A cost-benefit analysis of legislation for bicycle safety helmets in Israel.

Abstract

Legislation requiring bicyclists to wear helmets in Israel will, over a helmet's 5-year duration (assuming 85% compliancy, 83.2% helmet efficiency for morbidity, and 70% helmet efficiency for mortality), save approximately 57 lives and result in approximately 2544 fewer hospitalizations; 13,355 and 26,634 fewer emergency room and ambulatory visits, respectively; and 832 and 115 fewer short-term and long-term rehabilitation cases, respectively. Total benefits ($60.7 million) from reductions in health service use ($44.2 million), work absences ($7.5 million), and mortality ($8.9 million) would exceed program costs ($20.1 million), resulting in a benefit-cost ratio of 3.01:1.

Epidemiology of bicycle injury, head injury, and helmet use among children in British Columbia: a five year descriptive study

“…This higher risk of head injury for non-users of helmets is consistent with other reports from Canada, 1-10 the US, 16 England, 17 Australia, 18 New Zealand, 19 and Israel. 20 Helmet use increased consistently during the study period in British Columbia, similar to the general trend in Canada. 21 However, more than 70% of all injured bicycle users did not report wearing a helmet.…”

“…[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] One of the untoward results of bicycle use is head injuries. Recent legislation made the use of helmets mandatory for all bicyclists in British Columbia starting in September 1996.…”

State level estimates of the incidence and economic burden of head injuries stemming from non-universal use of bicycle helmets

“…33 34 We highlight these methodological issues because we believe that the debate in injury, and disease prevention, needs to shift from total burden to preventable burden. Using this model we hope to generate state level estimates of the numbers of preventable hospitalized and non-hospitalized cases and deaths for other types of injuries, along with the associated direct and indirect…”

Helmets Matter: Kentucky Motorcycle Crash Victims Seen at a Tennessee Trauma Center

“…Ginsberg and Silverberg (1994) analyzed a prospective helmet law in Israel, finding a 3:1 benefit-to-cost ratio. Puder, Visintainer, Spitzer, and Casal (1999) found a helmet law for all ages produced higher helmet wearing than laws for children only; consistently, teens were least likely to wear helmets.…”