Helmets for all Boris Bike users, call from charity

All cyclists will be expected to wear full MX gear next. I mean, I wear shin pads and arm protection along with a full face lid for riding my BMX and a lot of people on the BMX scene wear the full Monty motorcross kit too. Yep, you know it makes sense.

I have been wearing a helmet ever since my neice ( who was in a coma for several weeks, but survived and made a full recovery thanks, according to her doctors, to her wearing of a helmet).
I really do believe that to try to make it compulsory would put people off, but just give the public the facts and let us decide for ourselves....just as an aside, within two weeks of starting to wear my helmet, I swear, I fell off my bike and landed on my head on a stretch of road that I had ridden thousands of times before, and walked away with just my injured pride.

How is discouraging cycling anything to do with lowering carbon emission.. bloody red herring.. who they think they represent, cyclist? Bah. not this one. I'll wear my helmet on my own accord thank you very much. ^_^

Puts a lot of us in the same boat then Keith!! The sooner people realise that many of our roads were built to facilitate

te smaller, lighter and slower vehicles than what we have today the better. That, and sorting out a driving test that currently does not deal with how the driver treats vunerable road users. Maybe our roads will start to be a bit safer for all

antonio

That is my criteria for any politician trying to introduce a mandatory helmet law
If they can survive being run over by a 40ton artic while wearing a cycle helmet on, then they can put their proposition to Parliament.

I wear a helmet on nearly all rides and would encourage other cyclists (especially less experienced ones) to do the same. However any legislation that makes people less inclined to cycle and so more likely to use motorised transport makes the roads less safe for all.

Show me one case of a cyclist being run down by a twenty ton lorry being saved by his (or her) helmet and I'll start wearing one. Of course that's ridiculous, so is the hoary old argument.

Maybe BRAKE should put more effort into demanding mandatory 20mph limits in urban areas

This wouldn't work very well for me, I struggle to keep my bike below 20 mph half the time so I'd be permanently speeding on my bike!!!!!

On the day that a spokesperson seriously suggestd on Radio 4 that for safety glass bottles and glasses should be banned in pubs (to safeguard the public from the drunken few who like to use them as weapons) this call for mandatory helmets is depressing but hardly a surprise. The same glass 'expert" suggested that if you found yourself "barefoot" on the high street you'd realise what a danger alcohol induced broken glass was. I imagine the same goes for other stuff on the pavement but I don't hear a call for a ban on dogs.

The problem isn't helmets but the sheer numbers on the oroad and speed. 20 mph speed limit in urban and residential areas and most bike accidents solved or reduced in severity.Most accidents are all about reaction times and the lower the speed the more reaction time. It will become obvious to road safety specialists one day.

Stuff and nonsense, helmets are about money not safety, who are these "safety" campaigners? Do they have links with the motor industry?? Ah, yes they are sponsored by a driving school...

Frankly I never bother wearing a helmet when I'm pootling around town, with the girls in the trailer - a sun hat is as far as I go!

And 'drove into a refuse truck'? I'm always deeply suspicious of any serious accidents where cyclists supposedly drive into something else, rather than vice versa. (Not, admittedly, that I've read any of the reports.)

Quote:

Since Brake put out a press release on Wednesday saying there was overwhelming demand for lower speed limits then perhaps that's where we should start. Although the fact that most still speed anyway means they want tougher speed limits for everyone else.

Did a bit of digging and it seems that 2 of the 5/6 reported accidents appear to be down to the riders; one rode into a refuge(sic) truck and the other fell off due to wobbling while trying to get their bike going. Maybe the hire contract should come with some sort of 'Darwin' test.

I'd also imagine that car drivers in central London, where the bike hire scheme is mainly located, would love to be able to drive at 20mph.

I agree on the helmets too, especially giff77. I wear one all the time when cycling but, apart from making my kids wear them when they were under 16, I'd never force my views onto anyone else.

0.008%

I'd venture that figure compares favourably with any form of propulsion on the streets of London. And the type of injuries are not mentioned.

Helmets won't help and, as others have pointed out, there are significant downsides. Besides which, who wants to wear a sweaty, smelly lid that has seen better days and been on countless other heads?

Since Brake put out a press release on Wednesday saying there was overwhelming demand for lower speed limits then perhaps that's where we should start. Although the fact that most still speed anyway means they want tougher speed limits for everyone else.

personally, i really do not want to take the risk of hiring a helmet that i have no guarantee of it's integrity! As cyclists we all make informed choices on the wearing of helmets or not. Those of us who do, take care of our lids by ensuring that they do not get dropped or if we have had the misfortune to bounce of the road on it we replace it!

Maybe BRAKE should put more effort into demanding mandatory 20mph limits in urban areas and automatic endorsment/forfeit of licences whenever a driver endangers, injures or causes the death of a vunerable road user on the spot!!!

As one of the bloggers observed, they could just call for the roads to be safe in the first place ... how many times do we have to say "the Dutch didn't get safer roads and more cycling by making everyone wearing a fucking helmet"?

(Excuse my profanity, but for heaven's sake.)

(And, yes, I've written to Brake, in slightly less profane terms: http://groupthinkrules.blogspot.com/2010/09/cycle-helmets-and-cycle-hire...)

'Brake cites the six people injured since the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme began'

I know six people who have been injured since it began too! Nothing to do with bikes at all, let alone those ones but about as important and detailed as their stated 'fact!'

Do they also suggest a gas mask too??

What exactly were the injuries sustained by these six people? And had any of them been drinking alcohol?