The debate is divided to an unusual degree between science and opinion There is a lot of opinion much of it very strong without any close relationship to the science  Helmets became gospel in the USA by  according to the LAB before any significant science came out and the debate and the science have proceeded along distinctly separate tracks A current example is the comment put in by  he references an organization that has judged that bicycle helmets save lives and they quote some references which dont in fact even try to count anything about deaths Whatever the basis for that judgement may be it isnt science In this area there is a particularly large disconnection between primary science and expert opinions and the present structure just makes it slightly easier to make that important difference a little clearer