Wear the helmet and fasten the strap
In one line
A fastened helmet lowers a motorcyclist’s risk of death by about 40% and head injury by about 70%.
What it costs
Roughly from about $30. About 5 seconds each ride. Recheck the local price before you publish a number.
What you get
A Cochrane review put the odds ratio for death at 0.58 (95% CI 0.50–0.68) and for head injury at 0.31 (0.25–0.38).
How strong the evidence is
Source
Liu BC et al. (2008). Cochrane Review.
Watch-outs
The numbers are from motorcycle studies. Bicycles and e-bikes are an inference from a similar kind of head impact, not the same trials. An unfastened strap does not count as wearing it.
Adapted from HowToLiveBetter item 1-2.
Next habitRelated
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Wearing a seat belt in the front seat cuts the risk of dying in a crash by more than 40%. The back seat counts too.
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