Cycle helmets should not be compulsory

BMJ 1999;318:1505 ( 5 June )

News

Cycle helmets should not be compulsory

Douglas Carnall , BMJ
The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Cyclists are advised to wear helmets but legislation to make them compulsory is likely to reduce the number of people choosingto cycle and would not be in the interests of health, concludesthe BMA's Board of Education andScience.

International evidence shows that the compulsory use of helmets results in a fall in the number of cyclists. The Australianstate of Victoria made the use of helmets compulsory in 1990,and in the following year deaths and head injuries among cyclistsfell between 37%and 51%However, 40%fewer adults and 60%fewer childrencontinued to cycle after the introduction of thelaws.

About one in five cyclists in Britain currently wears a helmet. This proportion would have to be increased by promotionalcampaigns encouraging voluntary action before legislation couldhope to beeffective.

Some cyclists are opposed to wearing helmets. Research by the European Cycling Federation found that non-cyclists tended tobe . . . [Full text of this article]

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