Case of missing helmets
Editorial Board
Issue date: 6/5/08 Section: Forum
Maybe you're late for class and don't have the time to care. Perhaps you feel like you have too much pride to look "goofy." It could also be that you simply think it's uncomfortable.
Too bad it could save your life.
Bicycle helmets - or, rather, the campus-wide, Corvallis-wide lack thereof - need to be put into the spotlight.
Two days ago, a few Barometer editors saw something a little unnerving. Upon investigating the presence of ambulances and police cars just down the street from the newsroom, they saw something.
There was a small pool of blood on the street. Nearby, there was a bicycle.
But it was unlikely that there was a helmet.
A bicyclist had simply fallen off his or her bike and hit his or her head on the pavement. No car was involved. It was just a simple yet life-threatening accident.
For all you bicyclists or casual "bike-riders" out there, let this be a lesson to you.
Only 50 percent of bicyclists in the U.S. regularly wear bike helmets while riding a bike, according to the first national survey of bike helmet usage patterns since 1991.
Sure, without it you may look cooler, your hair might look better and it might be slightly more convenient, but think twice about it. This campus is a transportation nightmare during the week. On their rides to class, bicyclists regularly dodge hoards of pedestrians, impatient drivers, buses, other bicyclists, skateboarders and generally unpredictable situations like wet roads.
There are just so many opportunities for something to go wrong.
Gholam Motamedi, an associate professor of neurology and director of the epilepsy program at Georgetown University, said in a Washington Post article that head trauma is dangerous because it can cause bleeding, concussions and seizures.
But wearing a helmet can prevent 85 percent or more of these head-related injuries.
Still not getting it? Think of it this way: If you don't want to risk unplanned pregnancies, wear a condom. If you don't want to risk unplanned head injuries, wear a helmet.
Safety precautions have become a normal part of society these days. Seat belts, for example, went from novel to necessary in the past 50 years.
OSU students need to get over their fears of the uncool, invest in properly fitting helmets and actually wear them.
It's not very expensive, it's easy, and it may save your life.
Editorials serve as a means for Barometer editors to offer commentary and opinions on issues both global and local, grand in scale or diminutive. The views expressed here are a reflection of the editorial board's majority.
Too bad it could save your life.
Bicycle helmets - or, rather, the campus-wide, Corvallis-wide lack thereof - need to be put into the spotlight.
Two days ago, a few Barometer editors saw something a little unnerving. Upon investigating the presence of ambulances and police cars just down the street from the newsroom, they saw something.
There was a small pool of blood on the street. Nearby, there was a bicycle.
But it was unlikely that there was a helmet.
A bicyclist had simply fallen off his or her bike and hit his or her head on the pavement. No car was involved. It was just a simple yet life-threatening accident.
For all you bicyclists or casual "bike-riders" out there, let this be a lesson to you.
Only 50 percent of bicyclists in the U.S. regularly wear bike helmets while riding a bike, according to the first national survey of bike helmet usage patterns since 1991.
Sure, without it you may look cooler, your hair might look better and it might be slightly more convenient, but think twice about it. This campus is a transportation nightmare during the week. On their rides to class, bicyclists regularly dodge hoards of pedestrians, impatient drivers, buses, other bicyclists, skateboarders and generally unpredictable situations like wet roads.
There are just so many opportunities for something to go wrong.
Gholam Motamedi, an associate professor of neurology and director of the epilepsy program at Georgetown University, said in a Washington Post article that head trauma is dangerous because it can cause bleeding, concussions and seizures.
But wearing a helmet can prevent 85 percent or more of these head-related injuries.
Still not getting it? Think of it this way: If you don't want to risk unplanned pregnancies, wear a condom. If you don't want to risk unplanned head injuries, wear a helmet.
Safety precautions have become a normal part of society these days. Seat belts, for example, went from novel to necessary in the past 50 years.
OSU students need to get over their fears of the uncool, invest in properly fitting helmets and actually wear them.
It's not very expensive, it's easy, and it may save your life.
Editorials serve as a means for Barometer editors to offer commentary and opinions on issues both global and local, grand in scale or diminutive. The views expressed here are a reflection of the editorial board's majority.
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