Bicycle Helmet Research Foundation

The Bicycle Helmet Research Foundation is an association of cycle safety professionals and advocates which exists to collect and disseminate accurate information about cycle helmets. Most helmet information is presented by promoters and compulsionists, such as BeHIT and SafeKids; BHRF aims to offset that by presenting the evidence helmet advocates choose to ignore or gloss over, and pointing out the flaws in the evidence they do cite.

It does appear that the work of BHRF has had at least some effect, in that British helmet promoters have largely stopped using the discredited 85% / 88% figures. This is at least partly due to complaints made to the Advertising Standards Authority in respect of misleading advertisements promoting cycle helmets.

BHRF has been accused of being anti-helmet. This is false. Several prominent members have previously been helmet promoters, and have only become sceptical in response to a review of the evidence. Others have publicly said that if compelling evidence comes to light that helmets save meaningful numbers of serious injuries, they will change from neutral to promotion.

BHRF is, however, sceptical, in the sense of scientific scepticism - that is, defaulting to the null hypothesis unless and until the evidence shows otherwise. This is in contrast to most helmet activists, who uncritically accept early (largely discredited) reports and then demand that sceptics provide proof of no effect. This is a double fallacy: it requires proof of a negative, which is impossible; and it reverses the burden of proof, which is rightly with those proposing, not opposing, an intervention.