Helmet-wearing where you are (survey)

[TwoPlusTen]

This is what I observed driving (!) into work this morning.

Trip: 6 miles, 20mins

Total cyclists observed: 13
Total cycylists on road: 5
Wearing helmets: 4

Total cyclists off road e.g. pavement: 8
Helmet usage: zero.

My observations tie in largely with Si's in terms of types of cyclist.

[John-D]

100%
All we have are enthusiasts. Too hilly for anyone else.

Here, too, it's mostly 'enthusiasts'; it's a bit hilly, as well. On most of my rides everyone except me seems to be wearing one. Even when I head towards the towns I reckon over 90% are wearing them, though I've never actually counted.

[7_lives_left]

At my former work place the last two cyclist didn't wear helmets. At one time there were 5 regular cyclists and 3 out of 5 wore helmets. I guess half the cyclist I see at the supermarket are helmeted.

That helmets are obviously so much more popular than mudguards indicates to me that people have their priorities wrong

[[XAP]Bob]

That helmets are obviously so much more popular than mudguards indicates to me that people have their priorities wrong

[al_yrpal]

Down at my Devon place saw dozens of cyclists yesterday, at Howden Forest park, only one with no helmet. Drove across Exeter yesterday evening, saw 8 cyclists, 2 no helmets both on pavement. Today saw 6 cyclists including a couple of end to ender's, one with backpack had no helmet on a mtb with toes pointing out.

Al

[gentlegreen]

In Bristol it's a very high percentage who do, and I'm usually the only one on a group ride without one.

[gentlegreen]

At my former work place the last two cyclist didn't wear helmets. At one time there were 5 regular cyclists and 3 out of 5 wore helmets. I guess half the cyclist I see at the supermarket are helmeted.

That helmets are obviously so much more popular than mudguards indicates to me that people have their priorities wrong

Mudguards and racks / panniers too - how the hell can people cycle wearing a rucksack ?

I have never cycled without gloves either. I wear Aldi's so-called "winter" gloves all year - I used to wear ski gloves. I also can't cycle in random footwear - even though I'm not clipped-in.
My MP3 player also takes precedence over helmet - by a very long way.

[PaulCumbria]

On my commute from Kendal to Ambleside I'd ssay in excess of 80% wear helmets. Around Kendal it's about 20%. VERY roughly!

[Vorpal]

Along the Essex - Suffolk border, the majority of cyclists seem to be children and local people going to the shops, friend's house, etc. Only a small proportion of them wear helmets. On the lanes between villages, the majority of cyclists are commuter and club cyclists. Most (60%?) of them wear helmets.

I think that you would get a much higher proportion of helmet wearing, counted by distance travelled, than number of cyclists. Overall, I would suppose that going only by numbers of cyclists, about 25% wear helmets.

In Norway, it's similar. That is, in town, most people are running errands, going to play, etc. and between towns, people are commuting or training. But there are more of both, and a higher proportion of helmet wearers in both populations. I would estimate that between towns, helmet-wearers are about 90% of the cyclists I see, while in town, they are about 35 or 40% of the cyclists I see. Overall, I guess the numbers who wear helmets to be between 50 and 60%.

[7_lives_left]

I went on a ride today, counting heads. I passed through Beaconsfield, Slough, Sunningdale, Chobham, Woking, Normandy, Maidenhead, Bourne End, and a whole load of other places whose names I can't remember. I must have seen about fifty riders in total, I lost the exact count. There were slightly more helmeted riders than those without but it was close.

Most riders were on their own rather than in groups. The helmeted riders tended to be outside of built up areas and were often wearing lycra shorts. The riders without helmets tended to be in built up areas and were wearing ordinary clothes (if you count knee lenght baggy shorts as ordinary clothes. It was rather hot. Some of them were wearing nothing but shorts).

Where I saw groups of riders, they were riding out of town. In one case there was a group of 8, with 700c wheel, all in lycra, all with helmets bar one. They were stopped outside a village shop so it is possible the guy with the bare head might have just removed it.

The other large group I saw had 5 riders, on bikes with 26in wheels, bare heads and seems to be wearing ordinary clothes, not lycra. There seems to be something tribal going on.

I saw two family groups in different locations. Each had two adults and two youngsters. The adults were helmetless and the youngsters had helmets.

Where I saw youngsters on their own, or in small groups without any adults acompanying them, they were in town and not wearing helmets.

I went cross country through an area of pine forrest at one point to avoid long section of dual carridgeway. There were lots of mountain bikers there and every one of them had a helmet.

[hubgearfreak]

i saw around 40 cyclists today, 1/3 of which were children.
less than half of children had helmets, but none of the adults that were with them
some children were out without adults, none of these had them
of the adults that had them (2) one was going very fast on a shared flat canal path on his FS, 30 gears mtb. the other was in his 70s and in a high vis winter coat.

[[XAP]Bob]

Got to find another cyclist first.

The few at work are all wearers.
The couple I see on commute are also.
Those I see going to the shops (i.e. living) aren't - except the "younger" old ladies.

[Ellieb]

Meanwhile. Back on topic
North Edinburgh cyclepath (4miles) + half mile Road. 5pm. Quite warm for Edinburgh

Helmets 41
Non-Helmets 17

=70% helmets

As far as I could see all helmeteers were commuters
2 pairs of non helmets appeared to be taking Tyson for walkies + an obvious leisure couple. The other 11 commuters.

[Vorpal]

This thread has been split. Please post only responses to the OP on this thread. Further debate should be posted at viewtopic.php?f=41&t=67409

Thanks for your cooperation.

[dp73]

Amazing response to the thread so far. Thanks everyone.

I was driving outside Portsmouth on Sunday (Waterlooville, Bedhampton if you know the area) and saw 22 people on bikes, 3 NOT wearing helmets - so about 85% helmet rate. Back in Portsmouth again though I saw 53 people on bikes, 7 wearing helmets, so about 15% helmet rate. So this was on the same day at about the same time, but in two places only a couple of miles apart. Most of the cyclists outside Portsmouth were also wearing other cycling gear and riding road bikes, whereas in Portsmouth the cyclists were dressed in the same sorts of clothes as everyone else.

On the way to work today, I saw 20 people on bikes, 4 wearing helmets, so 20% - which is more in line with what I usually would estimate round here (20-30%)