Helmet Safety

Wear Helmets to prevent Sports-Related Head Injuries.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that about 3 million head injuries related to consumer products were treated in hospital emergency rooms in 1988. About 440,000 of these were injuries such as concussions and skull fractures. Many of these accidents happened when helmets could have been worn.

The Commission's study of head injuries showed that these four products or activities had large numbers of hospital emergency room-treated head injuries related to them and high hospitalization rates for these injuries.

• Bikes - 169,000 head injuries (6 percent hospitalized)
• Horseback Riding - 8,000 head injuries (27 percent hospitalized)
• Snow Skiing - 10,000 head injuries (11 percent hospitalized)
• All terrain vehicles - 12,000 head injuries (14 percent hospitalized)

These findings may be an indication of the potential for death from these injuries.

Many people do not wear helmets. Fewer than 1 out of 10 bicyclists wear helmets. Three-fourths of ATV drivers with head injuries were not wearing helmets.

There are several nationally-recognized voluntary safety standards for helmets. These standards require helmets to absorb the energy of an impact to lessen or prevent head injuries. Crushable, expanded plastic foam can serve this purpose. Many helmets also have hard outer shell to protect against collision with a sharp object.

To reduce head injuries, bicyclists, ATV riders, horseback riders, and skiers should wear the helmet appropriate for each activity.