A scene keeps playing in my head. Over and over again.
A man is riding his bicycle. He crosses the street and starts weaving right to left. He hits a pole and falls down. Head first on the street. He isn't moving. I get off my bike and run towards him. Blood is gushing from his head. He's still not moving. I turn him around and talk to him. No response. I gently nudge him. I hear him breathing. While helping him I signal cars passing by. A lady stands next to me, she's calling an ambulance. More people arrive. We're creating shade and try to stop the bleeding. The man starts to ramble. We comfort him and tell him to keep lying down. Police arrive. So does the ambulance, eventually. They patch him up and escort him to the hospital. We all leave the scene.
This is not coming from a movie or a dream.
This happened yesterday when I returned home from work. Right in front of me, with me being the first to arrive at the scene. It was super scary to see the way he fell and didn't move at all afterwards. I was extremely worried. All the blood, other injuries... When put in the ambulance, he was completely wrapped in bandages. I'm not sure if he's ok. I'll likely never know.
However, one thing I do know. If he had been wearing a helmet, his injuries would have been far less severe. I was wearing mine, but only because I was riding my Speed bike. For all the other short and slow commutes I'm not wearing it.
While we're a country with a strong cycling culture (behind the Netherlands & Denmark) a helmet is not mandatory. The focus is rather on safe infrastructure and traffic education rather than mandatory helmet laws. And I get it, I've been biking for 35+ years without any issue. But even so, accidents like this can happen.
This event opened my eyes. I will wear a helmet from now on, for all biking. Even if it messes up my hair. I'd rather have a temporary issue with my hair than a permanent issue with my brain.
And maybe you should consider wearing one as well.