk of serious injury was increased by collision with a motor vehicle (duh), biking faster than >15 mph, young age (<6 years), and age >39 years.
• Risk of neck injury was increased in those struck by motor vehicles, hospitalized for any injury, and those who died.

Elsewhere on the Network today: In light of the unrest in Baltimore, City Notes compares the way black "riots" have been mythologized in the history of urban decline, compared to white violence toward blacks. Cyclelicious offers a different take on media reports about young Baltimore cyclists. And The City Fix reports Mexico City's notorious congestion is hindering economic growth.