Guy Chapman - 5 Aug 2003

Letter sent to the editor of the Reading Chronicle. The dangers of overstating the protective effects of helmets should be obvious to even the most ardent helmet advocate. To challenge inflated claims for helmets and exaggeration of the risks of cycling is not to lobby against helmets or their use - even the BMA are not in favour of compulsion. BHITs mission is to get more poeple to wear helmets, while the CTC wants everybody to be able to cycle safely. The CTC promotes cycle training, supports Dr Bike cycle safety checks, lobbies against dangerous cycle "facilities," spreads best practice in cycle provision - and is quite content for people to make up their own minds about helmets. Yes, we fly in the face of Government propaganda for under-16s. The DfT launched a website which suggested that cycling is dangerous and wearing a helmet is the first, best thing young cyclists can do to protect themseves. Wrong on both counts, and I took it up with them before the CTC ever wrote their letter. The issue is certainly not black-and-white, www.cyclehelmets.org discusses many of the issues. I don't believe that helmets themselves are dangerous and I encourage my children to wear them. I have also spent many hours working on nine-year-old Michael's road-sense and cycling skills, and he is becoming a competent and careful cyclist. Habits of care and awareness should serve him well. The last thing I want is for him to think a polystyrene hat will render him invulnerable, when the figures show that the most one can trust a helmet to prevent is cuts and bruises. Read the manufacturers' disclaimer if you don't believe it. To say that cycling on the road is a safe, healthy way to travel is not trite, it's a statement of fact. The benefits outweigh the risks by at least 20:1. I don't deny that there are risks but I dispute that they are extraordinary, especially given the benefits. That might be less true if we all rode like Beloki, who crashed at 60km/h while cornering hard on narrow high pressure tubular tyres on overheated rims on a melting road. It's the cycling equivalent of Le Mans, and about as relevant to everyday life. Patricia Pease suggests it is no good me living ten years longer if I end up dead. I'll bear that in mind. In case anyone is in doubt, the "proper precautions" are, in no particular order: maintain your bike, be vigilant, ride predictably and engage with the traffic around you, use lights after dark and in poor visibility and wear bright clothing, secure your luggage so it can't bring you down - no bags on the handlebars. Read John Franklin's excellent Cyclecraft (The Stationery Office, £9.99 - ISBN 0 11 702051 6) and make sure you are up-to-date with the Highway Code (http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk). Remember, too, the source of risk. Is forcing cyclists to buy and wear helmets a reasonable "solution" to the problem of carelessly driven motor vehicles? Over three thousand people are killed on the roads every year, less than 5% are cyclists. Road traffic crashes are the leading cause of child death in the UK. Think of the children. Slow down. Yes, "these people" (including the Government) want to prevent a decline in cycling. Cycle use is increasing and we want to keep it that way. Yes, we fear that if helmets became compulsory cycling would decline, it always does. Simply cycling to work or school reduces your risk of heart disease, the leading cause of death and disability. It is precisely about quality of life and concern for people's lives. Ms Pease says cycling is limited as a form of transport. In our family it's limited to commuting, shopping, taking the children to school, local leisure journeys, family outings and visiting friends and relatives. Maybe my lifestyle isn't "demanding" enough. It's certainly immensely simplified by the fact that my commute keeps me fit. Guy Chapman

p.s: I am indeed unpaid by the industry which profits from my advocacy of cycling. If any of the manufacturers or local bike shops want to redress this imbalance a new road bike would be very nice (Andy, you know where I live). But I suspect the bike business is not quite as profitable as some might believe.