Bicycle helmet use among persons 5 years and older in the United States, 2012

Abstract

Introduction In 2013, injuries to bicyclists accounted for 925 fatalities and 493,884 nonfatal, emergency department-treated injuries in the United States. Bicyclist deaths increased by 19% from 2010 to 2013. The greatest risk of death and disability to bicyclists is head injuries. The objective of this study was to provide estimates of prevalence and associated factors of bicycle riding and helmet use among children and adults in the United States. Method CDC analyzed self-reported data from the 2012 Summer ConsumerStyles survey. Adult respondents (18+ years) were asked about bicycle riding and helmet use in the last 30 days for themselves and their children (5 to 17 years). For bicycle riders, CDC estimated the prevalence of helmet use and conducted multivariable regression analyses to identify factors associated with helmet use. Results Among adults, 21% rode bicycles within the past 30 days and 29% always wore helmets. Respondents reported that, of the 61% of children who rode bicycles within the past 30 days, 42% always wore helmets. Children were more likely to always wear helmets (90%) when their adult respondents always wore helmets than when their adult respondents did not always wear helmets (38%). Children who lived in states with a child bicycle helmet law were more likely to always wear helmets (47%) than those in states without a law (39%). Conclusions Despite the fact that bicycle helmets are highly effective at reducing the risk for head injuries, including severe brain injuries and death, less than half of children and adults always wore bicycle helmets while riding. Practical application States and communities should consider interventions that improve the safety of riding such as policies to promote helmet use, modeling of helmet wearing by adults, and focusing on high risk groups, including Hispanic cyclists, occasional riders, adults, and children ages 10 to 14.

A Comparison of Manual versus Electric Bicycle Injuries Presenting to a Pediatric Emergency Department

“…A study of adult E-bikers in Switzerland described a higher rate of mild head injury even with a high rate (75%) of helmet use 13. Although helmet use was not consistently recorded in our study, it did seem to be significantly lower in the E-bike group (19% versus 48%, P =0.02), suggesting a dangerous pattern of behavior among E-bikers.…”

How do vulnerable road users look at road safety? International comparison based on ESRA data from 25 countries

“…Likewise, cyclists who support obligatory use of a helmet by all cyclists were more likely to wear a helmet themselves. Finally, mostly young cyclists (aged 18-34y) reported not wearing a helmet; this is in accordance with a recent study in the U.S.A. that found about 60% of the adult cyclists aged 18-29y never wore a helmet when cycling (Jewett, Beck, Taylor, & Baldwin, 2016). For moped/motorcyclists, drivers aged 35-54y were more likely to report wearing a helmet compared to younger drivers.…”

Voluntary Risk Taking by Young Bicyclists: A Case Study of University Students at Montreal

“…However, there is a substantial debate among the transportation research communities about the effectiveness of helmet law on helmet use. Similar other studies (Karkhaneh et al 2006;Macpherson, Spinks 2008;Macpherson et al 2006;Jewett et al 2016) studied that helmet law increased helmet use, particularly among young bicyclists. The highest increase in helmet use in Canada was observed in Alberta province that was 72%-95% among children younger than 13 years of age after the introduction of a helmet law for bicyclists younger than 18 years old (Karkhaneh et al 2011).…”