Few ISU students who bike to class wear helmets.

They choose to not don this potentially life-saving gear because they say it is inconvenient and they feel safe riding short distances at slow speeds.

Biker Scott Helms said he never wears a helmet and rarely sees anyone else doing so on campus.

“It’s kind of a pain to lug one around – I don’t ride that fast anyway,” said Helms, junior in graphic design.

“My mom would say it’s a good idea, but I don’t think I need one.”

Erik Wayne, junior in chemical engineering, has a different point of view. He said he has always worn a helmet since he bought a bike last year. He said his helmet saved him from a head injury.

“[Wearing a helmet] helps when it’s just rained and you take a corner at 20 mph and wipe out,” he said.

But Wayne is the exception on campus.

“I think I’ve seen about two bikers wearing helmets, and they were mainly older people,” said Angelica Garcia, junior in history.

Department of Public Safety Interim Director Jerry Stewart said he could not say how many campus cyclists use helmets, because DPS does not record this information. He said DPS encourages students to wear helmets.

Garcia said she thinks many bikers don’t wear helmets because they think, “If nobody else is wearing one, why should I?”

She said she almost always wears her helmet when biking, but she said she does not wear one riding to campus, because it’s only a short distance from home. She said she would definitely wear it later in the day when the traffic was busier.

Garcia said it only took a minute to convince her to use this protection.

“I saw a commercial once showing blood on a curb and a mother saying she wished she would’ve told her daughter to wear a helmet,” she said.

Like Garcia, Brent Dakin, senior in marketing, said he believes it is important to wear a helmet.

He said he doesn’t find it as necessary on campus, but he wears his helmet when biking to work and for recreational biking.

Dakin, a salesperson at Skunk River Sports, 308 Main St., has worked in bike shops for 12 years.

He said during this time he has heard of and seen many bike accidents. Although most occurred at slow speeds, he thinks many of the bikers involved would have been killed or injured if they had not been wearing helmets.

Chairwoman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Ann Brown agreed with Dakin’s observations.

“Wearing a bike helmet can reduce the risk of head injury by 85 percent,” she said in a commission report about helmet use. “It can save your life.”

She also said there are 900 deaths per year due to bike crashes and 567,000 people go to the hospital annually with bike-related injuries.

In 1998, the safety commission conducted a bike helmet survey in partnership with McDonald’s.

Its results indicated that 38 percent of adult cyclists and 69 percent of bikers younger than 16 reported regularly wearing a helmet.

In comparison to a similar survey conducted by the commission in 1991, the new results indicate that helmet usage has significantly increased.

According to the latest report, half of the bikers surveyed in 1998 said they used helmets always or more than half of the time. In 1991, only 18 percent said they wore helmets this often.

Dakin said he has seen this trend reflected both on the roads and in helmet sales. He said in the past, few RAGBRAI riders wore helmets, but now they all do.

“I think more and more people are seeing others wearing them and follow,” he said.

This trend could be related to changes in helmet design. Dakin said helmets have become less expensive and have better fit and ventilation. A helmet that fits well provides more protection, he said.

“There should be a pinky’s width between your head and the helmet, and the helmet should fit over your forehead,” Dakin said.

Most helmets sold at Skunk River Sports cost $35 to $50, he said. The more expensive helmets often have visors and fit better.

“For $35, an adult can get a good helmet that passes all the safety tests,” he said.

Helmets should be replaced every five years, because ultraviolet light breaks down their shells and padding, and they often get dropped and dinged, Dakin said.

He said a helmet also should be replaced if it is in an accident and has been damaged. If in doubt, the owner should have it inspected.