People who do not wear a helmet when riding a bicycle are 2.4 times more likely to be seriously injured in a traffic accident than people who wear a helmet, research at Taipei Medical University’s Health Policy and Care Research Center suggests.
Public bike sharing systems are becoming increasingly popular, with 10 cities or counties providing such services now, the center said.
However, along with the increasing number of riders, the number of cyclists involved in traffic accidents has also increased each year, it said.
Bicycle traffic accident reports have increased from 7,213 in 2005 to 14,874 in 2013, said Trauma Prevention and Disaster Medical Research Foundation chairman Chiu Wen-ta (邱文達), a former minister of health and welfare.
While 3.55 percent of deaths from traffic accidents in 2005 involved bicycles, the percentage increased to 6.74 percent in 2013, he said, adding that an average of about 260 to 300 people die in bicycle accidents each year.
Although most people ride bicycles at a relatively slow speed, the impact from being hit by a vehicle can still be strong enough to cause serious injuries, ranging from trauma, dizziness and nerve damage to physical disability, vegetative state or even death, Chiu said.
Wearing a helmet can protect the head from damage more than most people believe, he said.
About 20.7 percent of bikers who did not wear a helmet and were brought to a hospital after an accident were diagnosed with moderate to severe injuries, but only 2.3 percent of those who wore a helmet had moderate to severe injuries, said Kuo Chia-ying (郭家英), an assistant professor at the university’s Graduate Institute of Injury Prevention and Control.
When regulations were amended in 1997 to require all motorcyclists to wear a helmet, the number of reported injuries from motorcycle accidents dropped from more than 7,000 people to about 3,400 people a year, Chiu said.
Helmets can protect people and bikers should develop the habit of wearing helmets, Chu said.
People should choose bicycle helmets according to their head size, ensure they fit well and remember to tighten the helmets’ straps, he said.
They should also wear reflective vests and turn on their bike’s lights when riding at night, he said.
The regulations should be amended to require bicyclists to wear a helmet, Chu said.
‘LONE WOLF’: The suspect was difficult to locate, as he did not use a cellphone, did not contact family and often lived in abandoned sites or parks, police said Taipei police on Thursday morning arrested a man accused of numerous burglaries and at least 14 incidents of sexual assault spanning more than 20 years, in what might be the nation’s most notorious crime spree in recent years. Sixty-year-old Tu Ming-lang (涂明朗) — who was yesterday placed in judicial detention, after a judge determined he was a flight risk without a fixed address — faces multiple charges of sexual assault and burglary, police said. A task force comprised of various law enforcement agencies arrested Tu as part of an investigation into an April 28 burglary in Daan District (大安), in which a
Ninth graders were asked to define “trolling” on this year’s standardized exam, reflecting efforts to make the test better reflect real-life situations. Adjustments to this year’s Comprehensive Assessment Program for Junior High School Students were revealed on Sunday, after the last cohort of students completed the test over the weekend. The Ministry of Education solicited feedback about the test from teachers, who approved of the new question in the English portion. Not only was question No. 20 “very much in line with real-life situations,” but it also used a new style in which students were asked to ascertain the correct dictionary definition based
Taiwan is on alert for monkeypox, a rare viral disease that has caused 87 infections in 11 countries over the past three weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Saturday. The WHO on Friday convened an emergency session to discuss a sudden outbreak of monkeypox in North America and Europe. Since the beginning of this month, 87 confirmed cases and 28 possible cases have been identified in 11 countries. The countries with the highest case counts are England with 29 cases, and Portugal and Spain with 23 each. Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease occurring primarily in the tropical rainforest areas
ADAPTING: The CECC said the policy change would happen this week at the earliest, while PCR testing stations would be used to diagnose people and prescribe drugs The general public would be able to use a positive rapid test result that has been confirmed by a doctor for COVID-19 diagnosis starting later this week at the soonest, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported 79,441 new local infections and 53 deaths. The center on Saturday announced that it was expanding the rapid test diagnosis policy to people living in indigenous townships and outlying islands, starting today. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, yesterday said the policy might be further expanded to include “all people” this week, at the soonest. He
RSS