Cycle helmet debate/Overview

The cycle helmet debate exists because pro-helmet activists want to promote and compel helmet use, but cycling groups and other interested parties argue against that.

Promotion and compulsion are apparently motivated by frustration with the apparent refusal of cyclists to understand the benefits of helmets and start wearing them. Promoters cite many observational studies which show that helmets are associated with a reduced risk of head injury]]. Promoters will cite this evidence, and also appeal to "common sense". Less scrupulous promoters will use exaggeration and other rhetorical devices, including shroud-waving, ad-hominem attacks on those who present conflicting evidence, and other fallacious arguments.

Opposition is less homogeneous and is motivated by many factors including the fact that cycling is not, objectively, actually dangerous; the fact that helmet use is not correlated with cycle safety anywhere in the world; inherent conflict between promoting helmet use (which requires maximising the perception of danger) and promoting cycling; and the known failure of helmet laws when they have been tried.

Since the promotion of helmets is pursued with nigh religious zeal, and most promoters will not stand still until they have compelled every single cyclist to wear a helmet, the argument will probably go on for some time yet.