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by lmm 24 days ago
> It's the most common sports related head injury by a wide margin

Interesting, but we're not talking about sport cycling, we're talking about ordinary commuting.

> helmets are quite effective at injury reduction.[1]

Your citation provides no support for your claim.

> Anecdotally I've flown over my handlebars and hit my helmet without serious injury, and I'm sure I would have been in much worse shape otherwise.

This is why we don't make public policy on the basis of anecdotes.

> On cars the law requires seat belts and airbags and a variety of other legally enforced safety measures.

All of which are a lot less unpleasant at the point of use than helmets.

> If you have a study suggesting that helmets would significantly help I'd be curious to see it.

The rates of head injury are comparable (something like a factor of 4 difference), head injuries are very common in car collisions, helmets are already routinely used in motor racing. The evidence is no weaker than that for bicycle helmet use.