Head injuries after serious bicycle accidents

Between 1987 and 1988 there were 47 serious or fatal injuries among bicycle riders in the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo (Serious injury was defined as being hospitalized for at least 24 hours). Collisions with vehicles, mostly cars, were responsible for about 80% of these cases. Two-thirds of the accidents occurred in adults aged 20 and over. We were able to trace the records of 24 of the 47 who were injured. Head trauma was the most common form of severe injury, occurring in 11 of the 24 cases. Two of the 11 died instantly and one died after 14 days of hospitalization, all from severe brain damage. Eight suffered severe head trauma, 7 of which had brain injury and 2 of the 7 were left with severe residual brain damage. In view of the efficacy of bicycle helmets in preventing head trauma there is a great need to expand their use among bicyclists in Israel.