Fine, We're Doing a Helmet Episode

After New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani posted a social media video showing him listening to concerned citizens and deciding to wear a bicycle helmet, social media exploded. Some people praised the mayor for modeling good behavior while others wished he had kept the focus on larger safety solutions, like protected bike lanes. Needless to say, the conversation was not all that nuanced. So what's the truth about bicycle helmets? What are they designed to do in the event of a crash and what kind of crash are they designed to help you survive? Who sets the standards that ensure that bike helmets meet a minimum level of safety? What does science say about mandatory helmet laws? And, to ask a much larger and more philosophical question, what is it about the mere mention of bicycle helmets that causes the conversation about bike safety to go off the rails, even among people who are normally rather informed about other issues related to public health? What are we talking about—or not talking about—when we're talking about helmets?

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SHOW NOTES:

Watch Mayor Mamdani's helmet video.

Streetsblog: "A Helmet Won't Save Mayor Mamdani from a Crash."

New York Times: "Mayor Mamdani Wears a Bike Helmet. Finally."

Read "There Are No Accidents: The Deadly Rise of Injury and Disaster—Who Profits and Who Pays the Price" by Jessie Singer.

Popular Mechanics: "How a Bike Helmet Protects Your Head."

Injury Prevention: Systematic reviews of bicycle helmet research

Safety Science: "Cycling fatalities: When a helmet is useless and when it might save your life."