When I was growing up in Indiana from the mid 80s to 2003, nobody–but nobody–wore a bicycle helmet. I never saw them on the streets. Some motorcyclists wore them, but they were pretty rare.
I live in upstate New York now, and helmets are pretty common. Some counties even mandate helmets for cyclists, although mine doesn’t and neither does the state (except for minors). I still see some people who don’t wear them, but they are common enough that I wouldn’t feel like a boner if I wore one. Which I plan to, since I just bought a bicycle and will get a helmet before taking it for a spin. Where I grew up, though, this would have been practically unthinkable. Indiana still has no helmet laws on the books. Not sure if the helmet culture there has evolved since I left, but I’m kinda doubting it.
Adults. 98% of them have bikes & gear deluxe. Not may adults just riding on bike trails or neighborhoods around here. All either serious or trying to look like they are.
Kids on bikes, not so much.
I read one time that falls from bicycles is the leading cause of head injury. Prolly from 20 years ago. No idea how much that has changed for last weeks tally.
Central Valley in California. Serious cyclists (the spandex crowd) wear them. They’re required if you want to ride with the local cycling club and all the organized rides require one.
Hit and miss with the kids. Almost all have them, just not fastened to the head.
Most the bikers I see around DC wear them. It is unusual enough that my rabidly pro-helmet friend comments every time he sees a helmetless rider. But rideshare is becoming very popular around here and those folks don’t have helmets generally.
Helmet use for snow skiing 10 years ago was primarily limited to some snow boarders and kids. Today, I would say about 98% of people that ski in Colorado resorts wear helmets now. If you don’t have one, you appear out of place.
HTA 104 - Helmets
Every cyclist under the age of eighteen must wear an approved bicycle helmet. Parents or guardians shall not knowingly permit cyclists under sixteen to ride without a helmet. Set fine: $60.00
Helmets are strictly for white people here. Hispanic men using bikes because they can’t afford cars (this is a large population segment) do not wear helmets nor do they ever ride with traffic. If there is a sidewalk they are on it.
Under 16 (I think?), it’s mandatory. Over that, probably less than 5% wear them. I haven’t noticed any trends like higher wearing rates on the ridiculous lycra outfit crowd. It’s still weird, the SF Bay Area had a lot more helmets. No law except for minors there either, AFAIK. I can only name one regular biker here that wears one, and he is not the first type you’d expect, kind of a skater.
What’s really bizarre is seeing a guy on a full sized motorcycle, no helmet, shorts, and a T shirt in Florida.
Dutch cycling associations (eg fietsersbond etc) oppose helmet use because helmets lead to a net health loss while they are quite ineffective in preventing injury for adult commuter cyclists. But good luck convincing them furriners on that, they think cycling is playing with your life.
So yeah, no helmets here. Cycling here is much safer than in most other countries, and one of the reasons is a culture of not wearing helmets.
I recently went skiing after about a ten year hiatus. I bought a helmet, but was afraid I’d look like a “dork”, or worse, a poseur. Old man, trying to look hip. Instead, I was safely in the majority. I was quite shocked by the turnaround in helmet use.
However, I do still feel like said “dork” wearing a bicycle helmet. It just “feels” wrong, probably because I grew up in the pre-helmet days.
New York City. The guys who are serious and have the cycling clothing wear helmets, but the businessmen & tourists on Citibikes rarely do, and the bike messengers never do. (And are some crazy ass people.)
Portland, OR: everyone under age 16 either operating or riding on a bike must have a helmet. But the vast majority of bikers, especially those who commute with them, wear helmets. I live on a designated bike boulevard and can’t remember the last time I saw someone without one.
Canberra, Australia. By law if you’re cycling in a public place you have to be wearing a helmet. The great majority of adults and kids do.
Most of the people I see without them are the hipster/student types and older teen boys (they have them tied to their bike handles and seem to wear them at skate parks - just not riding around).
Sacramento suburban area. Most people and kids wear a helmet. There are miles of paved, off-street bike trails around here and most of the cyclists using the trails wear helmets. not just the hard-core, spandex types, either.
That said, you will still see people riding the sidewalk with a plastic grocery bag hanging off each handlebar end - those people do not wear a helmet.
That’s pretty much the experience here as well, except that it’s more of a middle class and higher thing- adults recreationally riding bicycles will almost invariably have helmets, as will middle class children.
Black and hispanic riders of any age rarely have helmets, and for some peculiar reason, never have their seat height set anywhere but the lowest possible height. And for some reason, it’s not uncommon to see adult hispanic men riding women’s bikes.
