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Bicycle Network campaigns for helmet law reform
Australia's Bicycle Network has come out in favour of reforming Australia's mandatory bicycle helmet law.
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Helmets not in Top 10 of things to keep cycling safe - Boardman
British Cycling's policy advisor and champion cyclist Chris Boardman says it&rsquo
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Angela Merkel speaks out against helmet laws
Opening Germany's annual cycling showcase Eurobike, Chancellor Angela Merkel told
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Government agencies drop 85% helmet benefit claim
US federal agencies The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) an
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No-one knows if a helmet will reduce the risk of getting hurt
A long article in the June 2013 edition of Bicycling Magazine says that current bi
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Minimal impact of helmet laws on head injuries
According to a study published in the British Medical Journal, helmet legislation
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Helmet laws discourage the safest cyclists
Researchers in Norway have looked into possible reasons why there is no good evide
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Australian cycling boom a myth
According to the University of Sydney, claims that cycle use in Australia has rec
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Professor Piet de Jong of Macquarie University, Sydney had developed a model to permit the quantitative evaluation of the benefit of bicycle helmet laws. The efficacy of a law is evaluated in terms of the percentage drop in bicycling, the percentage increase in the cost of an accident when not wearing a helmet, and a quantity called the "bicycling beta." The approach balances the health benefits of increased safety against the health costs due to decreased cycling.
Using conservative estimates from the literature of the health benefits of cycling, accident rates and reductions in cycling, suggests that helmets laws are counterproductive in terms of net health.
The model serves to focus the bicycle helmet law debate on overall health as a function of key parameters: cycle use, accident rates, helmet protection rates, exercise and environmental benefits.
Empirical estimates using US data suggests the strictly health impact of a US wide helmet law would cost around USD 5 billion per annum. In the UK and The Netherlands the net health costs are estimated to be USD 0.4 and USD 1.9 billion, respectively.
Fri 27 Mar 2009
