Wearing a bike helmet can prevent serious injuries. (Image credit: Kate Chesley)

We know this sounds preachy, but read on for just a few minutes. There are two stories Adriadne Scott, assistant director of active mobility, wants to tell you.

The first is about Stanford student Kali Lindsay, who was riding her bike one day to meet her tutor at the library. She never made it. Instead, she ended up in Stanford Hospital with her parents by her side.

She doesn’t remember how it happened, but she fell from her bike in front of Larkin. She wasn’t wearing a helmet and ended up with a life-altering brain injury that impaired her ability to walk and to focus on books, television or a computer. She had to move home to recuperate. She was lucky. She eventually recovered and returned to school.

On the other hand, student Anna Polishchuk had a helmet on when she was hit broadside by a car on campus. She hit the windshield of the car at an intersection near FloMo. She was thrown unconscious into the bushes. Despite the severity of the crash, Polishchuk had only minor injuries.

Scott says students cite many excuses for not wearing a helmet, like helmet hair and having to carry their helmet around when they get to their destination.

We get it. Helmets can be a pain. But brain injuries really can’t be “cured.” Dr. David Spain, chief of trauma and critical care surgery at Stanford, often talks to students, and he explains that ruptured spleens, ruptured diaphragms and broken legs can all be fixed. There is no fix for the brain.

It’s not just surgeons and staff who see it. Brandon Hwa-Lin Bergsneider, ’20, has seen what happens to helmet-less riders at Stanford.

“As an RA this year, I’ve seen multiple of my residents sustain concussions and other injuries from biking without a helmet, and it breaks my heart,” Hwa-Lin Bergsneider says. “Wearing a helmet is the best way to keep yourself safe for your own sake and for the sake of people that care about you. Safety is sexy!”

Don’t have a helmet? Visit the Campus Bike Shop, where quality bike helmets cost only $25.

Got some ideas about helmet use you want to share? Email Scott at bike-information@stanford.edu.