Bristol City Council has been accused by a pro-motoring group of “ignoring road safety” in its so-called “cycling propaganda”, after the local authority posted a photo of a man riding a bike while not wearing a helmet.

The image, showing a cyclist riding on Park Street in Bristol, was chosen to illustrate the council’s support for Cycle September, a month-long challenge organised by Love to Ride which aims to encourage residents to cycle more by logging their journeys to potentially win prizes.

Running throughout September, the challenge is free to enter and is open to both individuals and teams comprised of workplaces, schools, and community groups. Once registered, participants can compete on local, national, and industry leaderboards, while all entrants have the opportunity to win prizes, including a £3,000 holiday.

During last year’s Cycle September, almost 1,400 people and 137 workplaces took part in Bristol, logging a combined 19,822 bike trips, including 14,612 journeys for transport, totalling over 156,000 miles during the 30 days, an effort the council says saved an estimated 18,917kg of carbon dioxide, roughly equivalent to the amount absorbed by 757 trees.

The local authority also announced that participants can now earn points by using Love to Ride’s app to rate their routes, giving the council a better understanding of where improvements can be made to encourage more people to travel by bike in Bristol.

However, the initiative hasn’t proved popular with everyone – or at least not when it comes to Bristol City Council’s methods of promoting it.

Following the council’s reminder on 1 September that the challenge had started, which called on both old and new cyclists to “start pedalling”, the ‘Motoring & Communities Group’ on X decided to take umbrage to the local authority’s choice of illustrative photograph.

“Useless Bristol Council ignoring road safety of using a cycling helmet in its cycling propaganda,” the group, which appears to specialise in anti-cycling rhetoric, posted.

Unsurprisingly, the motoring group’s criticism kicked off another helmet debate in the comments.

Motoring group's helmet post
Motoring group’s helmet post (Image Credit: Motoring & Communities Group/X)

“The authoritarian speaks,” wrote James Ladbroke. “It should be individual choice and there are studies that show helmets on cyclists lead to vehicle drivers taking less care and more injuries.”

Meanwhile, another X user accused the group of “ignoring research showing cyclists with helmets feel safer and as a result behave in riskier ways”.

“Do you wear one in your car?” asked Fun Head. “It’s safer.”

And Mark Reid also asked the group: “Do you agree that drivers should wear helmets, after all head injuries are a huge factor in RTCs. Do you know what level bike helmets are tested to?”

However, David Lawes was one of the few commenters supporting the group’s criticism of Bristol City Council’s photo, writing: “The NHS would benefit massively from the desperately needed compulsory helmet law. It would find itself treating fewer, and less severe, injuries caused by potholes. Since undercover police wear cycle helmets, the idea that they tempt drivers to take less care is for the birds.”

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While wearing a cycle helmet is a mandatory requirement in some parts of the world such as Australia, Argentina, and Japan, cyclists in the UK, despite David’s best wishes, don’t have to legally wear one while riding a bike.

However, according to the Highway Code, cyclists “should wear a cycle helmet that conforms to current regulations, is the correct size and securely fastened. Evidence suggests that a correctly fitted helmet will reduce your risk of sustaining a head injury in certain circumstances.”

Whether bike helmets should be worn for safety purposes, and whether their use should be mandatory, has been a longstanding debate in road safety circles.

While helmets add a layer of protection for cyclists and reduce odds of a head injury, in 2006, Dr Ian Walker of the University of Bath conducted an experiment where he discovered that cyclists are afforded more space by passing drivers if they are (or at least appear to be) female or if they’re not wearing a helmet.

Another study from 2019, presented at the National Road Safety Conference, also suggested “a higher accident/injury rate may result from helmet usage” and argued that “there is strong evidence that helmeted cyclists suffer a higher rate of upper body limb injuries than non-wearers, suggesting a higher rate of falls than non-wearers”.

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A 2023 study from Australia, where helmets are mandatory, revealed that an alarming number of people do not see cyclists as human, with those riding bicycles while wearing helmets or safety vests seen as less human compared to those without.

Ironically, just a few hours after Motoring & Communities Group’s critique, Bristol City Council shared another update concerning Cycle September on social media – and this time, their selected image did feature someone wearing a helmet.

In a statement promoting the month-long challenge, Ed Plowden, the chair of the council’s transport committee, said: “Last year’s results show the growing impact of Cycle September in Bristol. Participants logged 21 per cent more transport trips than in 2024 and increased the estimated carbon savings from their journeys by 31 per cent.

“I urge people to give it a go, especially new or retuning cyclists, as in the past many people new to cycling have found out how it is a quick, convenient, healthy and enjoyable way to get around the city and go on to become regular cyclists.

“When more people choose to cycle for everyday journeys, we get a healthier, better-connected, and more sustainable city. It is encouraging to see Bristol building on its success, and I look forward to seeing what residents and workplaces achieve together in 2026.”