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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder why wearing a cycle helmet isn't made law?

279 replies

sensuallettuce · 26/05/2012 16:48

I struggle to make my kids wear a cycle helmet as they perceive it to be very uncool ( and don't listen to me suggesting it may be more uncool to be dead or brain damaged Sad.)

I lived in New Zealand for a while where it is law to wear one which seems to take away the "option" for school kids esp - everyone wears one - there is no debate.

Driving through town today I passed a lady on a push bike wearing a sam brown and loads of reflectors on her backpack but no helmet - so its our responsibility to see her rather than for her to protect herself.

AIBU to wonder what the reason is for it not being law to wear a helmet on a bicycle as it is on a motorcycle in this country? Even if not just for kids?

OP posts:
poorchurchmouse · 02/08/2012 18:06

Sorry, "left" should have been "right" in my point 4 - I had the right of way at the roundabout!

Rowgtfc72 · 02/08/2012 18:26

I wear one and hi vis but then i bike on dual carriage ways. Traffic does come closer than it would if I didnt wear one in my opinion, Dd wears one, she wouldnt be allowed on her bike without it. Dh doesnt. His choice. Im well aware that if the car doing 70 hits me Im toast. But I feel safer and if it didnt hit me and just made me wobble off I believe it would save my head. As for looking a tit, Im sure I do, but I cant see myself so who cares !

MirandaGoshawk · 02/08/2012 18:45

I really think it's a mistake if this were to be made compulsory. It's great if it's cool, the norm, and everyone does it. Especially if the Wigginses of this world wear one and you can say to your kirds that he does it so you should.

There are lots of things that I'd like to see illegal, like smoking around dch. Of course people should be encouraged to wear helmets. But the law? No. that fills me with horror. People should have free will.

MirandaGoshawk · 02/08/2012 18:45

kirds? Hmm dch!

Trills · 02/08/2012 18:58

This was written by my MP today

AgentZigzag · 02/08/2012 19:03

The MP says 'By making cycling helmets compulsory we would be saying to people that cycling is not a safe thing to do.' and this is the problem, it's the paradox between promoting cycling as a healthy and valuable thing to do, at the same time as saying you're taking a risk doing it.

MirandaGoshawk · 02/08/2012 19:19

I think that what bothers me is that if DH hops on his bike to go the 500yards to the allotment without benefit of a helmet he would be committing a criminal offence Shock.

I would like him to wear one. Sometimes he does. But to prosecute him if he doesn't... No.

Ponders · 02/08/2012 20:33

if you think are quite likely to have an accident then wear one, if you think it's very, very unlikey then don't

there is so much wrong with that statement I don't know where to start Hmm

Ponders · 02/08/2012 20:51

on PM this evening they had a pro-cycling anti-helmet bloke on, & a brain injury organisation pro-helmet bloke

the brain injury bloke made a lot more sense. he also said that the BMA endorse helmet wearing (& they're the ones who have to deal with the damage)

AgentZigzag · 02/08/2012 21:09

'he also said that the BMA endorse helmet wearing (& they're the ones who have to deal with the damage)'

And you're happy with non-elected bodies dictating legislation that would criminalise people?

That's why people who have very emotive incentives (like family or friends of those involved in bike collisions) shouldn't have the opportunity to drive what policies get passed by parliament, because it should always be as objective as possible.

maristella · 02/08/2012 21:11

Yanbu I really wish it was law

AgentZigzag · 02/08/2012 21:13

There's nothing stopping you wearing one maristella.

Why do you feel so strongly about pushing your opinions onto other people?

Because it's 'for their own good'?

Nanny state.

happybubblebrain · 02/08/2012 21:17

*if you think are quite likely to have an accident then wear one, if you think it's very, very unlikey then don't

there is so much wrong with that statement I don't know where to start*

There's nothing wrong with that statement.

I've been riding a bike for 36 years. I haven't fallen off one for 31 years. It is therefore extremely unlikely that I'm going to in the next 31 years. Even if I did fall off, the chance of me hitting my head is about 1 in 1,000,000 because I'm not an idiot, I know where my head is and I'll use my arms to stop it from hitting the ground first. Why do I need a helmet??

However, if was falling off my bike all the time and I was an idiot who didn't know where my head was, then a helmet makes perfect sense.

nocake · 02/08/2012 21:32

Helmets are very useful in certain types of accident which is why I wear one. I used to race triathlons and have seen lots of people with wrecked helmets but no head injuries. But I still don't think they should be compulsory because there is plenty of evidence on both sides of the argument. Until there is clear evidence one way or the other they should not be compulsory (and anecdotes aren't evidence).

The best way to make cycling safer is to have more cyclists on the road. Stop cycling on the pavements and get on the road where we belong. Show cars that we have every right to be on the road and they need to pay attention to us.

Ponders · 02/08/2012 21:34

accidents happen by chance - they cannot be predicted - & just because you haven't fallen on your head for 36 years it doesn't mean that you won't fall on it tomorrow (or be caused to by another road user)

the adult members of my family choose not to wear helmets, even in city traffic. if it was compulsory I would worry much less.

nocake · 02/08/2012 21:56

I rode for years without crashing then one day, on the way to work, I encountered a set of circumstances that resulted in me hitting the road. Not my fault. Did I use my arms to protect my head? No. I was trying to control my bike to avoid crashing and by the time I realised I was going down it was too late. Fortunately I didn't hit my head because my shoulder touched down first but that was nothing to do with my abilities and everything to do with luck.

If you think that you won't crash because you haven't crashed in 31 years you are an idiot. If you also think that you'll use your arms to protect your head you're a double idiot.

Housespouse · 02/08/2012 22:03

Yes, helmets should be made compulsory for all passengers in cars: they sustain more head injuries than cyclists from RTAs. Oh, and pedestrians for the same reasons.

They should not, however, be compulsory for cyclists as the evidence is that injuries increase if cyclists wear helmets because car drivers see them as invulnerable and do not realise that cycle helmets will only be of any use in very low impact collisions ie not collisions with motor vehicles.

happybubblebrain · 02/08/2012 22:12

I didn't say I wouldn't crash, I said it is extremely unlikely, probability tells me that.

With all activities you have to weigh up the dangers and assess them. Most people do far more dangerous activities than cycling, in everyday life, without even recognising them as dangerous. A relative of my mine did serious damage to her head just walking down the street. Should we all start wearing helmets whilst walking too?

I have fallen over a few times, my arms or knees always hit the ground first, on a bike it would be the same. I'm not an idiot, I know where my head is.

ThePan · 02/08/2012 22:12

"accidents happen by chance - they cannot be predicted" - well yes Ponders, accidents can have a degree of prediction - often for cyclists its where other road users don't pay attention.

I heart Sir Bradley but here he is quite wrong to emphasis the defence of cyclists being in their own hands. It is massively outside of our control and rests with other road users, incl pedestrians ( lord knows how many times I have to negociate walkers in the cycle lane or just randomly stepping off kerbs.

Housespouse · 02/08/2012 22:15

happy bubble brain: that's exactly why helmet wearing should be compulsory for pedestrians and car passengers (and only then should we move on to cyclists for whom the evidence is more mixed).

StunningCunt · 02/08/2012 22:25

Cycle helmet laws are fucking deadly.

More people dying through the deadly perils of obesity and inactivity.

Only the criminally stupid would think of passing such a law.

ThePan · 02/08/2012 22:27

just realised this is a very old thread!

Butkin · 02/08/2012 23:13

DD wears a helmet and I wear one too to set her a good example.

We're horse riders and you'd never see a rider without a helmet on these days (HM the Q is notable exception) and this includes cool girls who are supposed to not want to wear bike helmets.

I think the hit by bus analogy (although topical) is too extreme. DD and I are much more likely to hit a pot hole or gravel around where we live and come off. An experience rider I work with (he's done Etape du Tour etc) rode into the back of a parked vehicle at speed. He broke his jaw and his helmet but - thanks to the helmet - not his head.

I think it if it became commonplace to wear helmets (like it would if it was compulsory) then we'd be looking back on this debate in a few years time and wondering why anybody opposed it.

Housespouse · 02/08/2012 23:20

cuebill that is a great link that says it all: compulsory cycle helmet wearing for cyclists would produce a net health disbenefit (although it might be good for people in cars, still, as they suffer comparatively many head injuries in accidents and there would probably not be much risk compensation).

The only time I have suffered a head injury was when I tripped on ice when out running. Perhaps joggers should have to wear helmets?