the thing about bicycle helmets

What made me write this entry was this article www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11110665 
Now there’s a couple of things which make debates like this a waste of time and even potentially dangerous. First thing is that by talking about it you give air time to zealots who think their mission is to protect everyone, even from themselves. Two there is little to no evidence that the bicycle helmets currently on the market offer any protection to the cyclists head. There is a similar amount of evidence pointing in the opposite direction.
The point is helmet zealots put pressure on people riding bikes, making them feel guilty and irresponsible for not wearing a lid. This kind of rhetoric also makes other people think that a person on a bike less the lid is asking for it and if an accident happens, somehow brought it upon her/himself. This fearmongering also makes people think that riding a bike is something dangerous, which is very far from the truth. This could be because riding your bike for transportation, Tour de France, BMX bakcflips and MTB downhill are perceived as one and same thing. Which is false of course.
Now I don’t want either to prove or disprove the efficiency of the helmet, for the reason I will give below. However I do think that telling people that a helmet will protect their head where there are no real tests to prove it is a bit irresponsible. It turns the helmet into an atrifact, giving the user an artificial sense of safety.
Now it’s time for my point.
Your view on bicycle helmets is a little bit like a religious belief – it’s based on faith not on evidence and you are free to practice it without condemnation BUT you shouldn’t be forcing it down others throats using wishful thinking as evidence, because you are making yourself look like a creationist.

And yes – this entry is biased!