London police stopping cyclists without helmets in "advice & education" exercise

Stopped for not wearing a helmet?

FFS show me the evidence a single one of the recent fatalities in London would have been saved by a helmet.

Get a grip.

"vehicles have been checked for any issues and in one instance a lorry was found to have a dangerously over-inflated tyre that left it unfit to continue its journey" - I'm no mechanic, but how hard could this have been to rectify?

I'm assuming that bike riders that are cycling safely and within the law / highway code aren't the ones being stopped for not wearing a helmet... Not likely to get a polite response from me if I'm trying to explain why I've legitimately chosen not to do something, if Plod then misses someone running a red!

If Chief-Superintendent Glyn Jones believes that, "if you want to be safe it’s a very good idea to put one on”, then he should look at the statistics for head injuries amongst motorists, and perhaps be stopping drivers for not wearing helmets too.

I am a firm believer in wearing a helmet, but it is down to choice, it is not a legal requirement. Until it is I don't think that it is down to the police to stop riders and tell them. That would really, make me sense they are targeting me because I ride a bike. Over inflated tyre, oh please let the air out gently

I have a well rehearsed dialogue in my head, ready for the day a gormless police officer offers me 'advice' on my choice of headwear whilst riding my bicycle.
At the moment its a bit rough round the edges and needs to be a little more polite than the current version, which is essentially some advice they go away and attempt a physically impossible manoeuvre with a sensitive part of their anatomy.

This seems a bit daft.

Why are the police stressing hi-viz and personal protective equipment as if they conferred some sort of magical protection against lorries? Cyclists could avoid injury in many incidents in which they are not at fault by adopting better road positioning - well clear of the door zone, far enough out from the gutter to register properly on the radar of following motorists and avoid nasty debris etc.

At the moment my helmet is in Ireland and I'm in Germany - I failed to stuff it into my suitcase when I was coming over and am only starting to miss it and considering replacing it now that temperatures are starting to dip below zero. Polystyrene has insulating properties, the straps would stop the peaked cap I wear underneath from being blown away (the peak keeps snow off my glasses) and a helmet might offer some useful protection if I slid out on a patch of ice and whacked my head off a kerb.

Tomorrow they are going to be out with rulers to measure the lengths of young ladies skirts whilst fining homeowners for being burgled and lecturing stab victims for not wearing kevlar vests.

On a moderately more serious note, can anyone confirm if these pulls are being done by real coppers or PCSOs?

police at one location have stopped 20 HGVs and found a total of 60 offences

Is it naive of me to find this truly shocking?

The worrying part is that there is evidence to suggest that wearing a helmet makes you less safe. While the addition of a helmet may prevent road rash and dampen the blow, most are only rated to 12 mph, which most collisions you would be going quicker, but also while you have mitigated a small risk, the driver perception is that a helmeted cyclist is more professional and so they undertake more risky behaviour as the helmeted cyclist is perceived as more experianced and therefore less likely to make eratic moves.

Damned if they do, damned if they don't.
The way I see it, they are at least making an attempt to engage and discuss. No-one is being forced or legislated to wear high viz or helmets. If the comments above are representative of the cyclist attitude then I think you could all do with some education in how to converse in a polite and respectful manner.

Here's how I'd go about a typical encounter with a police officer
PC - "Sir, can I advise you on your cycling outerwear and headwear?"
Me - "Good morning officer..of course, please go ahead"
PC - "Helmets are great, high-viz is cool etc etc"
Me - "Thank you officer, I agree/disagree with your suggestions but either way I'll bear it in mind for future reference..have a good day"

Kick us while we're down, Met. Thanks.

Err. Are they also telling motorists to wear helmets?

Or advising drivers of cars with no airbags to part-ex for one with bags?

No thought not. they can sod off.

Political exercise, what a load of crap. You would be better off having these policeman in plain clothes catching any dickhead using his mobile phone whilst driving or looking out for aggressive behaviour (both drivers and cyclists).

A helmet would hardly have helped the victims of the recent fatalities,

Imagine if the police in Copenhagen or Amsterdam or Malmo stopped cyclists and told them to wear hi viz and helmets?
Im sure they would be met with a combination of bafflement, incredulity and open hostility.

I find it bizarre the outpouring of emotion against wearing of helmets, I would not ride without one as I figure smashing my unprotected skull off tarmac, concrete, car windscreens etal would be better served with one at any speed.

I don't need scientific evidence to convince me of that... Is this more an anti-establishment argument than safety debate?

Would you let your child ride without one?

When I was young we had something called "The Iron Curtain", now it appears we have "The Iron Union Flag"

Where is the freedom of choice everyone loves to say our forefathers fought for ?

Do motorcyclists feel the same way about the "Iron Union Flag" or motorists over seatbelts...? I am too young to remember the mandatory introduction of these safety regulations but not for one minute would I consider giving up either even if I had the choice?

My brother went across a car bonnet as the discerning motorists ran a red light, his helmet was mashed, his head was not!!!

Bring it on I say, mandatory use of cycling helmets "could" save the lives of those to cool to, to stubborn or stupid enough to not see the benefit of wearing one? I despair every time I see a young cyclists without a helmet.

The Met have followed Alice through the looking glass...

Good god, this is exactly why helmets can never become compulsory under UK legislation as it would just give plod another pointless target to pursue whilst avoiding the obvious.

Full disclosure - I choose to wear a helmet for some reason or another

News coming through another cyclist killed by a lorry in London.
Remind me - what is the *real* problem here?

Seriously? Do people really cycle around London not wearing a helmet?

My bike slipped from under me at the weekend whilst taking a slippery country lane and I went down smashing head first into the tarmac. I'm only replacing my helmet as opposed to my wife replacing her husband. I'm glad I chose to wear one.

Motor vehicles, a disproportionately high percentage of them large motor vehicles, ie, lorries and buses, are the real problem here, not cyclists failing to wear hi viz and helmets, neither of which are a legal requirement.

I've said it before, I'll say it again, if the driver is not paying attention, they will not see you whether you are wearing hi viz or not, and a piece of polystyrene on your head is not going to save you.

The Met need to get a grip and sort the real problem, not harass the victim.

For those advocating choice making you a criminal, what is the minimum standard of helmet you will be hoping to be made law?

Surely you all have a minimum set standard in mind? And what happens if you buy a helmet from a European manufacturer that isn't certified to the British standard required? Will you be handing yourselves in as criminals too?

Or are you happy that as long something is on your head you are magically protected? If so, can I just wear one of my casquettes?