The New York Times Gets it Right
Summary: Jane Brody, health columnist for the NY Times, has written a pro-helmet article based on her
own experience and considerable research.
Longtime New York Times' personal health columnist
Jane
Brody has written a column on bicycle safety and helmets based on her own experiences but very well grounded in the
realities of New York City riding. It appeared
on the web on October 23, 2017 and
in print the next day.
Ms. Brody recounts her own crash that probably would have resulted in a major brain injury had she not had her helmet on.
Like many riders, she hates "helmet hair" and had been sometimes using a helmet and sometimes not. She always uses one
now.
The article cites many statistics from various sources as evidence of helmet effectiveness, including the often-cited
stat that 97% of New York's dead cyclists were unhelmeted riders. She also quotes BHSI's Randy Swart. The column is
headed up by a bright helmet fit graphic in
Times style by artist Paul Rogers. In all, it is a well-written
article, always welcome from a major newspaper.
The mostly anonymous comments following the article are classic helmet wars stuff, with the usual specious arguments
interspersed with many crash stories where helmets worked. Interestingly, some of them are from New Yorkers, but others
from Scotland, Switzerland and Rio.