The Paediatric Emergency Medicine Association voted on Thursday (17/09/2009) to push for legislation to make helmet wearing compulsory for children 16 and under.
Before I say anything else, I would like to say that I believe that children should wear helmets until they are able to control a bike fully. On the other hand I believe it should be left up to the parents to decide when it is safe.
I personally only use a helmet when cycling off road and I take a lot of stick for this. But I believe its personal choice and I believe that it can encourage drivers to perceive you as wearing protective gear when wearing one, causing them to drive closer to you when overtaking. Dr Iain Walker does mention this factor as part of his studies on this issue, which are summarised well in this podcast http://bike.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=361037#. As such I would like to see a bit more study into to the causes of road cycling accidents accidents and their prevention before any legislation is passed.
I also feel its a bit cheap of the medical profession to go after helmet wearing legislation, when the biggest percentage of serious accidents involving cyclists happens during a collision with a car; were 3cm of painted polystyrene sitting on top of your head will make little or no difference to your injuries. Getting behind campaigns that are petitioning the government to provide car free routes to schools and play areas are surely far more sensible. Lobbying for segregated cycling lanes and bicycle training schemes is also more beneficial. Enough said?
If you would like to read more on the ludicrous reasons for the legislation push, then have a look here at BikeBiz, which also includes a reponse from the CTC.
