National Bike Helmet Use Survey Shows Bicycle Safety Journey Isn’t Over Yet

Significant steps have been made in encouraging bicyclists to wear helmets whenever they ride, according to a national bike helmet use survey conducted by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). However, only about half of bicyclists surveyed say they wear helmets at all, indicating that plenty of work is left to be done.

When the CPSC first surveyed bicyclists in 1991, it found that only 18 percent of those asked about their helmet use said that they wore helmets more than half the time when they were riding. In the years that followed, the CPSC and several other organizations tried a number of tactics to raise awareness of the importance of wearing a bicycle helmet to reduce or prevent bicycle accident injuries.

A second survey conducted several years after the first found that:

• 50 percent of bicyclists say they wear a helmet “all” or “more than half” of the time. Of these, 43 percent wear their helmets every time they ride.
• 38 percent of adult bicyclists wear helmets regularly, but 69 percent of children under 16 wear their helmets every time they ride, according to the parents surveyed.
• 60 percent of bicyclists own a helmet, up from only 28 percent of bicyclists in the 1991 survey.

Bicycle helmets are a simple way to help prevent or reduce traumatic brain injuries in a bicycle accident. However, even the best bicycle helmets cannot make other drivers take proper care on the road. If you’ve been injured in a bicycle crash, the aggressive bicycle accident lawyers in St. Louis at Page Law can help. Call us today at (314) 322-8515 for a free and confidential case evaluation.