Why people are against enforcing cycling helmets – explained As a cyclist and solicitor who represents injured cyclists, I regularly deal with cases for cyclists who have been injured on our roads. I’ve come across so many studies and so much evidence for and against the efficacy of bicycle helmets that it’s hard to form a definitive view on them. These are my thoughts, but it’s clearly a confusing and emotive issue – whichever side of the fence you sit on.
Mark Hambleton is a partner in our Personal Injury team and a cycling advocate who writes regularly for industry press such as road.cc.
For example, I’ve come across an Australian study suggesting that cyclists who wear helmets reduce their risk of a fatal head injury by 65%1 and I’ve come across studies concluding that cycling participation reduces when helmets are a mandatory requirement, all the while there are other (detrimental) knock-on consequences in terms of health, pollution, driver behaviour, and our economy. This is before I turn my mind to how it’s plainly wrong to address the effect rather than the cause of cycling accidents on our roads.
I choose to wear a helmet when I go out on my bike but I am strongly against the idea that it should be compulsory for cyclists to wear helmets. Statistically, there are far more pedestrians killed or seriously injured on our roads than cyclists, but there is no suggestion that we should all be forced to wear a helmet when we go for a walk. Compulsory helmet laws would do nothing to encourage safe cycling. It would in fact have the effect of reducing cycling participation and reinforcing the perception that it is a high-risk activity.
The important thing is that people should be free to choose whether or not they wear a helmet. If we’re committed to improving the health of our nation, air quality and congestion in our cities, and our economy, then we should be doing everything we can to increase cycling participation. Naturally, that involves making cycling safer and reducing the number of accidents, rather than asking ourselves the wrong questions about helmets which actually distracts us from the important issues.
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