騎車不戴頭盔，你真的是在玩命

I will start this column with its conclusion: Riding a bicycle without wearing a properly fitted helmet is simply stupid.

我要開門見山地把這篇專欄文章的結(jié)論寫在最前面：騎自行車不戴大小合適的頭盔簡直愚蠢至極。

Anyone who does so is tempting fate, risking a potentially life-changing disaster. And that goes for all users of bike-share programs, like New York’s Citi Bike, who think nothing of pulling a bike from its station and cycling helmetless on streets, with and without bike lanes, among often reckless traffic on foot and wheels.

無論誰這么做都是在冒險，有遭遇一場可能會改變一生的災難的風險。這同樣適用于所有共享單車用戶，比如紐約的 Citi Bike。目前，這些用戶把自行車從站點取出來，不戴頭盔就騎上不管有沒有自行車專用道的街道，匯入常常頗為魯莽的人流和車流，完全不以為意。

Even a careful cyclist is likely to crash about once every 4,500 miles and, based on personal observation, many city cyclists are anything but careful. Although reliable details are lacking on bike share accidents in New York or elsewhere, one shattering statistic reported by New York City for cyclists in general stands out: 97 percent of cycling deaths and 87 percent of serious injuries occurred to people who were not wearing helmets.

即便是小心謹慎的騎行者，也可能會每騎行4500英里(約合7200公里)發(fā)生一次事故，并且根據(jù)我個人的觀察，很多在城市里騎自行車的人根本不小心。盡管缺乏有關(guān)紐約或其他地方的共享單車事故的可靠詳情，但紐約市面向騎行者公布的一項統(tǒng)計數(shù)據(jù)令人震驚：騎行時發(fā)生的死亡和重傷事件中，沒戴頭盔的人分別占97%和87%。

Head injuries account for three-fourths of the roughly 700 bicycle deaths that occur each year nationwide, and helmets can prevent or reduce the severity of these injuries in two-thirds of cases, according to the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Arlington, Va. This protection holds even in crashes with motor vehicles, researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle reported as long ago as 2000, a statistic verified many times since.

據(jù)總部設(shè)在弗吉尼亞州阿靈頓的非營利組織自行車頭盔安全研究所(Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute)稱，在全國每年發(fā)生的大約700例自行車事故導致的死亡中，顱腦損傷占四分之三，而三分之二的事故屬于頭盔可以防止或降低受傷嚴重程度的。位于西雅圖的華盛頓大學(University of Washington)的研究人員早在2000年就通報稱，即便是與機動車相撞，這種保護依然成立。此后，這個統(tǒng)計數(shù)據(jù)被多次證實。

I’ve been a cyclist for more than 70 years, most of them before anyone thought about wearing a helmet (protective helmets for recreational cyclists didn’t even exist until 1975). Although I’ve owned many helmets in the last four decades, I admit to occasionally not wearing one to avoid “helmet hair” before an evening out.

我已經(jīng)騎了70多年自行車了，大部分時間都處在有人考慮戴頭盔之前(為娛樂休閑自行車騎行者設(shè)計的保護性頭盔1975年才出現(xiàn))。盡管過去四十年里我有很多頭盔，但我承認自己偶爾不戴頭盔，只為了避免在參加晚上的活動之前頂著“頭盔發(fā)型”。

But a few weeks ago I learned firsthand how foolish it was to worry more about my hair than my head. Luckily, my helmet was securely in place when, for reasons unknown, I fell forward over the handlebars while riding slowly uphill a few houses from home. Although I suffered a mild concussion and have no memory of the accident (I also sustained a nasty cut on my chin, badly bruised ribs and a scraped knee), my helmet prevented a serious brain or facial injury.

但幾周前，我親自體會到了更擔心發(fā)型而不是腦袋是多么愚蠢。幸運的是，當我在不知道什么原因的情況下從車把上朝前摔下去時，我的頭盔穩(wěn)穩(wěn)地在它該在的地方。當時，我正緩慢地騎車走在與我家只隔著幾棟房子的那段上坡路上。盡管有輕微的腦震蕩并失去了對那場事故的記憶(還有下巴上一個嚴重的傷口、淤青的肋部和膝蓋擦傷)，但頭盔讓我的大腦和臉部沒有受重傷。

I will never again mount a bicycle without the helmet on my head where it belongs, not in my backpack, bike basket or, worse, at home.

我再也不會在沒有把頭盔戴在頭上時騎自行車，那是它歸屬的地方，而非背包里、自行車車籃里，或是更糟糕地留在家中。

There are laws requiring young cyclists to wear helmets in 21 states and Washington, D.C., and at least 200 localities, but very few cover adult riders. A common sight in my neighborhood: Fathers riding helmetless with their helmeted child on a bike seat behind them.

21個州和華盛頓特區(qū)，以及至少200個地區(qū)都有要求青少年騎自行車時戴頭盔的法律，但覆蓋成年騎行者的法律少之又少。在我住的社區(qū)，常看到的情形是：不戴頭盔的父親后座上載著戴頭盔的孩子。

There are many reasons besides helmet hair that keep people from wearing helmets. One of the most frequent excuses: “I’m only going to the store (or the gym).” Yet, as with car accidents, the majority of bike accidents happen close to home, as mine did, and not necessarily in traffic or at high speeds. Even low-speed falls on a bike trail can scramble brains.

除了頭盔發(fā)型外，還有很多原因?qū)е氯藗儾淮黝^盔。最常見的借口之一是：“我只是去商店(或健身房)。”但和汽車事故一樣，多數(shù)自行車事故發(fā)生在家附近的地方——我那起事故也是——并且不一定發(fā)生在交通繁忙或高速行駛的時候。即使是在低速騎行時摔倒也可能傷到大腦。

“A very low-speed fall can be just as dangerous as a fall at higher speeds,” said Randy Swart, director of the consumer-funded Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute. “All it takes is gravity – the distance to the ground – to cause a head injury.”

“在速度非常低的情況下摔倒的危險性，可能和在速度更高時摔倒不相上下，”由消費者資助的自行車頭盔安全研究所所長蘭迪·斯沃特(Randy Swart)說。“只需要重力，也就是與地面之間的距離，就能造成頭顱腦損傷。”

Teenagers seem especially resistant to wearing helmets, yet with their still-developing brains they probably incur the greatest risks and have the most to lose from a head injury. “There’s often a rebellion aspect among teens,” Mr. Swart said. “They say, ‘All through childhood, my parents forced me to be safe. Now I want to make my own decisions about risk.’” College students and young adults often also think similarly, he said.

青少年似乎尤其不愿戴頭盔，但因為大腦仍在發(fā)育，他們面臨的風險是最大的，顱腦損傷對他們的危害也是最大的。“青少年往往有叛逆的一面，”斯沃特說。“他們說，‘整個童年時期，我父母都強迫我安全一些?，F(xiàn)在我想自己做有關(guān)危險的決定。’”他說，大學生和剛成年的人們往往也這么想。

I worry too about younger children, even those whose parents insist that they wear a helmet when riding a scooter, tricycle or bicycle. I see many such riders with parents in tow in my Brooklyn neighborhood, and in at least half the cases I’ve observed, the helmet is too big or is not on correctly and likely to provide little protection in a serious fall or crash.

我也擔心少年兒童，即便是那些父母堅決要求他們在騎滑板車、三輪腳踏車和自行車時戴頭盔的孩子。在我所住的布魯克林地區(qū)，我看到很多這樣的孩子騎車時父母緊跟在后面，并且我觀察到的至少一半情況是頭盔太大，或是沒有正確佩戴，在突然摔倒或發(fā)生嚴重碰撞時幾乎無法提供保護。

The most common error is positioning: If the helmet sits too far back on the child’s (or adult’s) head, it will not protect the most vulnerable part of the brain in a hard fall, especially if the skull fractures. When the straps are too loose (or, as I’ve often seen even among adults, the chin strap is not clasped), the helmet will fly off in a fall and offer no protection whatsoever.

最常見的錯誤在于位置：頭盔如果戴得太靠后，將無法在孩子(或成人)重重摔倒之際保護大腦最脆弱的部分，尤其是在顱骨骨折的情況下。如果帶子太松(或未系顎帶，我常?？吹骄瓦B成人也有這種情況)，人摔倒時頭盔會飛出去，無法提供任何保護。

The helmet should sit on the head straight, front to back, and not move when you shake your head. The straps extending from the helmet to the chin strap should each form a V right under the ears.

頭盔應該從前到后立立整整地待在你頭上，并且在你搖頭時不會移位。從頭盔兩側(cè)延伸到下顎處的帶子，應該在每只耳朵下方分別連成一個V字。

“A bike helmet is a like a seatbelt – it should feel snug, not tight, when you first put it on, but when you start riding, you should be able to forget all about it,” Mr. Swart said.

“自行車頭盔就像安全帶——第一次戴上它的時候，你應該感到舒適，而不是緊繃，而且當你開始騎行的時候，應該可以完全忘記它的存在，”斯沃特說。

Another excuse I’ve heard, perhaps from those familiar with concussions among football players, is that helmets do not prevent concussions. And that is true. You don’t even have to actually hit your head to get a concussion. A concussion results when the gel-like brain sloshes violently or slams into the unyielding bony skull, and this can happen with almost any significant impact to the head. What the helmet can do is reduce the energy of the impact and the likelihood of a skull fracture or brain bleed.

我聽到的另一個借口，或許來自那些對橄欖球運動員的腦震蕩習以為常的人，即：頭盔不能防止腦震蕩。這話沒錯。你甚至不必真的磕到頭就會出現(xiàn)腦震蕩。腦震蕩是由凝膠狀大腦猛烈搖晃或撞到堅硬的顱骨引起的，而這差不多會在頭部受到任何重大沖擊時發(fā)生。頭盔能做的是降低沖擊的力度，以及顱骨骨折和腦出血的可能性。

If cost is a deterrent, Mr. Swart gleefully noted that many inexpensive helmets perform just as well as expensive ones. His organization had three “extremely cheap” helmets ($15 to $20 range) tested along with three “very expensive” ones ($150 and above) and, he said, “their performance level was almost identical.”

如果有人擔心花費問題，斯沃特會高興地指出，很多廉價的頭盔和昂貴的一樣好用。他所在的機構(gòu)測試過三種“極其廉價”的頭盔(價格在15至20美元之間)，以及三種“極其昂貴”的頭盔(價格不低于150美元)，他說“它們的性能水平幾乎沒有差別。”

So if you’re not overly concerned about fashion or brand names, you can feel confident purchasing inexpensive helmets for every rider in the family at a chain or big-box store, he said. They all must meet the standards set by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

因此如果不太在意時尚或品牌，你可以信心十足地在連鎖店或倉儲式商店為家中的每一個騎行者購買一個廉價頭盔。它們都必須符合美國消費品安全委員會(Consumer Product Safety Commission)制定的標準。

After determining a proper fit for head size and comfort within your price range, my advice is to select a helmet that is brightly colored; one of mine is red-orange and the other lime-yellow, the same as the colors of the jackets and backpacks I wear with them.

買頭盔時，除了確定其大小適合頭部的尺寸，價格也在能承受的范圍內(nèi)，我的建議是挑一個色彩鮮艷的;我的一個頭盔是橘紅色的，另一個是酸橙黃的，我會用它們搭配同樣顏色的夾克和背包。

Now, don that helmet, enjoy the ride and come home safe and sound.

現(xiàn)在，請戴上頭盔，享受騎行的樂趣，然后安然無恙地回家。