San Antonio artist Chuck Ramirez has died from from a head injury in a bicycle accident; he was not wearing a helmet. Some folks don’t wear helmets because they think the helmet makes them look foolish. Does this guy look foolish?
When I teach about odds ratios and contingency tables, I use the results of an observational study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (Thompson, Rivara, and Thompson, 1989) that suggests helmets account for an approximate 88% reduction in the risk of brain injury in an accident. As I tell my students (from experience), better a ding on the helmet than a ding on the head.
And if you really want high fashion and protection, check out the Hövding.
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