A new website has appeared which promises to be a nexus of quality academic journalism in Australia. It is called ‘The Conversation‘ and so far we are impressed with the content.
As Helmet Freedom’s focus is to free us from our draconian all-age mandatory helmet laws, we have picked up on one article in particular, “Ditching Bike Helmet Laws For Better Health“, by Associate Professor Chris Rissel who is the Professor of Public Health at The University of Sydney.
Professor Rissel writes:
“This poses a puzzle – if bicycle helmets protect the head from injury, surely if all cyclists wore one there would be fewer head injuries?”
and
“Increased physical activity added 3 to 14 months to a person’s life expectancy, while the life expectancy lost from air pollution was 0.8 to 40 days. Increased traffic accidents wiped 5-9 days off the life expectancy.
It is clear that the benefits of cycling outweigh the risks, with helmet legislation actually costing society more from lost health gains than saved from injury prevention.”
Why not add your voice to helmet choice, and write a letter? Society will thank you.