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White cycle helmetCyclists should be free to choose whether to wear helmet, says transport minister
Robert Goodwill, whose responsibilities as transport minister include cycling, says cyclists should be free to decide whether or not to wear a helmet.
The MP for Scarborough told a fringe meeting at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester that he does wear a helmet when riding his bike in Yorkshire, he chooses not to when cycling in London.
Quoted on BT.com, he acknowledged that evidence from jurisdictions where use of cycle helmets had been made mandatory was that it deterred people from riding bikes:
"It was interesting in Australia they introduced compulsory helmets and cycling went down,” he said.
"The health benefits of cycling in terms of heart disease and obesity and everything else far outweigh the number of people killed and injured using cycles.
"Certainly my children were always encouraged to use helmets, once they reached the age of 18 they could make their own decision.”
- Minister rejects call for helmets to be made compulsory for some cyclists in Netherlands
Mr Goodwill said his preference for whether or not to wear a helmet depended on the type of journey he was undertaking.
With a nod to the wording of 19th Century legislation occasionally used to prosecute reckless cyclists, he said: “I don't cycle furiously in London.
“I do try and cycle furiously on the North Yorkshire roads or indeed in the Dalby Forest off-road sections there and the chances of me falling off are certainly much greater.
"But it's up to everyone's choice really, I tend to make fairly short journeys in London, I don't go particularly fast, and I take that view.”
He added that requiring cyclists to wear helmets could have a knock-on effect on initiatives such as public cycle hire schemes.
"To make helmets compulsory would make systems such as the Boris bike system very difficult to deliver,” he explained.
While the Highway Code recommends that cyclists should wear protective headgear, its use is not mandatory in the UK.
"Certainly I would recommend people to consider their welfare and their safety,” said Mr Goodwill.
“I tend not to wear a cycle helmet in London but I do wear a cycle helmet always in Yorkshire.
"I've never fallen off in London, I fall off all the time in Yorkshire I have to say on greasy, slippery roads,” he added.
This week, Mr Goodwill is due to travel to Copenhagen – a city with some of the highest levels of bike riding worldwide, and one where cycle helmets among everyday riders are virtually absent – to see Danish cycling infrastructure first hand.
– Robert Goodwill and Chris Boardman head to Copenhagen to discuss Danish cycling infrastructure (+ video)
He is undertaking the trip at the invitation of British Cycling policy advisor Chris Boardman, who last year told road.cc that the issue of cycle helmets was a distraction from other issues that would improve the safety of cyclists.
He added that the debate over whether or not they should be compulsory was something that “massively puts people off” riding bikes.
– Chris Boardman: "Helmets not even in top 10 of things that keep cycling safe"
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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31 comments
Bicycle helmet manufacturers operate within a fiercely competitive industry and as private businesses they function to minimise costs and increase profits for their owners/shareholders. The industry is a unique marketplace where the manufacturers are not only the producers of the particular safety equipment but also heavily involved in its regulation and standard setting. The unique aspect for the industry is that it has no mandatory third party testing, instead manufacturers test their own products to the standards which they themselves have set.
I think each person on the forum should have a limited number of contributions to any helmet thread; they do tend to drag on...
There's a joke here somewhere.
We had Ladyman and Darling, but now we have Goodwill for cyclists.
It's good that he mentioned the need to where one at Dalby. For me, it's that kind of riding that really should require helmet use. For me, a good hard MTB ride usually ends up on the floor at some point, where as road riders and commuters try very hard to never end up down there. This is exactly why most people who comment on the helmet debate are just plain clueless, because they lump 'cyclists' into the same pot. They assume we are all just manic RLJ-ing commuter types that are "In the way".
Compulsory cycle helmet wearing is as irrelevant an argument as compulsory motor helmet wearing. Touring car and Rally drivers absolutely should wear them, office-working morning commuters- probably not so much.There can't be a one-for-all law.
Arguably, everybody should wear protective body-armour and helmets all of the time because it's 'safer'.
That's twice in a week I've read of someone who "falls off all the time". Is this normal expectation for cyclists nowadays?
"That's twice in a week I've read of someone who "falls off all the time". "
The only thing I understand from that is that cyclists who wear helmets fall off much more frequently, which is supported by the data.
Another trend that my GF pointed out is that those who ride without lights are usually wearing helmets.
Citation please.
http://www.cyclehelmets.org/1013.html#62
"Analysis by Erke and Elvik, 2007 showed an increased accident risk per cycling-km for cyclists wearing a helmet. In Australia and New Zealand the increase was estimated to be around 14%."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21418079
"The findings are consistent with the notion that those who use helmets routinely perceive reduced risk when wearing a helmet, and compensate by cycling faster."
http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/7/2/89.full
http://www.cycle-helmets.com/helmet_compensation.html
http://www.copenhagenize.com/2014/01/risk-compensation-observations-in.html
http://rdrf.org.uk/2012/01/28/the-dft-cyclist-safety-study-risk-compensa...
That ought to keep you busy for a bit!
Not really - those studies have nothing to do with falling off. I'm well aware of risk compensation and was specifically asking you for the data about falling off which you mentioned.
probably any Road CC helmet thread filled with posts by helmet wearers which start with an account of their own accident record would suffice wouldn't it?
I was in Copenhagen last month, and whilst it is true that very few people were wearing helmets in the normal course of cycling, there was a noticeable campaign of posters and banners that seemed to be trying to encourage parents to get their children wearing them. I suspect though that given how normalized cycling is over there, the effect of such messages on perceptions of cycling itself are likely to be much less. It's more indicative of our lack of normalized cycling that we get so het up about it over here.
(On a side note; I was also in Stockholm later that month and was quite surprised how many people there were wearing helmets. But again, I doubt its seen as such an issue when cycling itself is so normal there)
Riding furiously is an offence
A welcome comment from a minister, but correct me if I'm wrong helmets are already optional. As the article states.
It would have been more interesting if he had said... much of the benefit a cyclist accrues from wearing a helmet is negated by other issues... and there is nothing here that would stop insurance companies/lawyers trying to claim contributory negligence by a cyclists who did not wear a helmet on behalf of a defendant.
Which does make you wonder what the rest of the fringe meeting was on about, that he had to say this. I imagine some overweight middle aged supporter saying cyclists should be compelled to wear helmets to stop them all jumping red lights and cycling on pavements...
Yes! Bigoted of box hill was probably there.
As an over weight, middle aged and middleclass cyclist I am forever apologising for my generation's general obsession with greed, self interest and it's fundamental refusal to see the big picture. I only hope that those to come are not doomed to continue in the same vane.
Corbyn appears to have started an alarming trend. Reasonable opinions being calmly expressed by politicians? Whatever next?!
Spoken like a true zealot. He's got nothing to do with this story.
Who's the zealot? I made a flippant comment, you were bothered enough by it to reply.
What has Corbyn got to do with this or helmets?! You're obviously a fan boy. But I can see no reason to segway into his politics. Why not say 'nice to see a Tory talking sense?' Or talk about helmets.
Politician talks sense. That was the joke. Sorry you didn't get it. Had more to do with the story than Segways did. Unless of course you meant segue?
Politician talks sense. That was the joke. Sorry you didn't get it. Had more to do with the story than Segways did. Unless of course you meant segue?
Well bugger me sideways with a fishfork. I'm agreeing with a Conservative MP.
A Minister, no less! Extra large fork for you
That would be an extra large, silver fork.
You could always agree with Ben Bradshaw, if it makes things easier for you
http://www.benbradshaw.co.uk/compulsory-cycling-helmets-january-25th-2012
So we have one mp who only wears a helmet in London, and who wears a helmet except when in London.
WoooHooo, its only monday and we have a Helmet Debate
Once I have gotten over the shock of a politician saying something sensible in relation to cycling, I will pinch myself to check it wasn't just a dream.
Still, it's a start and if Boardman has his ear, there's hope.
yay - someone in a decision-making position talking sense for once. Chris Boardman is making his influence felt by the look of things
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