Helmets almost certainly have saved my wife's twice. First, when she was drafting me and a car turned right in front of us. I hit the brakes, she hit me, and she was on the ground, momentarily stunned, and helmet broken in two places.
Second time, years later, she let her mind wander while we were on a rails-to-trails thing. I moved to avoid an oncoming rider (on the wrong side), tires overlapped, and she vaulted over the handlebars. Significant concussion, broken shoulder, helmet split in six places. (Eventual full recovery.)
Absent the helmet, her skull would have been splattered over the pavement.
The under-25 rate has a decreasing trend throughout the period.
"For those age 25-44, it’s kind of sideways, and the increasing trend at the end may or may not be pandemic-related. The increase seems to have started before the pandemic.
The other two groups show a clear increase from 1999 to 2022.
I may split out the causes, but some of the increases may be bikes more on roads shared with motor vehicles.
There are scenic bike routes near my house, and they're state highways. I'm usually coming across cyclists near places like Titicus Reservoir: https://dec.ny.gov/places/titicus-reservoir or Peach Lake: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peach_Lake,_New_York -- very pretty area to bike around, but we have a lot of blind curves and hills, and very shady spots. It's good to try to improve visibility.
I have not heard of cyclist collisions from the fire department, but if you look at their May Review: https://www.crotonfallsfire.com/news/305/May-Review -- you'll see Titicus Road mentioned a few times for a MVA (motor vehicle accident) and a rollover. People are often going waaaay too fast on that road, which goes around the Reservoir.
Anyway, stay safe w/ the bikes. I mainly walk, myself, on the rails-to-trails, and there are plenty of cyclists there. Even there, people should be wearing helmets. It's too easy to get up to speed and take a spill, as you say.
The rates seem to correspond to laws being passed to require bike helmets, at least for young kids. If you grew up wearing one, you probably continued. People my age did not, and when I see (an idiot) bike rider not wearing a helmet, he's likely to be my age. Strange that we'd make our kids wear them, but not wear them ourselves...
Helmets almost certainly have saved my wife's twice. First, when she was drafting me and a car turned right in front of us. I hit the brakes, she hit me, and she was on the ground, momentarily stunned, and helmet broken in two places.
Second time, years later, she let her mind wander while we were on a rails-to-trails thing. I moved to avoid an oncoming rider (on the wrong side), tires overlapped, and she vaulted over the handlebars. Significant concussion, broken shoulder, helmet split in six places. (Eventual full recovery.)
Absent the helmet, her skull would have been splattered over the pavement.
The under-25 rate has a decreasing trend throughout the period.
"For those age 25-44, it’s kind of sideways, and the increasing trend at the end may or may not be pandemic-related. The increase seems to have started before the pandemic.
The other two groups show a clear increase from 1999 to 2022.
What’s going on?"
Social media?
"The under-25 ...
Sorry about the misplaced leading quote.
I think it's clear.
I may split out the causes, but some of the increases may be bikes more on roads shared with motor vehicles.
There are scenic bike routes near my house, and they're state highways. I'm usually coming across cyclists near places like Titicus Reservoir: https://dec.ny.gov/places/titicus-reservoir or Peach Lake: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peach_Lake,_New_York -- very pretty area to bike around, but we have a lot of blind curves and hills, and very shady spots. It's good to try to improve visibility.
I have not heard of cyclist collisions from the fire department, but if you look at their May Review: https://www.crotonfallsfire.com/news/305/May-Review -- you'll see Titicus Road mentioned a few times for a MVA (motor vehicle accident) and a rollover. People are often going waaaay too fast on that road, which goes around the Reservoir.
Anyway, stay safe w/ the bikes. I mainly walk, myself, on the rails-to-trails, and there are plenty of cyclists there. Even there, people should be wearing helmets. It's too easy to get up to speed and take a spill, as you say.
The rates seem to correspond to laws being passed to require bike helmets, at least for young kids. If you grew up wearing one, you probably continued. People my age did not, and when I see (an idiot) bike rider not wearing a helmet, he's likely to be my age. Strange that we'd make our kids wear them, but not wear them ourselves...