More than just the helmet: The relationship between bicycle helmet use and non-bicycling risk-taking behaviors among American adolescents. (July 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Piatkowski, Daniel P.; Marshall, Wesley E.
• Is Part Of: Travel behaviour and society. Volume 20(2020)
• Page Start: 313
• Page End: 321
• Publication Date: 2020-07
• Subjects: Bicycling -- Adolescents -- Helmets -- Helmet Promotion -- Risky Behavior; Transportation -- Periodicals; Population geography -- Periodicals; 303.48305
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tbs.2020.04.009
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2214-367X

Abstract

Highlights: Few US adolescents bicycle, and fewer wear a helmet when they do. Those that do not wear a helmet are more likely to engage in other risky behaviors than those that do. We identify three populations of helmet-use groups: a non-riding and risk-taking group, a non-helmet wearing and risk-taking group, and a helmet users group. This research suggests that helmet safety research and helmet policy research should consider socio-demographic and behavioral characteristics in future research. We suggest caution in prioritizing helmet use as a primary priority for adolescents. Failing to do so may have unintended consequences for both the individual and society. Abstract: Adolescents engage in more risky behaviors than other age groups, including riding a bicycle without a helmet. To address helmet use, public health professionals encourage it, even passing laws requiring helmet use. But these approaches may have unintended consequences, potentially pushing more risk-prone adolescents away from riding a bike and into cars. This mode shift could lead to worse safety outcomes, not just for teens but for society in general, as a risk-prone teen driver would be more dangerous to themselves and society behind the wheel of a car than when riding a bicycle. This research is a first-step in addressing the complicated issues around helmet promotion by asking the question: are risky non-bicycling behaviors associated with bicycling and wearing a helmet while bicycling among adolescents? We test correlations between non-bicycling risk-taking behaviors (such as drug and alcohol use), bicycling, and bicycle helmet use in a generalizable sample of US adolescents. Data comes from a nationally-representative sample of 15, 624 US high school students collected in 2015. Findings from a multinomial logistic regression model and analysis of variance identify a sample population consisting of at least three distinct groups: i) a non-bicycle-riding group; ii) one bicycle-riding group that tends not to wear a helmet and reports increased risky non-bicycling behaviors; and iii) another bicycle-riding group that tends to wear a helmet and engages in few risky non-bicycling behaviors. Furthermore, we do not find evidence for helmet-wearing adolescents who are also risk-takers, nor do we find evidence for non-risk-taking adolescents that do not wear helmets. The group that does not bicycle is generally older than the bicycle riding groups and is characterized by more risky non-riding behaviors than the helmet wearing group (but fewer risky behaviors than the group that bicycles but does not wear a helmet). Our results indicate that individual behavioral characteristics require increased attention in helmet use and bicycle safety research.