Child Helmet Laws: Helmets deter cycling and lead to
poorer health
- Helmet promotion is strongly linked to a decrease in cycle use
[1], and helmet laws all the more so. Teenagers are the group
most likely to be put off cycling.
- Helmet laws in Australia resulted in large decreases in the number of
people cycling. Child cycling fell by 30% to 50% [2]. Cycling
by secondary school children in Sydney was almost destroyed, falling by 91%
[3].
- A before-law survey showed that 272 out of 1,293 teenagers in Victoria
(Australia) wore helmets. After the law, 302 wore helmets out of 670 teenage
cyclists counted under comparable conditions [4].
|
The law resulted in 30 more teenagers wearing helmets compared with
623 fewer cycling. |
- In Nova Scotia, Canada, cycle use fell by 40% to 60% following the
introduction of a helmet law, with the largest decrease among teenagers
[5]
- In New Zealand, cycling decreased by approx 22% from the introduction of
its helmet law in 1994 to 1997 [6].
- In Sweden, non-head injuries fell by 48% in helmet promotion areas compared
with 32% elsewhere. The most plausible explanation is a substantial fall in
cycle use [7].
- In Britain, the fall in cycle use since 1991 has been almost twice the
increase in helmet use [8].
References
[1] Bryan-Brown K, Taylor S. Cycle helmet wearing in 1996. TRL, Report 286.
[2] See: Change in cycle use in Australia .
[3] Smith NC, Milthorpe MW. An Observational Survey of Law Compliance and Helmet Wearing by Bicyclists in New South Wales - 1993 (4th survey). NSW Roads & Traffic Authority, ISBN0-7305-9110-7.
[4] Robinson DL. Head injuries and bicycle helmet laws. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 1996 Jul;28(4):463-75. 
[5] Chipman ML. Hats off (or not?) to helmet legislation. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 2002 Mar 5;166(5):602.
[6] Perry N, analysis of data from New Zealand Household
Travel Survey,
[7] Ekman R, Schelp L, Welander G, Svanstrom L. Can a combination of local, regional and national information substantially increase bicycle-helmet wearing and reduce injuries? Experiences from Sweden. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 1997 May;29(3):321-8.
[8] Derived from Department for Transport traffic census data and
Bryan-Brown K, Christie N. Cycle helmet wearing in 1999. TRL, Report 487.
