A service from mySociety A service from mySociety

TheyWorkForYou

Dewislen

Cyclist Safety

Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Transport – in the House of Commons am 10:30 am ar 14 Mai 2009.

Danfonwch hysbysiad imi am ddadleuon fel hyn

Photo of Geoff Hoon Geoff Hoon Secretary of State, Department for Transport 10:30, 14 Mai 2009

The hon. Gentleman makes some good points and I will certainly take them into account when the report is published. I would like to spend a little more time studying the success of cycling in the Netherlands. Safety is clearly important, and I believe that we should campaign to encourage people to wear cycle helmets, which can help in especially serious conflicts between cyclists and motor vehicles.

Annotations

Mike Hartley
Posted on 15 Mai 2009 2:16 pm (Report this annotation)

Study the results and you will find that few people in the Netherlands wear helmets on a bike. Please concentrate on road layout and driver behaviour, which makes more of a difference.

Phil Lee
Posted on 16 Mai 2009 1:03 am (Report this annotation)

If Geoff Hoon believes that cycle helmets can help "especially serious conflicts between cyclists and motor vehicles" than he is living in fantasy land.
Has he ever even held one?
The standards for cycle helmets only provide any protection against a fall from cyclist head height.
Nowhere on earth has been ever able to show any increase in cyclist safety as a result of increased helmet use.
The ONLY effect that promotion of cycle helmets has ever been proven to have is to discourage cycling.
Since reduced numbers of cyclists actually increase danger to those that remain, the only conclusion to be drawn is that promoting helmets actually increases danger.
If he is that incapable of mastering his brief, he should resign and allow someone with a better understanding of basic physics to do the job.
If, on the other hand, he actually wants to make any real difference, he should promote the assumed liability laws used in The Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe.

Chris Beazer
Posted on 18 Mai 2009 4:31 pm (Report this annotation)

I agree with Phil Lee. Obviously Hoon hasn't read information given by cycling helmet manufacturers themselves that "helmets are not designed to protect the user from injuries caused by impacts with motor vehicles". The comparison with Holland is a very good one, since in that country hardly any cyclist wears a helmet, yet the incidence of cyclists' head injuries is the lowest in Western Europe. Also, cycling in London has increased by 90% since 2000, yet cyclist injuries have DECREASED by 33%.