The 82^nd Academy Awards are at 8 ET / 5 PT Sunday, March 7, 2010 at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood and the glamour will be in full effect. In honor of this year’s Oscars we’d like to recognize those that we consider superstars by setting positive examples of safety by wearing a helmet! This week’s Fast Facts Friday is a collection of photos from around the web of Oscar-related celebs wearing helmets.

Jake Gyllenhaal is best known for his roles in Donnie Darko, Bubble Boy, The Day After Tomorrow, Jarhead, and Brokeback Mountain (in which he was nominated an Oscar for best actor in 2005). He isn’t nominated for an Academy Award this year, but his older sister Maggie Gyllenhaal is nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in Crazy Heart.

We’re not sure if Maggie rides a bike, but Jake sure does. We’re excited to see him staying safe in a Giro helmet when he’s riding the streets.

Photo courtesy JustJared.BuzzNet.com

 Matthew Broderick is best known for his role in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. He also starred in the 1999 movie Election which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing. These days he keeps his pant leg rolled up so it won’t get caught in the chain, and wears a Bell helmet for safety.

Photo courtesy Cyclelicio.us

Matt Damon is best known for … ummm, well, he’s been in a TON of popular movies including Good Will Hunting, Saving Private Ryan, Rounders, The Bourne series, The Departed, and 2009’s Invictus. He is actually nominated this year for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his role in Invictus. We’re definitely glad to see he’s staying safe with a Bell Helmet.

Photo courtesy ShowHype.com 

Hugh Jackman is known for his role as the slashing, side-burned X-Man Wolverine. He hosted the 81^st Academy Awards last year to rave reviews. He isn’t nominated for an Oscar this year, and he’s not hosting the awards show either, but when we found photos of him wearing a helmet while riding his mountain bike we had to share.

Photo courtesy DailyMail.co.uk

Carey Mulligan is nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her role in An Education.

Here she is seen sporting a helmet as she rides on the back of a motorcycle with boyfriend Shia LaBeouf, also protecting his valuable head with a helmet.

Photo courtesy DailyMail.co.uk

Have you seen or know of any other celebrities that wear a helmet? Please share with us by leaving a comment below!

We at Bell Sports hold bicycling – and safety – dear to our hearts. We publish these Fast Facts Friday (#FFF) blog posts with the hope of providing you with insightful information, and inspiring you to get out and ride. We also intend to provide you with factual information that encourages you to always wear a helmet when cycling. So, in the spirit of #FFF, today’s installment features some obscure bicycling and helmet facts meant to educate, inspire, and maybe even answer that nagging question that has piqued your curiosity time and again.

1) Despite the requirement for adults to use hand signals when riding in traffic, The American Academy of Pediatrics says Children shouldn’t use hand signals, because signaling may cause them to lose control of their bikes. (AAP.org)

2) Ever wonder why male cyclists shave their legs? Well, according to eHow.com it is it has nothing to do with aerodynamics, and more to do with road rash, massage, hygiene, vanity and tradition. Hairless legs are easier to clean, and it’s less painful to tear bandages off of smooth skin than hairy skin. Plus leg hair gets messy when slathered in massage oils, and it is easier for masseuses to work on bald legs. (eHow.com)

3) In China, bicycles outnumber cars 250 to 1, and in Tokyo, Japan a bicycle is faster than a car for most trips of less than 50 minutes. (Strange-Facts.info)

4) Bell Helmets feature EPS (expanded polystyrene) foam liners. The purpose of the liner is to help prevent or reduce brain injury by absorbing the energy of an impact through its own compression or destruction. (BellSports.com)

5) And our Fast Fact“ee” of honor: At 25 years old Georgia native Fred A. Birchmore circled the globe by bicycle. The entire trip, through Europe, Asia, and the United States, covered forty thousand miles. Over the course of his tour, taken in 1935, he pedaled about 25,000 miles and wore out seven sets of tires. The rest was traveled by boat. And, Fred just celebrated his 98^th birthday this week! Happy belated birthday, Fred! (NationalGeographic.com)

What inspires you? Let us know what type of information gets you out on the road or on the trail spinning those wheels!

In the United States, Veteran’s Day takes place on November 11 every year and serves as a federal holiday in remembrance and observance of our troops. Well, in honor of the all the brave US soldiers who have served, fought and dedicated themselves to defending our freedom, we would like to dedicate today’s post to saying “Thank You” to our men and women in the armed forces.

Seeing as we’re in the helmet manufacturing business, we thought – what would be a more fitting way to show our gratitude than to highlight the military by providing some insight and historical context about the military helmet?

1) In 1981, Bell Sports introduced products for anti-ballistic military and law enforcement use. (Bell Sports)

2) The development and expanded use of steel helmets “saved the French” in WWI as it enabled them to disregard German artillery fire. (NYTimes.com)

3) During World War II, the United States designed and standardized the M-1 helmet, which became the symbol of the American soldier and was used afterward in the Korean and Vietnam wars. (ehow.com)

4) Thanks to generous donations, Operation Helmet has sent 46,009 protective helmet-pad upgrade kits to U.S. soldiers in the field. (Operation-Helmet.org)

5) In April 2009 Army Staff Sgt. Matthew Harvey received a Purple Heart and Combat Action Badge after being shot in the helmet and continuing to return fire during an enemy attack in Najaf, Iraq on Feb. 10. Harvey’s life was saved by his Advanced Combat Helmet. (Army.mil)

Thanks again to all the veterans out there for your service, and let’s not forget about the role helmets have had in the safety and protection of those who risk their lives for our freedom.

With flakes of snow already accumulating on mountain tops at ski resorts across the world (Mt. Baker, Washington received two feet of snow this week, and Boreal broke a personal record by opening earlier than ever in the resort’s history – Oct. 9, 2009!) we at Bell Sports thought it necessary to address the issue of helmets and safety on the slopes.

Issue? Well, there’s not so much of a helmet issue amongst skiers and snowboarders as there is a need for helmet awareness and acceptance. Many skiers and snowboarders do wear helmets, however the majority still do not.

One trend we’ve noticed is that kids who grow up skiing and snowboarding with a helmet on are more inclined to continue wearing a helmet as an adult.

As this generation of helmet-wearing riders gets older, helmets will likely become the norm. But for now, we’d still like to see more children and adults start wearing helmets on the slopes today.

While ski and snowboard-related head injuries account for very few of the overall injuries that occur on the slopes, they can be very serious when they occur. (PlanetSki.eu)

Knowing this fact alone, don’t you think everyone should be wearing a helmet while riding? Well…unlike when riding a bicycle, children are not required by law to wear a helmet when skiing or snowboarding, and many won’t. According to a recent story in the London Telegraph – more than half of British skiers will take to the slopes without a helmet this season. (Telegraph.co.uk)

Despite this, some ski areas taking a pro-active approach by requiring children and students to wear helmets during snowboard lessons or when riding in a terrain park. Ski instructors are also required to wear a helmet when teaching lessons. (OnTheSnow.com)

For those looking for snow-appropriate headgear this season, Giro (sister company to Bell Sports), offers an affordable collection of both ski and snowboard helmets. Giro also sponsors some pretty awesome riders including Gretchen Bleiler and Antti Autti.

The safety concerns of riding in the snow without a helmet, combined with a great selection of stylish and comfortable ski and snowboard helmets, leads us to believe that helmets will make a big splash on the ski slopes this season.

If you need more reasons to wear a helmet on the slopes, consider that the fact that many helmets come with a removable inner lining that is designed to keep your head warm. Other helmets come with built-in headphones so you can listen to your favorite tunes while riding. Like this one:

Have fun this season, but please think twice before riding without a helmet!

As you’ve all (hopefully) realized by now (because we’ve even reminded you), this Sunday is Father’s Day. A good gift goes a long way but what can be even more meaningful is simply giving time. Why not take him up on that ride along one of the bike trails he’s been hinting about for some time now? This will give you a moment to catch up, laugh and reconnect outside of the normal business of your everyday schedules. And…since dads always seem to know everything about anything (at least our dads did), we thought we’d equip you with some random facts to impress him with while you’re out and about.

1. On a round-trip commute of 10 miles, bicyclists save roughly $10 daily, spare the air 10 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions and burn around 360 calories. (Bikes Belong)

2. Many bicycle accidents involving older children occur when they fail to signal motorists as to their intended actions. (The Injury Prevention Program)

3. The two-wheeled pedal powered bicycle was first conceived in Paris in the 1860s. By 1888 John Dunlop invented pneumatic tires and the chain drive making possible the safety bicycle, giving the bicycle its modern form. (Wikipedia)

4. Linda Armstrong Kelly, mother of seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, in cooperation with Bell Sports and Safe Kids, has been involved in teaching parents and children the “Eyes, Ears & Mouth” check list to make sure helmets fit properly. (Bell Sports)

5. Approximately 100,000 people every year require some sort of medical treatment for skateboard-related injuries. A majority of these injuries are a result of people not wearing or not using proper safety equipment like helmets and pads. Ouch! (EzineArticles)

Won’t be able to meet up with dad on Father’s Day this year? Win him this Bell True Fit helmet at TG Daily and you might still earn a few extra brownie points.

It’s the end of the month, and many will be doing number crunching of some sort, so we thought we’d join in the fun and provide some interesting and important statistics. And, while we think bike riding should be an enjoyable and fun activity for all and don’t want to invoke fear, we do want to inspire a sense of precaution to encourage everyone to take a few very simple but effective preventative steps, like wearing a helmet, when traveling by wheel.

1. Each year, more than 500,000 children go to hospital emergency rooms or doctors’ offices due to bicycle injuries. (Consumer Product Safety Commission)

2. More than half of these (above mentioned) collisions happen on neighborhood streets, sidewalks, or playgrounds. (Consumer Product Safety Commission)

3. Nearly 690 children are injured daily due to bicycle-related crashes. (Safe Kids)

4. Approximately 12 bicycles can be parked in the space required for one automobile. (rideyourbike.com)

5. Bell Sports spent 5 years of R&D before introducing the True Fit helmet this April. Even still, the True Fit (and all helmets) needs to be worn correctly, in order to reduce the risk of serious injury when in a crash. (Bell Sports)

Now that you know some of the facts, stay tuned for next week’s guest post from Safe Kids CEO, Mitch Stoller, who has some smart tips to share about bike safety. And as always, we ask that if you have ‘em, please chime in with some related facts of your own!