Risky business: Helmet-free cycling

Insanity is to be found all over the place, particularly on the streets of London.  Today's primary example:  cyclists who adorn their handlebars rather than their heads with their helmets.  Today's second example:  cyclists who ride at night without any lights, and in the absence of adequate reflectors, or hi vis clothing. 

Travelling for even the shortest distance, without a helmet, represents a tragic invitation.  Without a helmet, the skull of an unfortunate rider whom, for whatever reason, comes off his bike, doesn't stand much of a chance against the tarmac, let alone a car windscreen. 

Not wearing a helmet makes little sense to me.  The standard response, when I've discussed this with those who prefer to take the risk is, to my mind, rather perverse:  they believe that, by not wearing a helmet (and presumably the same might go for any lights etc.) they cause drivers to be more cautious when driving alongside them.

Whilst this not only makes the critical assumption that the drivers to whom they refer see them, it is also baffling in its narcissism - for which there is little room on the streets of our great city.  The vast majority of road users are not, yet at least, moving around the capital mindful of only their journey.  I too, concede that my mind tends to be only partly on the road ahead, and on my mirrors, as I'm more often than not, thinking about where I'm going, where I've just been, or my journey ahead.  Add to that the sounds of the radio, whilst speaking on the phone, which is how other drivers pass much of their time in the car - and not always with hands-free) and we have a recipe for disaster...

Every year 17,000 cyclists are killed or injured in reported road accidents on British roads.  Of these, 2,500 are killed or seriously injured. 

And that's not the whole story:  these figures only include the numbers of cyclists killed or injured in road accidents that were reported to the police.  It is well established that many cyclist casualties are not reported to the police, even when the cyclist is inured badly enough to be taken to hospital.  There could in fact be two or three times as many seriously injured cyclists and double the number of slightly injured.

About one fifth of the cyclists killed and injured are children.  Cycling accidents increase as children grow older, with 10 to 15 year old riders being more at risk than other age groups, including adults until about the age of 60 years.  To some extent, this reflects increased cycling as children grow older followed by a switch to motorised transport from the late teens onwards.  It also coincides with the age when children attend secondary school, and may indicate riskier behaviour by this age group.

Research suggests that male cyclists are far more likely to be involved in accidents than females; four out of five cyclist casualties are male.  Most cycling accidents happen in urban areas.  Around 75% of fatal or serious cyclist accidents occur in urban areas.  Not surprisingly, the severity of injuries suffered by cyclists increases with the speed limit, meaning that riders are more likely to suffer serious or fatal injuries on higher speed roads.  It is for this reason that almost half of cyclist deaths occur on rural roads.  Around 80% of cycling accidents occur in daylight.  For child cyclists, 90% of their accidents occur during the day.  However, cycling accidents in the dark are more likely to be fatal.

Head injuries, ranging from fatal skull fractures and brain damage to minor concussion and cuts, are very common injuries to cyclists.  Hospital data shows that over 40% of cyclists, and 45% of child cyclists, suffer head injuries.  A study of 116 fatal cyclist accidents in London and rural areas found over 70% of the cyclist fatalities in London had moderate or serious head injuries in London, and over 80% of those killed in collisions on rural roads.

The stats are chilling.  One cyclist is killed every two and a half days on Britain’s roads (146 people every year).  Six cyclists are seriously injured every day.  These are cyclists sustaining injuries ranging from broken bones to brain injury or paralysis.  37 cyclists are slightly injured each day.  This means 16,196 people suffer injuries on Britain’s roads every year.

Wearing a helmet cannot prevent a crash from happening but it can save your life.  Chances are, having it dangling in front of you won't do the same job. 

A way of assessing the risk involved with cycling in the UK is to consider (based on the risk per hour of travelling) the length of time one would have to travel to have a one in a million chance of being killed.

By air – 4,300 hours
By car – 10 hours
By pedal cycle – 2 hours and 40 minutes!

I remain conscious of the importance of free choice.  Wearing cycle helmets remains non compulsory, and this is clearly as it should be; what I can't understand is why people would take the risk.  Worse still, is parents who allow their children to ride on the road without this basic, though by no means guaranteed, form of head protection. 

Get a life.  Get a helmet.  Stay alive by wearing it...?  I know James Cracknell would concur...

References

"Collisions Involving Cyclists on Britain's Roads: Establishing the Causes", TRL Report PPR 445, 2009
"Road Casualties Great Britain, 2009", Department for Transport, 2010