Motorcyclists often face a much higher rate of potential injury than anyone else on the road due to the lack of cover their vehicle provides. They must use helmets and other protective gear to help make up the difference.
But how much do helmets actually help in the event of a crash? How well do they perform when it comes to protection from head injuries?
Reduction in head injury severity
The National Library of Medicine examines the impact helmets have on head injury severity. A study focused on the differential impact helmets tend to have shows that it depends on the injury in question. In other words, helmets do not offer the same level of protection against every head or brain injury you may face.
To start, the study revealed a 71 percent reduction in cerebral contusions. On the other hand, intracranial hemorrhaging saw a reduction of only 53 percent, while skull fractures saw a reduction of 69 percent.
Differences in injury reduction
This shows that helmets protect against some injuries better than others, while simultaneously showing that helmets do not offer perfect 100 percent protection from any form of injury. At the same time, even 53 percent should hold more preference than 0 percent when it comes to injury reduction in general.
In short, wearing a helmet will always be a better idea than not wearing one. Even if the protection is not complete and there is room for improvement, some protection is better than none. In the meantime, awareness campaigns can help bring attention to the fact that improvements to helmets can and should happen for the safety of motorcyclists everywhere.
