In a recent survey, we found that more than half of Americans don’t wear a bike helmet, and watching riders on the streets of my city, that seems to be the case. But it’s still surprising to me. I know, they take a bit of getting used to, and you have to find one that fits well and is comfortable. But take it from me: You won’t realize you need one until you really need one, and by then it could be too late.

When I was 21 and a senior in college, I had a long-term boyfriend, David. He rode his bike everywhere. It was his single mode of transport, and he was a very skilled and cautious cyclist. Unfortunately, his caution didn’t really help when he was hit by a driver who ran a stop sign going 35+ miles per hour down a quiet residential street.

Just like on a TV show, the police rang my doorbell to deliver the news that he’d been taken by ambulance to the local hospital. Later, a Life Flight helicopter took him 40 miles away to a trauma center where he had emergency surgery to stop a brain hemorrhage. Eventually, after literally months of recuperation, David regained most of his physical and mental function, but he was left with partially controlled epilepsy.