Wearing a Helmet On a Bike Might Actually Put You More at Risk

A new study has suggested that wearing a bike helmet might actually make you less safe, because helmet-wearing riders are more likely to take risks on the road than non-helmet-wearing riders.

The study was a computer simulation conducted by the University of Bath, in which adults aged 17 to 56 were spilt into two groups, with one lot given helmets and the other baseball caps. They were then asked to blow up an on-screen balloon, receiving points per inflation but a loss of all earnings if it popped.

The results showed the helmet blowers were more inclined to take risks than the cap-wearing folk.

Study leader Dr Ian Walker said: "This could mean that people using protective equipment might take risks, against which protective equipment cannot reasonably be expected to help."

So there you go: research suggests wearing a helmet makes you cocky and could result in you getting seriously injured on a bike. Of course, this was a computer simulation in which people had to inflate pretend balloons, not navigate Elephant and Castle roundabout in the rain during the evening rush hour.