Time to use your head and wear a helmet when cycling
RYAN SMITH was — and still is — mad about his hair. At 16, image is all important and Ryan never went anywhere socially without his blond hair groomed to perfection.
Even when cycling, keen sportsman Ryan didn’t want anything to interfere with his tresses and wouldn’t be caught dead wearing a cycling helmet. Tragically, he nearly was and probably because he didn’t have a helmet.
In August last year his bike collided with a van and Ryan suffered a brain injury. He was in a coma when rushed to hospital and received emergency treatment in a respiratory ward before being moved to a specialist neurology centre.
Following extensive treatment, Ryan finally made it home on September 1 this year, 13 months after his accident. He is still brain injured, but his family in Lincolnshire are just thrilled to have him back once again.
His Dad, Mark, a paramedic, is now campaigning for a law to force cyclists to wear helmets.
“I always wear a helmet. I always told Ryan to wear a helmet, but he was 16, his hair is his life and sadly he has the ‘not going to happen to me’ attitude. He’s like any young lad and they just think they are invincible,” he said.
On November 24 Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe launched the Galway Bike Scheme and got into the saddle himself to promote the environmentally-progressive project. He didn’t wear a helmet.
On yer (Coca-Cola Zero) bikes Galway http://t.co/mwpnZX0Y8z pic.twitter.com/5IH0i0k9u0
— Paschal Donohoe (@Paschald) November 24, 2014
Ireland is on target to have its worst year since 2008 (13 fatalities) for cyclist deaths. The toll up to November 28 was 11, well ahead of anything recorded over the last five years
The National Transport Authority which promotes the Bike Scheme in Dublin and Galway — and in Limerick and Cork before the end of the year — has endorsed the non-use of a helmet by all those availing of the bike scheme.
A spokesperson for the NTA pointed out that similar schemes introduced internationally, which required the wearing of cycling helmets, had failed.
“Even in Dublin, it appears that a huge majority of cyclists using the Dublin Bike Scheme do not wear helmets. It could be for any number of reasons, including hygiene.
“The scheme in Dublin and in Galway does not require the wearing of a helmet. People can of course choose to bring their own helmet if they wish, but the National Transport Authority does not have a policy to insist on the wearing of a helmet while cycling. It is not something that we have an out and out policy on,” the spokesperson said.
The Galway Cycling Campaign also rowed in behind the non-wearing of helmets. Spokesman Oisin Ó Nidh pointed out that there was no legal requirement to wear a helmet while cycling. The only requirement was to have a bell and a light in front and at the back.
“We don’t advocate the use of helmets. We’d be of the opinion that they would put people off — and that’s the view of out parent organisation, cyclist.ie.
“If you want to promote a cycling culture you don’t concentrate on that. Most users of bikes won’t be wearing helmets,” Mr Ó Nidh said.
So where does the Government- and the cycling minister stand on the issue?
Mr Donohoe explained that he is a committed cyclist and always wears a helmet when cycling.
“In respect of the Galway Bike Scheme launch, it is worth noting that I was cycling for a very brief period of time down a path for a photocall”, he told the Irish Examiner.
Great having Hector & @Tiernanoh11 on hand today for launch of the Galway Bikes scheme. Limerick & Cork to follow pic.twitter.com/YygQq8L58Q
— Paschal Donohoe (@Paschald) November 24, 2014
Mr Donohoe stressed that safety is his highest priority in all areas of transport and, as a cyclist he is particularly concerned with the safety of vulnerable road users.
“During the lifetime of the Road Safety Strategy (RSS) 2007-2012 there was a reduction of 66% in cyclist fatalities. This compares with a reduction of 37% in fatalities among motorists.
“The reasons are numerous, and include greater safety awareness by motorists and cyclists, as well as wider provision of cycle lanes,” the minister said.
Just like his predecessor in the Department of Transport Alan Kelly, Mr Donohoe said he had concluded that, on balance, the wearing of helmets and high visibility vests should not be made compulsory.
“While wearing helmets and high visibility clothing can obviously make a significant contribution to road safety, and should be encouraged, making it mandatory would mean creating a criminal offence under the Road Traffic Acts for not wearing it.
“Persons in breach of the provision would have to be issued with a fixed charge notice by a Garda or summonsed to court depending on whatever administrative procedure would be put in place for the processing of such offences. This approach may be considered to be excessive, and would raise a number of practical difficulties.
“It is my view that issues such as these are best addressed by way of educational and publicity campaigns undertaken by the Road Safety Authority (RSA)”, the minister added.
The Road Safety Authority, however, is very clearly of the view that helmets should be worn by all cyclists — without exception. It urges parents in particular to see to it that their children wear a properly sized helmet while cycling.
“A helmet is not a fashion statement. It is an essential life-saving piece of cycling equipment”, the RSA says on its website.
The most recent (2013) observational study of over 17,000 cyclists conducted nationally on behalf of the RSA showed that just over one in two (52%) were observed wearing a helmet.
A sub-sample of cyclists participating in the Dublin City Bike Scheme was also included in the study, and much lower rates of helmet wearing were observed (7%).
But a number of as yet unpublished academic studies conducted under the direction of Professor Michael Gilchrist, head of the UCD School of Mechanical & Materials Engineering as part of the RSA’s Academic Bursary Programme, have provided evidence of the protective benefits of helmets, particularly in lower speed collisions (50km/h) and in secondary collision impacts.
Prof Gilchrist’s research is due to be published by the Road Safety Authority before Christmas.
Similarly the World Health Authority has endorsed the case for helmet wearing by all cyclists — pedal and motorcycle.
“Wearing a helmet is the single most effective way of reducing head injuries and fatalities resulting from motorcycle and bicycle crashes,” the WHO says.
It is advice that is not being ignored by insurance companies and consequently by commercial providers of bicycles for hire.
The Greenway, stretching from Westport to Achill in Co Mayo, has been probably the environmental tourism success story of the last five years, with thousands of cyclists, many of them families, annually availing of the safe roadside space to enjoy the exercise and west of Ireland countryside.
But every company hiring out bikes to visitors to the Greenway is obliged to insist that a helmet is worn — for insurance purposes.
And it would appear that their caution is well founded. Research carried out on behalf of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in the US revealed that, while less than 2% of motor vehicle crash deaths were cyclists, the most serious injuries among a majority of those killed were to the head, highlighting the apparent importance of wearing a helmet.
In 2012, 65% of cyclists killed inaccidents in the US were not wearing a cycle helmet. Just 17% of fatalities were wearing a helmet. Of the remainder, it was unknown whether a helmet was being worn or not.
When the data was collated, the IIHS attempted to construct a profile of the “typical cyclist” killed on US roads. It concluded that this would be a sober male over 16 not wearing a helmet, riding on a major road between intersections in an urban area on a summer evening when hit by a car.
Further revealing data was compiled in an extensive study carried out in the 1990s by researchers at the Injury and Prevention centre attached to Harborview Medical Centre, a level one trauma facility in Seattle.
It was the largest study conducted on the circumstances of bicycle injuries and the protective effect of helmets. The purpose was to address previously unanswered questions about the effectiveness of bicycle helmets.
Injured cyclists were recruited between 1992 and 1994 from seven western Washington hospitals. In all, 3,390 cyclists who had been injured or later died took part. The study was designed to compare those with head or brain injuries with those who were also involved in crashes, but did not suffer head or brain injuries.
The major findings were that helmets decreased the risk of head injury by 69%, brain injury by 65% and severe brain injury by 74%.
“Had it been possible to use population controls in the current study, the overall protectiveness rate of 85% for head injury and 88% for brain injury reported in our prior work would in all likelihood have been obtained,” the authors said.
They concluded that helmets work equally well in all age groups and there was noevidence to support the need for a separate standard for young children. Helmets were also found to be equally effective in protecting cyclists in crashes involving motor vehicles and those not involving vehicles.
But, while helmets were shown to provide substantial protection against lacerations and fractures to the upper and mid-face, they offered little protection to the lower face.
And even though hard-shell, thin-shell and no-shell helmets all had similar protective qualities, hard-shell helmets “may offer greater protection against sever brain injury”.
The authors said in their overall conclusion: “This study provides powerful statistical evidence that bicycle helmets, regardless of type, provide protection to cyclists in all circumstances, including crashes involving motor vehicles.
“Our research clearly indicates that bicycle helmets should be worn by all riders, regardless of their age, experience as cyclists, the distance they plan to ride, or any other factor”.
In Canada the bicycle-related head injury rate declined significantly (45%) in provinces where legislation had been adopted, compared with areas that did not adopt legislation.
A case-controlled study carried out by the Transport and Road Safety Department of the University of New South Wales last year on the effectiveness of helmets in collisions with vehicles revealed helmet use was associated with reduced risk of head injury in such collisions of up to 74%. The more severe the injury, the greater the reduction, the study found.
“This was also found to be true for particular head injuries such as skull fractures, intracranial injury and open head wounds”, the authors said.
But not everyone is buying into the necessity for helmets to be worn as a safety measure by cyclists.
German chancellor Angela Merkel, opening her country’s cycling showcase, Eurobike, last year made it clear that she was opposed to the introduction of compulsory helmet laws as her government feared that they might discourage people from cycling.
Ms Merkel acknowledged the importance of cycling tourism and said her government wanted to created favourable conditions in order to get more people cycling.
British Olympic cycling champion, Chris Boardman, who is policy advisor to British Cycling, has repeatedly said that he does not believe that wearing a helmet is among the top 10 safety issues for cyclists.
He even went so far as to record a BBC video clip on cycling safety — without wearing a helmet. He defended his action by insisting that helmets are a barrier to cycling for some people.
Describing the issue of cycling helmets as “a massive red herring”, he said: “(Helmets) discourage people from riding their bikes. You are as safe riding your bike as you are walking”.
Boardman, who was awarded an MBE for his services to cycling, is involved in producing commercial and competition bikes under the Boardman Bikes and Boardman Elite Ventures brands.
The pro-cycling website, cyclehelmets.org pointed to “no detectable improvement” in fatalities, serious injuries or the average severity of injuries to cyclists in Great Britain between 1985 and 2001, during which helmet use rose from close to zero to approximately 22%.
“A study of road traffic casualties has found no association between differing patterns of helmet wearing rates and casualty rates for adults and children,” the website claims.
The Road Safety Authority has, however, already pointed out that, in collisions at significant speed with a motor vehicle, neither a helmet nor almost any other form of protection would be sufficient to prevent a cyclist from sustaining a life-threatening injury.
Ireland’s leading provider of services for people with an acquired brain injury is firmly of the view that if the horrific nature of injuries sustained by cyclists could be witnessed, those who are opposed to, or even neutral, on the issue of the use of helmets, would quickly change their minds.
“A cultural change is needed here. The wearing of helmets is perhaps at the point now where we were some years ago in respect of wearing seat belts — now everybody puts on a seat belt as a matter of safety,” Acquired Brain Injury Ireland (ABI) said.
Communications manager with ABI, Karen O’Boyle referred specifically to a patient who had been cycling without a helmet when a pedestrian stepped out in from of him and he went over the handlebars, banging his head on the ground.
“He wasn’t wearing a helmet and he received a very bad brain injury. We have seen the injuries caused to other cyclists as well by not wearing a helmet while up on a bike.
“A helmet can give quite an added protection. We would call on anyone going out on a bike to wear a helmet”, Ms O’Boyle said.
In the early 1990s Australia tried to make helmet-wearing compulsory for cyclists, but then saw a drop of up to 20% in the numbers cycling. South Africa went down the same route but could not decide on how to enforce it, so never did. Israel had a similar experience
Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Iceland, New Zealand and Sweden all have bicycle helmet laws, in at least one jurisdiction, for either young people only, or for all riders. Spain requires helmets to be worn while cycling along public roads outside of major population areas.
Helmet laws are not universal in the US. Most states and municipalities have no laws or regulations regarding helmet use. A total of 21 states and the District of Columbia have statewide mandatory helmet laws for children.
In October a new law came into force in Jersey, obliging children under the age of 14 to wear a helmet when cycling. Those failing to wear helmets could face a fine of up to £50, although the island’s transport minister, Deputy Kevin Lewis said this was unlikely.
A bike is still among the most popular Christmas presents a child or an adult can receive. And if Santa duly delivers the sought-after two-wheeler on December 25, will a helmet now be far behind?
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