Last week there were several media reports about a recent Sydney University study disproving the effectiveness of helmet laws, including ABC radio's The World Today report, Call for repeal of bike helmet laws.
The study referred to is, The effects of bicycle helmet legislation on cycling-related injury: the ratio of head to arm injuries over time, by Associate Professor Chris Rissel and Dr Alexander Voukelatos from Sydney University's School of Public Health. They looked into the ratio of cyclist head and arm injuries from 1988 to 2008, to show that most of Australia's fall in head injury rates occurred before helmet laws were introduced. Their main conclusion was "Helmet use is likely to prevent some head injury, particularly for younger age groups, and may also reduce severity of injury. However, the mandatory bicycle helmet legislation appears not to be the main factor for the observed reduction in head injuries among pedal cyclists at a population level over time."
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