A helmet is like insurance. You hope you never need it, but you're glad you've got it when there's an emergency. According to the Consumer Products Safety Commission, bike-related crashes kill 900 people every year and send about 567,000 to hospital emergency rooms with injuries. Wearing a helmet, the commission reports, can reduce the risk of a head injury by 85 percent. Helmets are important in sports other than cycling.
Some people insist on pushing their luck.
The number recently shrunk by one. Ron Bell, a rock climber who's the director of photography at The Roanoke Times, was climbing at Seneca Rocks in West Virginia two weekends ago when he noticed a commotion nearby. The climber was decked out in all new gear, but he wasn't wearing a helmet. He hit his head in the fall. As Bell and other climbers performed first aid, the man died.