Should The Use Of Bicycle Helmets Be Made A Legal Requirement In The UK?

I too have a firm view on this, as some may also have picked up on that alternative thread.

It's curious that it's now compulsory to wear helmets in all the pro events and cycle sportives now. I wonder why that is. 

I must buy a helmet for my bike because if they are made compulsury  the goverment  won't half bang the price up.

Back in the 90s there was a call in the UK to enforce the legal use of helmets for cyclists, and at that time the main medical associations within the UK were against it.

Their reasoning was the statistical information from what followed in Australia when wearing an approved cycle helmet became a legal requirement which resulted in large numbers of people giving up cycling. The advantages of cycling for health and fitness exceed the risks and dangers of non wearing a helmet, apparently.

Another issue is of enforcement, do you have an age limit to which the helmet legislation becomes necessary, or do policemen start convicting 4 year olds for cycling on pavements while not wearing a helmet?

My own opinions on this are:

no there should not a helmet law for UK cyclists just yet [so I could change my mind on this one day] but there should be full encouragement to wear a helmet, to include road safety tuition in schools including detailed accounts of examples of head injuries caused in Road Traffic Accidents.

Cycle helmets should all be sold tax free, and for children up to age 16 the cost should be subsidised by the taxpayer; which could in theory save money later my reducing the effects of injury and the cost to the NHS for treatment.

Most bicycle accident casualties are in the UK are children however statistically more pedestrians suffer more head injuries than cyclists, so imo they really ought to make pedestrian helmets compulsory before looking into cycling : )

Debs

I think they should George. I'm 'old school' like you, and don't wear a cycle helmet - and should. I wouldn't dream of taking to the road on a motorcycle without one, and they weren't a legal requirement when I started riding.

it's all very well giving the individual choice, but there is the knock-on effect of cost to the emergency serives and the NHS In the event of serious road traffic collision injury. Sometimes we need saving from ourselves.

I used to enjoy kneeling on the back seat of a car and looking out of the rear window as a child. It's unthinkable now.

John.

I think Debs makes some good arguments here.  Before introducing new legislation it is important to weight proportionality and the practicalities of enforcement. It is generally better not to legislate than to have a law which is seen to be poorly enforced. For a good example of the latter look at the implementation and enforcement of the Dangerous Dogs Act.

Far better in my view to use education and marketing to influence behaviour.  That's what I'd do with the cycle helmet issue. Parents should be making sure their kids where one while cycling, and they should be setting an example themselves.  

For me, it's only in the past couple of years that I've used a cycle helmet which was prompted by a colleague at work coming off his bike on a down-hill run when he badly hurt his shoulder but the helmet probably saved his life. He also had a helmet-cam video of the incident which I saw on a colleague's smart-phone.  Point made: helmet purchased.

MDS

I'm fairly sure I'd be dead if it weren't for my cycle helmet. Certainly both times I have come off the bike in a nasty way (one sudden puncture, going downhill, round a curve, wet road: the other being hit by a car), my head made contact with the ground, and without the helmet the cuts and bruises would have definitely been worse.

I would not dream of going out cycling without wearing a helmet.

I can see both sides of the legislation argument, but on balance I would be in favour. For at least some people, their first accident may be their last anything.

Nicely varied and interesting posts so far, but I think it is important to draw a distinction between whether it is on balance a good idea to use a cycling helmet or not, and the notion that the choice in the matter of actually using should rest with the rider him or herself.

I have a real dislike of the nanny state and notions that because some expert thinks he or she she knows better than me, that I should be compelled by law to follow that advice.

So far there are posts that suggest that poster believes [and quite possibly rightly] that wearing a helmet is a good idea, and generally these suggest that a law to compel it would be a good thing.

My view is that if a person wants to wear a helmet, then they are free to do so. That is where I probably disagree with the pro-helmet people. 

Very interesting discussion though, which has avoided geeing heated so far. Brilliant!

ATB from George

Debs

Are you saying from this post that at present you have to pay VAT on cycle helmets ? Reason for asking is because when i had my motorcycle w/sale business all the helmets we sold to retail shops were Zero rated for VAT.

Mista H

This was my story (misplaced on the vinyl collector thread):

https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...68#35638440518009568

For Clive:

Quotation from the other thread!

"In 1987 I was cycling up a hill of ~8% gradient in Bristol, probably going at less than 10mph, passing some vehicles parked on grass at the side of the road when a van driver opened his door. The next thing I knew was waking up on a trolley as I was being wheeled into Frenchay hospital with a fractured skull. I wasn't wearing a helmet. In 1987 they were quite heavy and looked so uncool. Stupid me.

"Luckily I survived.

"Now I wish that wearing a helmet on a bicycle was a legal requirement. It's just plain stupid no to."

I am passionatley pro-helmet, but do not believe it should be law. Helmet laws discourage cycling by making it inconvenient and seem more dangerous. Helmet laws in Australia do nothing to deter the homocidal drivers in any case.

This reply probably makes no sense as whatever speed you're going your noggin is never going to have a happy time kissing tarmac - on my road bike, always wear a helmet. On my hybrid - anything over an hour, wear my helmet but for picking up the groceries, post or getting lunch / dinner then helmet stays in the cupboard.

The hassle of enforcing this as a law would be better spent on cyclists using mobile phones, going the wrong way up cycle paths that are uni-directional (if you wouldn't do it in a car, why on a bike?), jumping traffic lights and the same applies to knob-end drivers that don't pay attention.

I never wore a helmet when skiing but now it is second nature and there's no reason it shouldn't be similar for cyclists. What's more ridiculous a helmet or a fat bloke in lycra?

I have no problems with your choices. Personally, I never cycle without a helmet, except for when I am travelling and I rent a Boris Bike or something similar and no helmets are available. We all have anecdotes about when helmets have saved serious injury. Wear them, people. I always wear a helmet skiing, too.

(But it still shouldn't be law - IMO)

I never cycle without a hat! A flattop or sunhat! In fact I never drive a car without a hat either! I don't even like going outside with one ... 

But I agree with your choices, Winki

ATB from George

Had I been wearing a helmet in 1987 I would not have fractured my skull. Since leaving hospital and recovering at home I have always worn a helmet. Now it is second nature, like wearing a seat belt when driving a car. 

That said, on live roads cyclists must obey the laws of the road.

And I do wear Lycra, but I only have a BMI of 20 - owing to cycling and running, I'm sure - I recommend both. 

Keep my helmet on bike handle-bars. Can't ride without taking helmet off bike and 

easier to wear it than find somewhere to put it. Worked in A&E and saw cyclist with skull sheared off.  Wouldn't feel right cycling without helmet just as driving without seatbelt. Unable to persuade teenage daughters (not cool).  If it were law then they would wear one without argument just as they belt

up in car. 

Been the same weight and height since 1985.

BMI  of 23.8

I guess that has a lot to do with cycling and working physically hard. At 52 this gives some room for a decline without much harm!

ATB from George

A tricky question. I only wear a helmet when riding my road bike - but I know I should be wearing a helmet all the time, even when going down to the local post office. On the other hand, the number of people riding in town would go down dramatically if they were compelled to wear a helmet - or they simply wouldn't care and they wouldn't be fined by the police anyway (I live in France...). So a law would be pointless.

The law should be changed. Cyclists should be legally required to wear a suitable helmet, just like motorcyclists. Just because it doesn't make sense in Australia doesn't mean it won't make sense in the UK

Its no more nanny state than the compulsary wearing of seatbelts in a car.

And if 4 year olds are caught cycling on pavements without a helmet, their parents should be prosecuted.

But, like many other posters, proper training and education of cyclists is the best investment IMHO (as i've said so many times before) and that should also be compulsary.

The best investment would be training motor drivers much better, and sufficient sanctions against dangerous driving to be a real deterrent against bad motor driving.

It applies as much for pedestrians versus motorists as cyclists of course ...

ATB from George

Is there still such a thing as the cycling proficiency test?

I remember doing this at school, it was extremely enlightening.

Jason

Possibly ... or ,,, not,

Mista H,

i bow in admiration to your superior knowledge on the matter!

indeed i’ve just had a look and found that cycle helmets sold in the UK are a non VAT item! : )

All we need now are some sensible tax subsidies to get the prices lower, …and also a new fashion for trendy 'pedestrian helmets' [because pedestrians get more head injuries than cyclists], and to make it compulsory for all pedestrians to attend walking tuition and to learn pavement craft and Proficiency Test to include the safe way of stepping off a kerb onto a highway.

The GDofA - the Government Department of Acronyms could then come up with something like; ’Safty Incorporated Leg-craft Licence Yardstick’ and probably be wise to have the Tory-Toff party appoint us a brand new Minister for Silly-Walks too! : )

Debs

Dear Debs,

I'd love to see the Ministry of Funny Walks in reality,

My very best wishes for a Happy Easter to you, G