Page 8 - 71187_NSAA_FallJournal2016
P. 8
Research
INDUSTRY SETS YET ANOTHER RECORD
FOR HELMET USE
BY DAVE BYRD, DIRECTOR OF RISK & REGULATORY AFFAIRS
DURING THE 2015-16 SEASON, skiers and snowboarders wore snowboarders wore helmets. The growth has been nothing
helmets at yet another record pace, with 80 percent wearing short of dramatic. In the 2002-03 season, 25 percent of all
helmets, according to the annual NSAA National Demographic skiers/snowboarders wore helmets. That number has more
Study, which was released in August. This is the 14th consec- than tripled since NSAA began surveying the skiing and
utive ski season that overall helmet use has increased, with 80 riding public.
percent of all skiers and snowboarders in helmets, rising from
78 percent during the 2014-15 season (figure 1). The helmet statistics is just one key part of an import-
ant and broader data set from NSAA’s National Demographic
NSAA began collecting helmet usage statistics during Study, which is compiled and analyzed by the market
the 2002-03 season, when a fraction of overall skiers/ research firm RRC Associates in Boulder, Colo. Employees
Figure 1. Helmet Use Overall, 2006-07 to 2015-16
100%
90%
80% 78% 80%
2014/15 2015/16
70% 67% 71% 73%
2011/12 2012/13 2013/14
60% 56% 61%
2009/10 2010/11
50% 40% 43% 48%
40% 2007/08 2008/09
30%
20%
10%
0%
2006/07
6 | NSAA JOURNAL | FALL 2016
