CYCLE helmets prevent many serious head injuries and save lives. Evidence
from New Zealand shows that a law compelling cyclists to wear helmets led to a
19 per cent fall in the number of head injuries. That鈥檚 not surprising. Anything
that reduces the impact of a crash on our bodies saves lives: look at helmets
for motorcyclists and seat belts for people in cars.
Yet the British Medical Association argues against making cycle helmets
compulsory. It says that helmet laws in Australia led to a fall in the number of
cyclists. The BMA wants to encourage people to travel by bike, seeing cycling as
the perfect antidote to a sedentary lifestyle.
There are other reasons, too, why the BMA is right to be cautious. The
fundamental problem for cyclists is that they are vulnerable鈥攁nd wearing a
helmet doesn鈥檛 help much. It may even lead to a false sense of security. A
helmet won鈥檛 prevent you being mangled under the wheels of a truck.
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Head injuries are a serious but small part of a bigger problem. Two papers
published in 1994 in the British Medical Journal (vol 308, p 1534 and p
1537) illustrate this point. A study of a thousand cyclists who were treated in
a Cambridge hospital showed that cycle helmets reduced head injuries, and the
study鈥檚 authors suggested making helmets compulsory. Yet only 3 per cent of the
cyclists had head injuries that kept them in hospital overnight. Many more had
broken bones.
By concentrating on head injuries we risk losing sight of the real danger.
The second BMJ paper looked at 178 cyclists who died in London between
1985 and 1992. All but five were killed by motor vehicles: 75 were the victims
of trucks and 74 were hit by cars. Cycling is safe on its own. It鈥檚 other
vehicles that are the danger.
Partial body protection will not make a huge dent in this death toll.
Cyclists must be physically separated from other traffic, and that means
building networks of safe cycle routes in every city. That isn鈥檛 cheap or easy,
and it requires a lot more resources than have been invested by most British
cities, where the best that cyclists can hope for is a strip of coloured tarmac
along the side of the road.
To be effective, cycle networks have to allow cyclists to travel around town
without having to share their road space with speeding motor vehicles. And they
should not have to make huge detours either. Otherwise nobody will want to use
the dedicated lanes. On busy roads, cyclists should have at least a kerb to keep
other traffic at bay. They also need special phases at traffic lights to help
them cross busy traffic lanes. Where streets with light traffic form part of the
network, measures such as road humps are needed to limit the speed of motor
vehicles.
Cycling is healthy and it can ease the pressure on other forms of transport.
Building proper cycle routes will encourage people to take it up.
