Darja Bamming was riding her bike along the Maple Avenue sidewalk last month when a car pulled out of a parking lot, clipped her back wheel and sent her flying into a puddle.

She wasn’t wearing a helmet. Luckily, the first-year biology doctoral candidate was unharmed.

Bamming said she doesn’t wear a helmet, even in light of the accident.

“I would forget about it somewhere,” she said. “I just don’t feel totally insecure without a helmet.”

Whether they are biking between classes or cruising around downtown Evanston, many Northwestern students don’t don helmets. They might not use protective gear because of peer pressure or for cosmetic reasons, said Feinberg Prof. Mark Sleeper, a physical therapist. But students put themselves at risk by not taking preventative measures, he said.

“Every year, very simple accidents – result in a high number of deaths as a result of striking the head on the pavement,” said Sleeper, who specializes in orthopedics but occasionally treats people with neurological problems, such as head trauma from bicycling injuries.

Even while wearing a helmet, Weinberg senior Archana Sriram suffered facial fractures, a broken jaw, a hip fracture and a broken leg last week after a yellow Hummer struck her on her bike at the intersection of Lake Street and Sherman Avenue.

Some students, like Weinberg junior Judith Feingold, take precautions. Feingold usually sports a hand-painted red helmet covered in band stickers over her long, black hair.

“It’s the best bet to keep safe,” she said. “A bike rider can do everything right in terms of signalling and clothes and lights, but there’s still the chance you’re going to get hit by a car anyway.”

The risks of riding without a helmet often aren’t enough to persuade most students to protect their heads. Some students said helmets are cumbersome and unattractive. Seasons also make helmet use a burden, Sleeper said. During the summer, helmets can be hot and uncomfortable. During the winter, it can be hard to put helmets over hats.

Weinberg senior Karl Sluis, who commutes to campus from Ridge Avenue and Church Street, said he never wears a helmet, even when he’s on city streets. But Sluis said he takes secondary routes and tries to avoid busy streets like Sherman Avenue and Sheridan Road.

“I don’t want to deal with holding onto it and keeping track of it and looking like a dork,” he said. “It’s probably pretty foolish, but I keep doing it anyway.”

Several students also said they ride helmet-less only on campus. But risks of riding without a helmet are about the same on campus as along busy streets, Sleeper said. He said he once treated a 13-year-old girl whose bike wheel got caught on a sidewalk and caused her to hit her head on the curb. She wasn’t wearing a helmet and suffered permanent loss of her short-term memory.

“The dangers are equal because freak accidents happen,” Sleeper said.

Some students said they didn’t want to spend the money to buy a helmet, which range in price from about $15 to more than $50.

The city could take some steps to increase bike safety, students said. Adding more bike lanes on Evanston streets would be a start. Current city law forbids bike-riding on downtown Evanston sidewalks, so students must ride in the streets.

Second-year Kellogg student Gordon Hilbun said he wears a helmet only when he rides downtown. On campus, he said he’s just lazy.

“Unfortunately I even know the statistics,” he said. “I’m just playing the game, probability-wise. I’m taking the chance.”

Reach Lauren Pond at [email protected].