CYCLISTS no longer have an excuse not to wear a helmet. Records of emergency
admissions clearly show that they do protect riders.
There has been controversy over the worth of helmets, with some people
suggesting that they encourage cyclists to ride dangerously. So Adrian Cook and
Aziz Sheikh from the Imperial College School of Medicine in London studied
records of people who had been injured while cycling between 1991 and 1995.
During that time, cycle helmet use rose from almost zero to around 20 per
cent. Among injured cyclists, the percentage with head injuries fell from 40 per
cent to 28 per cent, the researchers found (British Medical Journal,
vol 321, p 1055). The drop was similar among all age groups. 鈥淗elmets protect
against the vast majority of head injuries,鈥� Cook concludes. 鈥淭here is a strong
case for legislation to make helmets compulsory.鈥�
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