Importance of Bicycle Safty Helmets
As a mode of transportation, the bicycle is a remarkably simple and satisfying machine. In fact, bicycling is so addictively pleasant that it is synonymous with fun, exercise, and good times. However, head injuries on a bicycle are not fun. It is very serious, and the challenge to an individual to find his way again is enormous. There was a man who was thirty-eight years old when his bicycle was hit by a pickup truck on the outskirts of Boulder, Colorado. He landed directly on his head, fractured his skull, survived two emergency brain surgeries, spent nineteen anxious days in intensive care, six weeks in a coma, and four long months in Boulder Memorial Hospital's rehabilitative unit. Almost two years post-injury, this man lives at home and continues treatment as an outpatient. He goes to "work" three days a week. He is unable to drive a car and he struggles to read and to write. His speech, his gait, his memory, his judgment, his confidence, his competence have all been affected. Jim was not wearing a bicycle helmet.In all studies reviewed, there are consistent data indicating that wearing an industry-approved bicycle helmet significantly reduces the risk of head injury during a crash or collision. The reduction in risk is some
"Bicycling accidents cause many serious injuries and, in the United States, about 1300 deaths per year, mainly from head injuries. Safety helmets are widely recommended for cyclists, but convincing evidence of their effectiveness is lacking. Over one year they conducted a case-control study in which the case patients were 235 persons with head injuries received while bicycling, who sought emergency care at one of five hospitals. One control group consisted of 433 persons who received emergency care at the same hospitals for bicycling injuries not involving the head. A second control group consisted of 558 members of a large health maintenance organization who had had bicycling accidents during the previous year. Seven percent of the case patients were wearing helmets at the time of their head injuries, as compared with 24 percent of the emergency room controls and 23 percent of the second control group. Of the 99 cyclists with serious brain injury only 4 percent wore helmets. In regression analyses to control for age, sex, income, education, cycling experience, and the severity of the accident, we found that riders with helmets had an 85 percent reduction in their risk of head injury (odds ratio, 0.15; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.07 to 0.29) and an 88 percent reduction in their risk of brain injury (odds ratio, 0.12; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.04 to 0.40). We conclude that bicycle safety helmets are highly effective in preventing head injury. Helmets are particularly important for children, since they suffer the majority of serious head injuries from bicycling accidents." Because of the predominant importance of head injury, from the earliest stages of accident analysis attention was concentrated on head protection. Early standards for bicycle safety helmets complied with the requirements of safety advocates, but failed the test of consumer acceptance. There then started a long process of education and persuasion, together with detailed modifications to the original United States standard, aimed at wider acceptance and acceptability of pedal cycle helmets. In July 1990 the state legislature made the wearing of pedal cycle helmets compulsory. Nationwide, official figures show that deaths among pedal bicyclists have fallen from around 100 each year some 10 years ago to about half that number currently. Most of that fall has occurred in the years since 1987. Bicycle crashes occur mainly during times of heavy traffic, and during daylight. Three-quarters of crash victims are male, with a high proportion being teenagers on school trips and young adults on work trips. Most collisions between bicycles and cars occur at intersections or where cyclists or drivers enter a roadway. The most common injuries are to the limbs, followed by more injuries to the head. And what do the stats say? There are 800 people killed on bikes in the US every year, and a half million, more or less, who end up in emergency rooms being stitched, fitted with a cast or just bandaged over road rash. We don't know how many of those were on a campus when they crashed. But we do know that one is making a major investment in oneself for a lifetime of good returns, and one doesn't want a fuddled brain to bring that to a halt. People with head injuries can remember what they were able to do before the crash, and the effects can last forever. At a young college age one has a lot of years to look forward to. One is just beginning to realize how much pleasure in life comes from being smart and educated. One doesn't want
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2375
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
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