MORE ON HELMET DESIGN FLAW In August 2003 we reported that two articles in the New Scientist had identified a serious flaw in helmet design. Now the May 13th 2004 edition of The Economist is reporting on the development of a new motorcycle helmet that confirms the existence of the flaw. The Vehicular Cyclist has complained for years about the same shortcomings in respect of bicycle helmet design (see Frequently Asked Questions 5 and 6). The Economist is reporting that Dr. Kenneth Phillips, British physician and inventor, has designed a motorcycle crash helmet that mimics the protective properties of the human head.
The doctor states that when a head hits the ground during a crash, it is subjected to two kinds of acceleration: linear and rotational. Only a linear acceleration is addressed by helmet design. Our FAQ notes that bicycle helmets are not designed to protect against the most deadly form of head injury and those are the ones that result from rotational acceleration. What is more disturbing is that the laws of physics suggest that a helmet is likely to increase the "spinning effect" on the head and the result may be more serious injuries in certain circumstances. Gennarelli et al in 1972 carried out tests on squirrel monkeys. They showed that rotational accelerations at much lower levels than linear accelerations resulted in more severe injuries. In some cases injury occurred when a linear acceleration at the same level resulted in no injury.
Dr Phillips, who apparently has first hand experience in treating head injuries, claims he looked to the head itself for inspiration for an improved helmet. The scalp, he observed, provides the brain with protection against rotational forces because it is elastic, compressible and moves around the skull without friction. So when a head hits a surface, the scalp absorbs some of the rotational part of the impact by moving across the skull. As a result, he says, less energy is transferred to the delicate tissues of the brain.
The doctor has designed a helmet with an outer shell that moves independently of the inner cushion. Slow-motion video footage taken during
crash tests at Britain's Transport Research Laboratory, in Berkshire,
shows that the outer shell does indeed move freely around the inner
one, and the head is kept steady. He believes the cost of manufacturing his helmet should not be much more than current helmets.
It looks like the helmet establishment however doesn't want any suggestion that its current products don't do a satisfactory job as Dr. Phillips was unable to get the interest of any existing manufacturer. Having drawn a blank, he has started his own company Phillips Helmets.
October 2003
FACILITIES AND HELMET MYTHS TAKE ANOTHER BEATING This month a couple of incidents showed that riding in separate cycling facilities is no guarantee of safety and in one of the incidents, a helmet didn't "save-a-cyclist-life" either. On September 24th, Tim Aubin, an experienced cyclist and member of the Ottawa Bicycle Club, was rear-ended by a car while riding legally in the centre of a 2m (6'8") bike lane. Tim suffered serious injuries including two broken ribs and a broken ankle. Two weeks later, on Friday October 8th, a male cyclist was killed in a collision with another cyclist in Littleton, Colorado. According to a report in the Denver Post, the cyclist not only was riding on a supposedly "safe" bike path but was also wearing a helmet another alleged "safety" device. For more on the hazards of bike facilities see article and Alan Wachtel's research
INJURED UK CYCLIST AWARDED £5 MILLION (CAD$12M) after an insurance company dropped an attempt to hold him negligent for riding bareheaded according to a report by the BBC. An earlier report in cyclingnews.com had said that Royal Sun Alliance, an insurance company had abandoned its claim for contributory negligence against cyclist Richard Harrison who suffered severe brain damage in the collision on the A695 in Hexham, Northumberland, in May 1999. The company's claim was based on the cyclist not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. His solicitor has stated that insurers were trying to use helmets as an excuse to reduce damages to cyclists and would continue to do so, that meant cyclists' representatives would have to be vigilant in ensuring they did not succeed. According to cyclingnews.com, this is third case of its kind in the UK where insurers have used the negligence argument and the third time the argument has been dropped and the case settled out of court.
DEFEAT FOR SPONSOR OF MHL In Ontario's provincial election October 2, 2003, member of the Ontario Legislature and cabinet minister Dianne Cunningham suffered a resounding seven thousand vote defeat in her bid for re-election. Cunningham was the author of a private member's bill that led to Ontario's mandatory bicycle helmet legislation. Although she was a member of the opposition Conservative Party, the bill was passed while the socialist New Democratic Party held power. Introduced in the early 1990's, it was approved by the legislature in 1994 for implementation in October 1995. It applied to all cyclists. Cunningham was subsequently humiliated however by her own party when it won the 1995 election and immediately exempted adult cyclists in response to a public campaign run by the Ontario Coalition for Better Cycling.Cunningham knew very little about cycling or cycling accidents and their causes but despite that got involved after her son suffered a debilitating head injury while a teenage passenger in a car. It was alleged alcohol was involved. She was known to be extremely dismissive towards cyclists who opposed her. When defeated on facts, she wasn't above using emotional manipulation to gather support. In one public hearing she arranged to have a head injured young person in a wheelchair attend. Apparently, the young man when a toddler had ridden out of a driveway straight into the path of a car.
No tears are shed here for Ms. Cunningham's defeat.
ONTARIO'S NEW LEADER A CYCLE COMMUTER Dalton McGuinty, Ontario's newly elected Premier was a regular cycle commuter to his constituency office in the 1990's before he became leader of the province's Liberal Party. It's not known how much cycling the Premier does now, but back then he was a notable supporter of the Ontario Coalition for Better Cycling's opposition to bicycle helmet legislation. Let's hope the new premier will remember the philosophy he espoused at the time - prevent cyclist injuries by preventing accidents through education of cyclists and drivers alike - and bring his views to bear on the Transportation policy of his new government.
September 2003
CYCLEHELMETS.ORG LAUNCHED cyclehelmets.org is the website of an international coalition of people with a special interest in cycling and cycle helmets. The coalition includes doctors, cycling safety experts, statisticians and people with professional involvement in helmet design and performance.
cyclehelmets.org joins the growing list of credible bodies expressing concern about the exaggerated value of bicycle helmets and the negative effect it has on cycling and on health in general.
August 2003
BICYCLE HELMET STANDARDS HAVE A DESIGN FLAW that could leave cyclists vulnerable to serious head injuries, say researchers in Belgium. An August 9th article in New Scientist, the leading UK science and technology journal, criticizes current helmet standards for failing to recognize rotational forces, the major factor in brain injuries. Bart Depreitere at the biomechanics lab of the University Hospital Gasthuisberg Leuven is quoted as saying that while the standards will help to protect against a skull fracture, research shows that many of the more serious head injuries, such as contusions and haemorrhages, were the result of rotational acceleration in which the head twists. "It is certainly wrong that there's nothing in the standards about rotational acceleration" he says.
This report supports our long held view that while helmets may offer some protection against lesser injuries such as lacerations and skull fractures, they haven't been shown to reduce disabling brain injuries and deaths.
An earlier article in the New Scientist drew attention to similar shortcomings of current helmet design.
July 2003
CANADIAN HELMET LAW STATS A SURPRISE to Alberta helmet promoters but not to us. A report in the Calgary Sun on July 12, 2003 says new stats suggest that cyclist head injury rates have increased since the introduction of Alberta's child helmet law in May 2002. In June 2001 we reported on the unrealistic expectations being set by Alberta physicians that were behind a campaign for helmet legislation. At the moment it is not clear what impact data reporting changes referred to in the report had on the rate calculations. We will try to find out.
NO HELMET EFFECT ON NEW ZEALAND'S CYCLIST FATALITIES an analysis of road traffic fatality data for New Zealand since 1976 revealed no indication that the increased use of bicycle helmets or bicycle helmet legislation has had an effect on cyclist fatality trends. If anything it shows cyclists lagging behind pedestrians, the other vulnerable road user. The results replicate those for Canada and the United States.
June 2003
Kivilev Politics
Canadian Cyclist fatalities
Florida Motor Bike Helmet Law Repealed
June 2002
Effect of Nova Scotia Helmet Law
Comments on NS "study"
Comments on BMJ Article
Community in Texas Rejects Helmet Law
No Change in US Fatality Trends
September 2001
Comment on the New York Times Helmet article
Comment from Florida
August 2001
NY Times Article
June 2001
Magic hats in Alberta
May 2001
Canadian Fatality Trends, British Columbia Update
January 2001
Leave Cyclists Alone - BMJ article
October 2000
Ohio Anti-cycling case, Cops Confiscate Bikes from Kids for Cycling Bareheaded,
Analysis of US Federal Accident Reporting System
May 2000
It's not Cycling that's Dangerous, UK Cyclist Casualty Trends, Helmets for car users
April 2000
Cycling for Health, Cycling Advocacy Changes Needed,
Cop Arrests Kid for Cycling Bareheaded, Ottawa's Bike Paths,
Austin, Texas Helmet Law
March 2000
Quebec Poll - Education not Legislation, Cyclist Education in Hawaii Schools,
US Helmet Laws Dumped, Report from Western Australia
December 1999
No Reduced Liability for Injuring Cyclist, Cyclist Safety - Accident Summaries by Type from six American States,
Pensylvania's Bicycle Driver's Manual, Oz Helmet Law Reduces Cycling - Increases Costs,
Oz Bureaucracy Gone Mad, Spain's Draconian Anti-Cycling Laws, Quebec Helmet Law Again?
October 1999British Review of Helmet Research
September 1999
Toronto Critical Mass, Article on Public Benefits of Cycling,
Commentary from Scotland, Motor Bike Helmets - Forbes Magazine Article
August 1999
Bike Lanes Removed in Ottawa, Alberta Helmet Discussion,
British Helmet Discussion, Holland No Cyclist Paradise
July 1999
British Medical Association Rejects Helmet Law, BC Helmet Law Challenge
May 1999
BC - Canada's Anti-Cycling Province, Roads Safer than Bike Paths in UK
Helmet Law Stats from Western Australia
Mid-April 1999
Alberta Helmet Law Defeated
April 1999
Alberta Helmet Law
March 1999
Children Strangled by Helmets, News from Western Oz
February 1999
BC Court Challenge
January 1999
Canadian Fatality Trends, Ontario Roads Safer than Bike Paths
Canada's Anti-cycling Activists, UK Doctors Reject MHL,
Quebec Helmet Law News, Car Helmets
December 1998
BC Helmet Law Challenge
November 1998
US Fatality Trends, No helmet Benefit in New Zealand
October 1998
Death of Cycling Legend - In Memoriam
Toronto Coroner Opposes Helmet Laws, BC Helmet Law Challenge
Car Helmets, Court overturns Alberta Bike Ban - Transcript
May 1998
Ottawa Bike Ban Thwarted, Ontario Road Maintenance Standards
February 1998
Alberta Rejects MHL
January 1998
Canadian Government Helmet Propaganda,
No Reduction in Fatalities from US Helmet Laws
1997
Reports from OZ and NZ, Interpreting Ontario's Traffic Act
GROUP REFORMS TO FIGHT POSSIBLE ADULT HELMET LAW (see 
MAKE CYCLING LOOK DANGEROUS - advocates promoting helmet use exaggerate the risks of cycling so as to gain public acceptance of their "safety" goals. Arguments are usually based on anecdotal evidence concerning specific cyclist deaths (no helmet or involvement of a motor vehicle) or on the poorer safety record of atypical cyclists, for example the lawless and reckless. The recent coroner's report identified drug and alcohol use, distractions such as use of mobile phones, HTA infractions, and carrying unsafe loads as significant factors in the death of cyclists. Helmet advocates however frequently narrowly focus on anecdotal evidence (which by definition are out of context of the bigger statistical picture) and in doing so are effectively manipulating public emotions.
BOXES - a "before and after" comparison of crashes at intersections where bike boxes have been installed in Portland Oregon, has revealed a doubling in cyclist crashes. In May 2012 a cyclist was killed by a right turning truck in a bike box after the cyclist entered the truck driver's blind spot. The driver was not charged. 
the conclusion from a 
, the leader of Ontario's opposition party the Progressive Conservatives, was asked by the host of The Vehicular Cyclist, Avery Burdett whether he would cancel the adult exemption from the province's bicycle helmet law. 
MEASURABLE AFFECT ON HEAD INJURY HOSPITALIZATIONS. The Globe and Mail, a national newspaper is reporting that in a soon to be published study, Canadian researchers, in evaluating data from 1994 to 2008, found that helmet legislation on its own had no measurable effect on the rate of hospitalizations for cycling head injuries. 
US CITY COUNCIL VOTES UNANIMOUSLY TO DUMP HELMET LAW - The New York Times reports that Milton, a city south of Seattle in the State of Washington, has unanimously voted to rescind its 15 year old bicycle helmet law. City fathers decided that its police force has more important things to deal with. They are also concerned that uneven enforcement of the law could result in liability which would empty City coffers. 
NO SUPPORT FOR HELMETS BY LEADING SCOTS GROUP - Scotland's leading cycling lobby group, Spokes, has ceased to advertise events that insist on the compulsory use of safety helmets. The Lothian-based charity, said it was uncertain whether the benefits of helmets outweighed the risks they posed in some types of crashes. The move was backed by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents which said helmet wearing but that it should not be compulsory. 
World Radio Switzerland (worldradio.ch), Swiss MPs have rejected a proposed bicycle helmet law for children 14 years and under by a vote of 136 to 46. Those opposed to the law called the requirement for children to wear helmets counterproductive and something that should rely on personal responsibility. 
IS RIDING A BIKE AS EASY AS RIDING A BIKE - or do adults need bicycle training? A UK radio program tried to answer this question in its November 23, 2011 broadcast. The Bike Show, a weekly program dedicated to cycling, airs over central London on FM104.4 
PAPER IN ETHICS JOURNAL, "LACK OF EVIDENCE RE: HELMET EFFECTIVENESS" - a paper accepted January 2012 for publication in the British Journal of Medical Ethics states, "... we cannot support legislation that would require competent adults to wear cycle helmets, particularly given the lack of evidence regarding the effectiveness of cycle helmets and given the importance of defending people’s right to take risks with their health. If competent adults wish to cycle with their hair (or their shiny pates) exposed to the wind, rain and sky, then they ought to be able to so without interference from the government or from anyone else." 
OZ HELMET LAW DISASTER - according to an April 2012 article
reported 
Canadian national TV commentator, David Menzies, appeared on Sun Media's prime time news show December 12th to ridicule provincial and municipal governments that are introducing helmet laws for skiing, skating, tobogganing, and cycling. Menzies appears on camera wearing bubble wrap and a bicycle helmet. He was particularly scathing over the Insurance Bureau of Canada which repeated a 25 year old Seattle study claim "bicycle helmets reduce head injuries by 85%". See 
"I’ve taken three cycling courses since becoming a community officer with the Ottawa Police Service and am on schedule to become a cycling instructor this fall. At the end of every course, I’m absolutely amazed at all the bad habits that I had taught myself throughout the years," says Constable Khoa N. Hoang adding, "... the cost of not knowing road safety when cycling may be far too great". Unfortunately, local activists don't agree with him. Rather they put their efforts into downplaying cycle education and the need for a well informed cycling community in favour of lobbying for separation of cyclists into segregated bike lanes. The result of this is an increase in untrained, novice cyclists who unknowingly put themselves at risk each time they venture out on urban roads. A manifestation of poor cycling skills has been two recent high profile 
ANOTHER ONTARIO CORONER'S REVIEW OF CYCLIST FATALITIES - In 1998, the Toronto Regional Coroner released a report on all 38 cycling fatalities involving motor vehicles occurring in the City of Toronto from 1986 to 1996. He made a number of recommendations of which few were implemented. See 
At the June 2011 Ontario Biking Summit, organized by Share the Road Cycling Coalition, Provincial Transport Minister Kathleen Wynne said that if cycling is ever going to take off in Ontario, the debate has to focus on its economic feasibility and sustainability, not morality and self-righteousness. 
a Vancouver resident’s challenge of the provincial law requiring cyclists to wear helmets. The challenge is based on a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The skateboarder was travelling straight through an intersection in the SBL on Rachel Street and was struck by a city bus turning right onto Frontenac . Apparently the skateboarder was in the driver's blind spot. 
Minister for transportation, Norman Baker, enjoys riding his bike with the wind in his hair. He cited evidence that drivers are more cautious when around bareheaded cyclists than they are around those wearing helmets. "Wear a helmet and drivers feel they can drive closer than they can. I don't think the safety case for helmets is clear-cut", the minister said. His choice to ride bareheaded has upset the usual gang of life-style control freaks who claim he is unfit for the job, according to an 
A Februay 2011 article published in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention (AA&P) reports that bicycle helmets don't reduce head injury risk as much as is claimed by the health and safety industry. Starting at 85% efficacy from a 1980's study of (now obsolete) hardshell helmets in the New England Journal of Medicine (still widely cited by pro-helmet campaigners despite its obvious biases), and declining to 60% found by Attewell, Glase and McFadden, it's now 43%* according to Dr Rune Elvik, an expert in risk analysis from Norway's Institute of Transport Economics and member of the editorial board of AA&P. His paper points out flaws in the 2001 Attewell study, and includes publication bias – more weight was attached to positive findings from the researchers’ point of view than negative ones – and time-trend bias. Elvik reanalyzed the data to arrive at the lower estimate of helmet efficacy. 
legislation. It carries some persuasive reasons why NI's helmet law is misguided. Although Northern Ireland suffers 4,000 deaths per annum from cardiovascular disease no death was recorded from cycling for 2009 and 2010. 
Ottawa have formed a group to defend their rights to safe and convenient on-road cycling. The group, Responsible Cycling Coalition (whose members include the host of The Vehicular Cyclist) has been formed in response to the City of Ottawa's plan to build a segregated bike lane in a major downtown arterial. Project details include a design that will force cyclists in bike lanes to make pedestrian-style left turns from "turn pads" painted in intersections. 
Ciudad Ciclista (City Cyclist) has called a meeting of all cyclists concerned about the restrictions that result from the installation of bike lanes - Spanish traffic law requires cyclists to use segregated bike facilities where they exist. Ciudad Ciclista has produced a video to publicize its first meeting and to explain its aims. The 
Two result from comprenhensive studies carried out for the City of Copenhagen and show a deteriorating safety situation resulting from the construction of bike infrastructure. The third was carried out by the City of Helsinki and shows the serious safety consequences of that city's bike paths. The Helsinki report also suggests that increase in cycling is not at the expense of car use but rather transit use.
BUT CYCLISTS DON'T LOVE THE FIRST AVENUE BIKE LANE - New York City cyclists who originally were supporters of the concept of dedicated bike lanes are now having second thoughts after experiencing first hand the realities of a new bike lane on First Avenue. Many of those that have tried the lane are now reverting to riding in the regular traffic lanes as this video shows.
ACCIDENTS SPIKE AFTER VANCOUVER BIKE LANE INSTALLED - A report in The Vancouver Courier states that data released by The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (a provincial government legislated corporation that provides vehicle insurance and driver licensing services), accidents at one end of a new segregated bike lane spiked dramatically in the summer months a year after it was installed. Sixty crashes occurred in July and August 2009. This is a six-fold increase over the previous summer when 10 crashes were recorded. In 2007, there were 35 crashes during the same period.
UK BIKE SAFETY EXPERT ON BBC - John Franklin, British road safety expert, author and expert witness 
CITIZENS OF ALBERTA TOWN REJECT HELMET LAW - Opponents of a proposed bicycle helmet law got their wish on September 11, 2010 in Lethbridge, Alberta as their city council unanimously voted down the proposal.
Citing the strong and clear message they heard from citizens, council members voted 7-0 to defeat the measure, which would have made helmets compulsory for adult cyclists. The Province of Alberta already has a child bicycle helmet law. 
AUSTRALIAN PROF DISSES HELMET LAWS - "Bicycle helmet legislation of limited benefit" says Chris Rissel, an assistant professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney, in an analysis published in the latest Journal of the Australasian College of Road Safety. He attributes most of the recent reduction in head injury rates among cyclists to general improvements in road conditions that occurred before mandatory helmet wearing took effect. 
MEXICO CITY DUMPS HELMET LAW - European Local Transport Information Service (ELTIS), an initiative of the European Commission's Directorate General for Energy and Transport, reports on 30/06/2010 that after only 2 years, Mexico City has abolished a law that mandated bicycle helmet use. Abolition coincided with the introduction of a bike share system. The City says that it would be impractical to provide helmets for all users of the bike share system and forcing cyclists to wear helmets could give an impression that cycling in the city is dangerous. 
NO HELMET BENEFIT IN ACTIVIST'S OWN STUDY - Dr Patrick Crocker, a helmet activist pushing for a mandatory bicycle helmet ordinance in the City of Austin, Texas failed to find any significant difference in risk between helmet users and bareheaded cyclists according to a study of 200 adult accident victims in the Central Texas area. It did find however that alcohol use was significantly associated with head injury. The victims studied were treated at UMC Brackenridge's Level II Trauma Center from December 2006 to November 2007 where Crocker had previously been Medical Chief. Factors examined included helmet use, alcohol use, cycling experience, location and type of accident, speed of the accident and degree of head or brain injury. Crocker was the lead author of 
ISRAEL TO MODIFY BICYCLE HELMET LAW according to a report in the Jerusalem Post. The Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislation threw its support behind a bill which would remove the requirement for adults to wear a helmet while riding a bicycle in the city. The bill, sponsored by MK Sheli Yehimovich (Labor) repeals part of the Helmet Law which was passed last year.
SEGREGATION VERSUS VEHICULAR CYCLING - While looking for information on another matter I came across an article by Malcolm Wardlaw, Assessing the actual risks faced by cyclists, published in the December 2002 edition of TEC, a UK magazine of Traffic Engineering and Control. On page 354 Wardlaw argues that lower accident rates to Dutch and Danish cyclists is not because of the segregated bicycle facilities in the Netherlands and Denmark but rather because of the phenomenom of safety in numbers - the more cyclists there are the safer cycling becomes for everybody. 
MINISTER ADMITS NZ HELMET LAW DETERS CYCLING - The press in New Zealand has reported that national government minister
of Transportation (now ex-minister after defeat of the Labour government in November's election) has been wondering whether ditching the national helmet law would
get more people on to bicycles. 
COMPREHENSIVE REPORT ON HEALTH BENEFITS OF CYCLING BEING DISTRIBUTED TO HEALTH PROFESSIONALS IN ENGLAND - As a government agency, Cycling England, is likely the most authoritative voice on cycling in England. It has just published a detailed new report, 
CYCLING SAFER THAN GOLF - The April 2005 edition of the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics carried a review of patients under age 19 seen by pediatric neurosurgeons at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta between 1996 and 2002. Sixty four of the total of 2,546 head injured patients treated had sports-related injuries. Less than 1% (17) treated had cycling-related injuries. (Apparently the authors consider cycling to be a sport rather than a mode of transportation.) Fifteen were golf-related. The review did not attempt to compare relative risks by estimating exposure rates, but since children participate in cycling activities in vastly greater numbers than they do in golfing activities, it is abundantly clear that children are much safer riding their bikes than they are doing many other ordinary activities considered by most as benign and virtually harmless. 
UK HELMET BILL NIXED - A government minister says helmet compulsion is unlikely because it would lead to decreased cycle use. The UK's largest cycling organization, Cyclist's Touring Club welcomed the government's statement citing new evidence that the obesity crisis is far worse than previously realised, and with the reduction in cycling that would follow the implementation of a helmet law, the bill would shorten thousands more lives than it could possibly save. 
HELMET CAMPAIGNER KILLED ON BIKE - A female cyclist from Charlotte, North Carolina and an advocate of bicycle helmets died with another cyclist when they were hit by an SUV on October 21 . The cyclist, Lee Anne Barry, who had suffered a brain injury as a child had become an activist for brain injury victims, having since 2001 regularly cycled across the US to raise awareness of the disability. She frequently appeared before audiences of school children, urging them to wear bicycle helmets using as props the battered headgear of people who had been involved in accidents. 
CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST CLUB CYCLISTS IN ONTARIO - Ottawa Bicycle Club cyclists who received tickets while participating in one of the club's regular Sunday morning rides had the charges withdrawn when they appeared in a provincial court in Kemptville on September 20th.
HELMET DIDN'T SAVE THESE LIVES We frequently hear stories about how a helmet saved someone's life in a cycle accident. Such claims often have no basis but nevertheless they are powerful in grossly exaggerating the protective value of bicycle helmet use. Web host, Jim Tubman of Calgary, Alberta believes that many people find anecdotes more convincing than statistical evidence. So he thought he would look at it from the other side and searched the Web to find stories about cyclists who died in accidents while wearing their helmets. 
ROTATIONAL HEAD INJURIES Anyone who has examined any national helmet certification procedure, eg CPSC or Snell, will know that bicycle helmets are tested only for direct (linear) impacts. These procedures contain no standards which require protection against oblique impacts that might result in rotation of the brain inside the skull. The inventor of a motorcycle helmet that
HELMET LAW OR FREEDOM OF CHOICE? - the July/August Canadian edition of the magazine of North American retail
megastore Costco, carries a debate between the host of Vehicular Cyclist and Ontario legislator, John Milloy, on the question, "should adult cyclists have to wear helmets?"
Visit the 
CYCLE KINGSTON RESISTS BIKE LANES. According to 
CHRIS BOARDMAN IS PRO-CHOICE. In the June 2007 edition of ProCycling, former British pro-cyclist, Chris Boardman has come out strongly in support of cyclists whose choice it is to ride bareheaded. Boardman expresses reservations over how helmet campaigning has been turned into a religion.
CITY UNANIMOUSLY REJECTS HELMET LAW A few days ago we reported that the City Council of Saskatoon in the Province of Saskatchewan were about to vote on a helmet law proposal. Last night (April 16) victory was declared by local cyclists when Council rejected the helmet law proposal 
JUDGE CONSIDERS OPENING ARGUMENTS IN BC HELMET LAW TRIAL Previously we reported on the case in British Columbia of cyclist, Bill Wilson, who is pleading his case against a ticket for cycling without a helmet using the defence that his rights are being violated under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,
EDITOR OF INJURY PREVENTION ATTACKS HELMET CRITICS - Canadian editor of Injury Prevention (IP), Barry Pless has launched an
astonishing attack on critics of pro-helmet articles
AUSTIN, TEXAS SAYS NO TO ADULT HELMET LAW AGAIN - an attempt to bring back an adult helmet law to the City of Austin failed last month following a sometimes emotional City Council debate. In March 2000 we reported 
WEARING A HELMET MIGHT INCREASE YOUR RISK OF GETTING HIT FROM BEHIND - 
CLAIMS FOR HELMET EFFECTIVENESS DERIVE FROM IMPERFECT OBSERVATIONAL DATA - In two research papers, Paul Hewson, a lecturer in statistics at Plymouth University, England explains the probable reason why claims for helmet effectiveness from hospital case control studies do not translate into detectable benefits at population levels. (The most widely quoted claim, that helmets reduce the risk of head injury by 85%, comes from a case control study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1989. The authors have been active advocates of bicycle helmet laws. Although almost twenty years out of date and despite 
PUTTING INJURY STATISTICS IN CONTEXT HONESTLY -
A supporter pointed us to this interesting piece, 
ANOTHER RESEARCHER SHOWS HELMET LAWS TO BE COUNTERPRODUCTIVE - Colin Clarke, Yorks and Humber regional representative for the UK Cyclist's Touring Club told the 16th Canadian Multidisciplinary Road Safety Conference held in Winnipeg, Manitoba on June 11 that 
CYCLING IS A SAFE ACTIVITY BUT WHO WOULD KNOW IT? In an article on the 
UK AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT HAPPENS WHEN BIKE LANE STRIPES PAINTED ON ROADWAYS - the UK's state broadcaster, the BBC, 
MORE CYCLING, FEWER ACCIDENTS say French cycling organizations.
Cycling is less dangerous than many people think and the more cyclists there are, the fewer accidents. These are the two messages to come from a meeting of Sécurité Routière on Tuesday, the eve of Spring, time when cyclists start riding again.
SANITY UNCOVERED IN THE UK TOO! Last July we reported that 
HELMETS NOT PROTECTING COMPETITIVE CYCLISTS. Ordinary cycling may be low risk but competitive cycling is looking decidely risky. Perhaps helmets are encouraging cyclists to take unreasonable risks in a search for competitive success. In one August week, five racing cyclists died as a result of separate crashes.
AUSTRALIAN MINISTER ACKNOWLEDGES HELMET LAW COUNTERPRODUCTIVE. A memo dated 4 May 2000 has surfaced in which the current minister responsible for transportation for the State of Western Australia admitted that bicycle helmet legislation may be counterproductive. 
WHILE CYCLING IS DISCOURAGED, THE OBESITY EPIDEMIC WORSENS. According to the BBC (the UK's state broadcasting system), in the past year the adult obesity rate rose in 48 of America's states, and nationally from 23.7% to 24.5%. 
PEDESTRIAN GROUP FORCES COUNTY TO REMOVE CYCLISTS FROM SIDEWALK - a UK advocacy group acting on behalf of pedestrians forced Cornwall County Council to reverse a decision to allow cycling on the pedestrian promenade in Penzance, Cornwall, a popular resort town in the south west of England. Two reports examining the County's original decision both found that cycling on the sidewalk endangered cyclists themselves as well as pedestrians. These findings are consistent research by Aultman-Hall in Toronto and Ottawa and with what we have been saying on this website for years - cyclists belong on roads and attempts to remove cyclists into separate facilities is against cyclists' interests. See the 
MORE CYCLISTS = SAFER CYCLING - a report in the 
BUILD THEM AND CYCLISTS WILL COME ... BUT NOT IN DUBLIN - cycling advocates frequently claim that people would give up their cars and ride bicycles if more cyclist-specific facilities were made available. Certainly in surveys would-be cyclists respond favourably to the possibility of more bike lanes and bike paths. Unfortunately, when they are built it seems to have no effect on levels of cycling. In parts of the world that have comprehensive bicycle facility construction programs cycling continues to fall. Dublin is such a case. According to 
A LITTLE BIT OF SANITY FINALLY UNCOVERED IN CANADA - a Manitoba provincial government task force decided to consider the wider health implications and rejected a recommendation to mandate the use of bicycle helmets for children. The latter was pushed by prominent local helmet advocates, including task force member and Manitoba member of the legislature, John Gerrard. Gerrard is the sponsor of a bill calling for compulsory helmet use. The task force, struck to examine issues concerning child health, was made up of representatives of all parties in the Manitoba legislature. It recommended that the health of children could be improved by focussing on nutrition, active transportation and exercise. It's worth reading. A copy of the report can be downloaded from the government's 
NUTTY SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT LEGISLATES BICYCLE HELMETS - There's a 
EX UK MINISTER - HELMET ACTIVISTS ARE POTTY- in 
CycloPath2001 PRESENTS 
HELMET ZEALOT REVERSES POSITION ON BEHAVIOUR THEORIES. Self-confessed injury prevention zealot and editor of the journal Injury Prevention, Barry Pless, has co-authored a report that validates a couple of theories concerning helmet users. In 
LONDON-BASED SKILLS TRAINING ORGANIZATION, 
PROPOSED UK HELMET LAW FAILS TO PASS A UK child helmet law proposed by Labour MP Eric Marlew failed to get parliamentary approval April 23 when it received second reading. A low turnout of MPs resulted in the bill being put at the back of a queue of Private Member’s Bills waiting to be heard. Under the UK parliamentary system, this has the effect of allowing the bill to lapse.
ANOTHER BILL CALLS FOR HELMET CLAIMS TO BE INVESTIGATED Another Labour MP has introduced a bill that calls on the Department for
Transport to initiate a programme of research designed to establish why increases in helmet wearing rates are not associated with reductions in head injury rates, and why the countries with the lowest helmet wearing rates are those with the lowest cyclist injury rates. The full draft of the bill is on the 
HAZARDS OF VANCOUVER'S BIKE PATHS 
KIVILEV AND HELMET POLITICS
Much has been made in the cycling press of the tragic death of Kazakh professional cyclist
Andrei Kivilev in stage two of the Paris/Nice road race on March 11th. Kivilev crashed
while the bunch was travelling at 40 - 45km/h. He fell sideways and forward and struck
his forehead on the tarmac. He died during the night without regaining consciousness.
Not widely reported or discussed in the English language press was the role that Kivilev's
radio earpiece may have played. The rider was seen adjusting it immediately prior to the crash. Ex-French pros Laurent Fignon and Laurent Jalabert called for earpieces to be banned because of the distractions they cause to riders.
FLORIDA'S REPEAL OF MOTOR BIKE HELMET LAW HAS NO EFFECT A study* published in the US journal, Evaluation Review showed that the repeal of the mandatory helmet-use law in Florida which was effective July 1, 2001 did not increase serious injuries or fatalities that resulted from motorcycle crashes. The authors state "the notion that Florida’s repeal of its mandatory helmet-use law increased significantly serious injuries and fatalities resulting from motorcycle crashes has been assumed implicitly by policy makers and social scientists alike, but such a belief is not supported by this study." They go on to say "the effect of mandatory helmet-use laws on motorcycle crash injuries and fatalities is an important question that is raised frequently, with scant and often questionable empirical evidence on which to base definitive answers." They suggest that motorcycle safety might be better improved by a shift away from mandatory helmet-use laws to other more effective measures such as driver training and educational programs.
DECLINE IN CYCLING FOLLOWS NOVA
SCOTIA HELMET LAW - scrutiny of the underlying data in
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international cycling survey. To add your cycling experiences to the database, click on link at top left of this frame.
QUEBECERS SAY ONCE AGAIN "EDUCATION NOT LEGISLATION" - in an update to our
report in December 1999 that for the third time in six years the
Parti Québecois government of the province of Québec is examining a bicycle
helmet legislation proposal, a
ANTI-CYCLING MEASURES IN SPAIN - it
has been reported that the government of Spain has approved changes to
its traffic laws which include a number of anti-cycling measures. With
overtones of Orwell's 1984, the measures have been justified on the basis
of protecting cyclists on Spanish roads. Among the changes are compulsory
helmet use outside of towns, restrictions on two abreast cycling, and requirements
to yield right of way to heavier vehicles at junctions and traffic circles.
(Although it's not clear what these are.)
COMMENTARY FROM SCOTLAND -
THE DUTCH SYSTEM - A CYCLIST'S PARADISE NOT! Visit the Netherlands Board of Tourism's
web site, 
