In 2018, I helped a municipal council candidate during his campaign.
We used our bikes to aid door-knocking efforts in keeping with campaign values. I even had a “mobile office” on my bike rack. It was super fun, and people loved that we used environmentally responsible transportation for the campaign.
At some point, we decided not to wear helmets to make ourselves more approachable. That was also super fun. But. We put them back on when a bike shop employee reminded us that it was illegal not to wear a helmet and that perhaps a candidate running for municipal office did not want to be breaking the law. Right.
In British Columbia, by law, people riding a bike must wear helmets. There are some exceptions. For example, children under 12 years old riding a three-wheel or four-wheel bike without a chain don’t have to wear a helmet. But most parents prudently get their kids to wear helmets anyway.
There’s no question that if you are hit by a vehicle and wearing a helmet, your survival rate is higher than that of people not wearing one. In 2016, The American Journal of Surgery reported that helmeted bicycle riders admitted to hospital had 51-per-cent reduced odds of severe brain injury, and 44-per-cent reduced odds of death.
A helmet is the mobility version of personal protection equipment, or PPE. But they only work if you are in a crash. As such, helmets aren’t a primary health prevention measure.
A UBC professor in occupational and environmental health, Kay Teschke, headed research efforts to determine the impact of helmet laws. As reported in the British Journal of Medicine, the UBC team found that “helmet legislation was not associated with hospitalization rates for brain, head, scalp, skull, face or neck injuries.”
As far back as 1996, researchers found that wearing a helmet makes little difference to cycling safety. Countries with mandatory helmet laws, or high levels of helmet usage, show no reduction in head injuries compared to countries without legislated helmet use.
In Denmark and Germany, where very few people on bikes wear helmets, separated infrastructure, traffic calming, diversion and reduced vehicle speeds are effective at keeping people on bikes safe.
It’s a paradox. In places where cycling infrastructure is unsafe, helmet use is higher due to laws (or common sense). Where the infrastructure is safe, we don’t need helmets or any legislation to make people wear them. Except, even in Denmark, where cycling is relatively safer, the Danish Road Safety Council promotes helmet use. Here’s their hilarious take on helmet-wearing.
So, what’s the takeaway? Wear a helmet in places where the infrastructure sucks. And even if it doesn’t. Here on the North Shore, despite ongoing efforts to improve, gaps in safe routes and exposure to fast-moving vehicles mean people riding are not protected enough for us to give up helmets.
Oh, and here’s a parting thought. If we were to be genuinely public health-minded, people driving cars should probably wear helmets. According to an Australian study, a mandatory helmet law for vehicle drivers has the potential to save 17 times as many people from death by head injury as a helmet law for cyclists.
Maybe until we get autonomous cars, people driving should wear helmets too? Time for legislation?
Heather Drugge is a sustainable transportation advocate who has used her bike for transportation for more than 20 years. She’s got an e-bike now, and maybe a jetpack next. [email protected]
