"I'm really interested about why you would wear a helmet where riding is perfectly safe, when helmets don't reduce risk?"

"Actually, people who ride bikes regularly live on average two years longer and suffer less from all illnesses, so they are much more likely to pass on their genes than the rest of the population."

"@David Beck,Why am I such a zealot?  Because there are many times more zealots promoting helmets with myths, lies and propaganda.  Get them to stop and I won't need to respond to their drivel.  Did you actually watch the video?There are hundreds of studies on cyclehelmet.org so unless you're a bit more specific, I'm afraid I can't comment on anything you've skimmed through without understanding it.Your comparison of skull bone and polystyrene packing is possibly the most facile thing I've ever read by someone promoting helmets.  Congratulations."

"Having now read the comments, I'm wondering whether most people actually looked at the Guardian video, and are just reeling off their prejudices and opinions, formed the thirty year propaganda campaign promoting helmets, rather than the evidence and the data.  cyclehelmets.org"

"Perhaps you ought to do some research?  Cycling has about the same risk as walking, and there is no scientifically valid evidence to show that helmets reduce that risk."

"While I can only agree with your position on compulsion, your assumption that helmets save lives is mistaken, and all the long term, large scale, reliable, scientific evidence shows that they don't."

"You might consider valid, scientific, evidence based position "ridiculous" but some of us prefer science and data to opinion.  Cycle helmets have never been shown to reduce the risks of cycling, despite more than twenty years of data from Australia and New Zealand helmet laws."

"Helmets are designed to work by absorbing energy by deformation of the lining, and a helmet which has split has absorbed almost no energy and hence had very little effect.  Take some polystyrene packing material and try crushing it with your fingers, difficult isn't it?  Now try snapping it, easy isn't it?"

"Dan, you may think that wearing a helmet reduces the risk of cycling, but the evidence shows that they don't.  cyclehelmets.org"

"There are many thousands of these "helmet saved my life" stories, but the death rate of cyclists does not fall as helmet wearing rates increase, so they cannot be true. "

"I was one of the first people to wear a helmet where I live, but then someone suggested that I check the evidence, and I've never worn one since.  Helmet laws and propaganda have two effects: a reduction in the number of cyclists and obscene profits for those making and selling them, there is no safety benefit.  All the long term, large scale, reliable evidence shows at best no reduction in risk from mass helmet wearing, and at worst an increase in risk.  Helmets are a tax on the gullible."