To think that ALL cyclists on a road should wear a helmet?!

[justneedsomesleep]

Is it illegal if they don't? I mean it's for their own safety. Was in the car this evening and old(ish) man on bike - about 60 was merrily cylcing along, not at a great speed either and was causing a huge back log of traffic. But the most alrming thing was that he wasn't wearing a helmet!?

Have visions of his head splitting open on the ground like a watermelon in the case of an accident.
He didn't seem to care at all - no concern for safety and as if he was out for a Sunday pm bike ride.....

Aaaargghh!

my sister had a friend who broke her neck thanks to wearing a helmet

In Sweden where I am from most schools have made it compulsory with helmets when children cycle to schools. But then Sweden is way ahead of the uk on most issues. Think educating people in the UK on safety issues must be banging your head against the wall. Grown people coming up with arguments similar to what my children come up with when they want to act really silly.

it is more complicated than 'helmets save lives'
here

www.gizmag.com/go/7255/

www.brake.org.uk/index.php?p=489

What would increase cycling safety far more than daft laws about helmets would be decent cycle lanes, paths and routes. If cyclists had their own space on the roads, i would make a massive difference.

it would make a massive difference, not i!

well i'm not from UK. When dc started riding a bike I started reading research about it (from BMJ and others) and like my children I suppose I was stubborn and could not change my opinion

My dad is a doctor and reads the BMJ too - and has said that there is plenty of other evidence to prove otherwise (we had a big argument with my brother about the subject). Unfrtunately he and Mum are away on holiday in SA at the moment (part of which involves meeting up with mum's old bridesmanid who had a bad RTA 10 years ago which resulted in a head injury and has finally, just, got her driver's licence back), otherwise I would e-mail him to get pointed in the direction of the "opposing" evidence.

I'm with Armadillo on this one - I'm sick and tired of driving in the winter and seeing cyclists with no reflective gear, no lights etc and yet I'm expected to have X ray vision and be able to see them!! If I drove with no lights or not indicating, I would get done by the police. I fail to see why cyclists should be exempt from this. I also tire of cyclists not following the rules of the road and going through red lights. It does not do the safe and law abiding cylists any justice imo..

Actually - on that, I agree with you Riven

Part of the porblem here is the cars attitude to, and disrespect of, bikes.

I choose to wear a helmet in traffic and on a mountainbike (though not on cycle path or tow path) but I DO NOT think that they should be compulsory as i think that gives the impression that cycling is far more dangerous than it really is... i'd love it if we could have a more german/dutch idea of cycling in ordinary clothes as a totally normal thing - not requiring full-body armour!

I don't wear a helmet, but that's because I've yet to find one that fits my head. And if it doesn't fit, it's not actually going to do anything. But I do consequently take a lot more care about what I'm doing, and I don't cycle that regularly, or I'd put more effort into finding one!

"What would increase cycling safety far more than daft laws about helmets would be decent cycle lanes, paths and routes. If cyclists had their own space on the roads, i would make a massive difference."

Exactly. Instead, councils here meet their targets by painting lines on the roads which are worse than useless - they end where they are needed most, cars park on them, you have to navigate around buses... plus drivers shake their fist at you if you don't use them, even where using them is more dangerous than not.

Bicycle helmets are an individual choice, like motorists' helmets. Their non-use put nobody else at risk, whereas yuppie SUVs do cost the lives of other road users. Vent your frustration on the muppets who drive them instead.

one of the things I read was from the study of new zealand, where the absolute number of injuries reduced but the relative/percentual number increased (because less people cycling)

OK, I must admit one of the reasons I told ds to wear helmet was that he isn't so steady on his bike yet, he goes down hills (which we don't have in my country) and no separate cycling paths in the UK

Actually, although I will never go through a red light, I do frequently go to the front and wait for the lights to change in front of the solid white line - which is technically breaking the highway code.

It is, however, on the junctions where I do it, the only safe place to go, as otherwise, becasue of the configuration of the road ahead you could (and would) get cut up by a car whichver lane you (legitimately) went in. It's all very well saying "but you broke the highway code" to the driver if you are on a stretcher being put into an ambulance

I wear a helmet now but only because I got knocked off my bike once and not wearing one meant my face got split down the middle

I don't think they save lives but I could do without any more face bashing at my age

The choice is down to the individual to make. Whether they wear a helmet or not does not impact on anyone else.