Q8: Why would making helmets compulsory be another bad idea?

Q8: Why would making helmets compulsory be another bad idea?

Cycling UK believes that individuals should be able to choose whether or not to wear a cycle helmet, mainly because making it compulsory in other countries put a significant number of people off cycling altogether.

The only known effect of enforced helmet laws is to substantially reduce cycling. For example, in the immediate aftermath of compulsion, cyclist numbers dropped: • by 60%+ in Nova Scotia, Canada • by 21% in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia • by 22% among adults and 55% among children at road intersections in Sydney, Australia • by 91% among girls at secondary schools in Sydney. You don’t have to reduce cycling by much to make serious inroads into its enormous benefits, which outweigh the risks by far (see Q1). So, even a tiny drop is likely to shorten many more lives than compulsory cycle helmets could possibly save, even if they were 100% effective in all types of crash or collision (which they’re not). Helmets are not designed to withstand the sort of impact a cyclist could suffer if hit by a speeding car. Instead, standards dictate that they must cater for an impact velocity of 20 km/h (12.5 mph)45 , which might happen, for example, when someone – maybe a young learner – falls from a stationary bike. Helmets may also protect the head from minor knocks and scrapes (e.g. from branches). Many reports find that helmet laws have failed to reduce the overall risk for people who aren’t put off cycling, and there are even cases where their safety seems to have worsened as helmet wearing rates increased.46 To improve conditions for cycling, it makes better sense to tackle dangers at source. This means: effective traffic law enforcement and driver education; 20 mph limits for most streets in built-up areas, normalising the idea of driving at low speed where people are likely to be cycling; cycle-friendly highways and junctions; plus moves to deal with the risks posed by lorries. Cycle training also helps give adults and children the skills and confidence they need to ride safely on the road (Q4).

• For considerably more detail, see our formal policy and collected evidence on cycle helmets.

45 Brian Walker. Heads Up, Cycle magazine, June/July 2005. www.cyclehelmets.org/papers/c2023.pdf 46 See Appendix B of Cycling UK’s overview of the evidence on cycle helmets.