Bike helmets - Quebec stats

We always wear our helmets.

Always. No trip is too short to throw on the helmet.

One thing is certain, even if it is just a five minute trip, there will be three near-misses from cars, pedestrians, dogs, cyclists going ther wrong way or through a light or stop sign (hey, I've seen it all), and even, on Sunday dead skunk in the middle of my path! Yuck.

Here is a government report on Helmet use and cyclists. (click here - pdf file)

Here is a nice summary from the SDV Ti bike-manufacturer website:

Le port du casque au Québec: on s’en va vers 40 %
Par Christian Lemelin, 8 avril 2008

Le Québec a souvent misé sur l’information, la sensibilisation et l’éducation, en matière de sécurité.

Le port du casque, par les cyclistes, devait passer par cette voie. La coercition, non merci!

Selon les apparences, selon les constations que l’on peut faire, sur le terrain, on voit que le message a fait du chemin.

Or, quelle ne fut pas ma surprise - partagée par de nombreux observateurs - il y a quelques semaines, quand j’ai lu une dépêche venant d’Europe qui statuait que le port du casque de sécurité, au Québec, était encore loin de la pratique généralisée.

(Click here to read the whole article)

A couple of true stories.

A close associate of Cycle Fun Montreal regularly tests people with head injuries at the MUHC hospital. She sees many cycling accident victims, and she has seen the result of plenty of "I wasn't wearing a helmet." persons. The damage can be huge. The damage can be permanent.

Brain damage should be avoided. A helmet really improves your chances of survival.

This is a true story: two weeks ago I went to a funeral for my bosses father. Seven days earlier he was riding his bike, fell and hit his head, and suffered massive brain trauma and ultimately died. He was an active, physically fit man still completely in his prime of life. One second later, BANG! and it was all over.

One of our uncles had a brain injury when he was in his late 30s, and spent the next 50 years with a mental age of a 4 year old. His wife took care of him at home every day of that 50 years. That, in case you missed it, is as good a definition of love as we have ever heard.