Bicycle helmets in the United States

[4] The state of New York reported that since it had introduced its second helmet law in 1994 for riders under 14, the annual rate of cyclists hospitalized from bicycle-related traumatic brain injuries fell from 464 in 1990 to 209 in 1995.

There is no way to determine exactly what proportion of the improvement was due to helmet laws, since there is no data on improvements to bicycle facility safety, rider education or total miles ridden in those years, and helmet promotion campaigns by Safe Kids Worldwide and others were active in the state.

[1] By law, all helmets sold in the U.S. must meet standards set by the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC).

The CPSC released a similar press release statement, “These helmets fail impact testing and labeling required under CPSC’s Safety Standard for Bicycle Helmets violating the Consumer Product Safety Act.

Riders wearing these helmets are not adequately protected from falls and could suffer severe head injuries or death…”[1] under 5 under 18 * Scooters, skateboards, inline skates for off-road in middle&upper park (Repealed 1998) (Incentives only) under 5 under 17 * areas 2002 Countywide 2008 Indian Reservation Indian Colony under 5 under 14* over 5 inc. passengers (city property) 1998/ 2007 (Recommendation only.)