DOCTORS BACK COMPULSORY CYCLE HELMETS
The British Medical Association has said cyclists of all ages should be required by law to wear helmets. The BMA’s previous policy was to encourage (but not enforce) helmet-wearing.
This change in policy is not based on demolition of the evidence of its previous comprehensive examination of the helmet issue, published in 1999, which recognised the wider health and other benefits of cycle use as well as the apparent deterrent effect to cycle use of compulsion (seen in a number of countries).
Cycling organisations are not ‘anti-helmet’, but ‘against compulsion’, saying that the cost-effectiveness of compulsion relative to other measures to promote cycle safety is poor, and positive effects on cycle use and associated health and other benefits have not been shown.
It should be remembered that cycle helmets are only designed to withstand impact speeds of around 13 mph (equivalent to falling from a stationary riding position, and not for collisions with motor traffic. More than 90pc of cyclists’ fatal and serious injuries are due to collisions with motor vehicles, and 22pc of cyclist deaths result from collisions with HGVs.
If you feel that the BMA should review the evidence on helmets, please look at the briefing paper written by CTC (Cyclists Touring Club) on www.ctc.org.uk. If you are, or know of, a doctor who wishes to press for a review of BMA’s stance through its own channels, please contact Adam Coffman at CTC on 01483 520 754, or adam.coffman@ctc.org.uk.
You can contact the BMA by writing to Mr James Johnson FRCS, Chair of Council, BMA House, Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9JP.