Bicycle helmets – time for legislation?
Bicycle helmets - time for legislation?
Should you or shouldn’t you? The
merits of wearing a cycle helmet are a hotly debated topic within
the cycling community. While the Highway Code states that cyclists
should wear helmets, it is not a legal requirement in the
UK for cyclists to do so.
Despite a number of
campaigns to raise awareness of cycle safety, the wearing of cycle
helmets is still not normal practice. August marks National Road
Victim Awareness Month, a period which usually sees a rise in the
number of road accidents during the summer holidays.
The brain injury
association Headway promotes the use of cycle helmets, believing
that they can save lives and prevent lifelong disability. In
response to its recent campaign to make it compulsory for children
under the age of 16 to wear helmets while cycling, the Government
stated that it continues to promote helmet wearing on a voluntary
basis, especially by children. Should the Government legislate in
favour of proactive headgear for pedal cyclists as it has for motor
cyclists?
Some argue that there is
no demonstrable link between helmet wearing and the safety of
cyclists, citing that cyclists are no more vulnerable than
pedestrians. Many believe it is an issue of freedom of choice,
while others feel that compulsion to wear helmets would result in a
decrease in cycling at a time when it should be encouraged as a
green alternative means of transport.
Adding fuel to the fire
is a recent High Court ruling that, in principle, cyclists without
helmets could face reduced damages if it were shown that a helmet
would have prevented or reduced their injuries. Establishing the
principle of contributory negligence (meaning that the injured
cyclist may lose a percentage of their compensation because they
are adjudged partly to blame for the injury) for cyclists who ride
without a helmet, this could alter the way in which cyclists’
claims are dealt with in the future.
For the first time, a
judge has supported the argument that an accident victim can be
partly at fault for his own brain injury if he/she was not wearing
a bicycle helmet. All cyclists should take note of this
decision.
The Department for
Transport confirms that the number of cyclists being killed or
seriously injured on UK roads has increased by 11% in the last
three years. With this in mind, many are surprised that the law has
not evolved in the area of bicycle helmets, particularly for
children. The Government has commissioned research on cycle safety
to look at the effectiveness of helmets which is due to report back
in September 2010.
Andrew Harding, partner
at Hugh James and head of its neurolaw team, comments: “Children
are particularly vulnerable while cycling as they do not have the
awareness, balance or experience of adults when it comes to the
risks involved in cycling without a helmet. As a society, we owe it
to them to protect them as best we can. I wholeheartedly support
compulsory helmet laws for children.”
Ultimately, wearing a
cycling helmet remains a personal decision, but it is important to
consider the potentially very serious implications of not doing
so.
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