It’s worth also considering the case of ski helmets. Since these have became common on the slopes head trauma has actually increased because wearers take more risks.
Yeah, or the idea that maybe helmets in gridiron football increase CTE.
I see the possibility, but my own anecdotal experience with mask wearers and non-wearers jives with the other correlation: that non-wearers generally didn’t take the pandemic seriously.
The people that I know who shunned masks also ignored the COVID threat in other ways: Large gatherings, vacations to another state to escape lockdown restrictions, etc.
Whereas my religiously-masked friends were basically isolated last year.
And because I have several such anecdotes, I now have data :)
This is not clear cut: see this review which concludes that this is not the case (helmets neither increase injuries nor risky behaviour). In general the idea of risk compensation is frequently brought up in these cases, and while it may seem intuitive, it usually does not appear in the data.
This is probably more likely. Risk compensation (people behaving more dangerously when they have more safeguards) basically doesn't happen - it's an excuse to not use the safeguards. When seatbelts were introduced lots of people were opposed because it encouraged driving, or because they wanted the chance to just roll out of the car if it was about to crash.
I definitely noticed a change in behavior at stores and at weddings I photographed once the mask mandate happened. Before it happened? Small backyard ceremonies with just families. In stores people straight up avoided being close to others.
I had previously read that WW1 saw an increase in head injuries when helmets were used, due to victims surviving previously fatal injuries. However on searching it doesn't seem that clear-cut.
