Steady rider wrote: ↑25 Jan 2023, 5:58pmResearch suggests helmet promotion can discourage cycling and suggests the health benefits of cycling outweigh the risks.But you said “ = bad” which is not the case. Helmet promotion doesn’t = bad
Cycling UK (2017) stated:However Cycling UK is not only concerned about the harmful effects of mandatory helmet use. By creating exaggerated perceptions of the risks of cycling, even voluntary helmet promotion campaigns have been found to deter some people from cycling. Given that the health benefits of cycling outweigh the risks by around 20:1 (one recent study put it at 77:1), it can be shown that only a very small reduction in cycle use is needed for helmet promotion (let alone helmet laws) to shorten more lives than helmets themselves could possibly save, regardless of how effective helmets might be.
Cycling UK,(2017) Health and Cycling https://www.cyclinguk.org/campaigning/v ... nd-cycling
Information available comparing Denmark and the Netherlands suggests that helmet promotion is indeed bad, from the overall health perspective https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... _warranted
However at some point the balance tips over and I think we are already there in the UK. A quick poll in my office amongst 12 millennial and Gen Z all 12 said they would not dream of getting on a bike without a helmet. It made them feel safer. If they didnt have access to a helmet many told me they would avoid the ride until they got a helmet. I am the same. All cycle, have bikes and wear a helmet. There was a boomer and a gen x out of another 6 who said they didn't see the need for a helmet. You can see that in the UK the increasing use of helmets becomes normalised and now no longer discourages cycling. If you see say more than say 60% of others wearing a helmet on your commute, you are suddenly in the minority and you feel your taking more risk. I dont feel more at risk driving because I put a seatbelt on. Its become normalised to wear one and part of sitting in a car. It doesn't make me start imagining crashing so I avoid the car journey and walk and therefore reduce car accident statistics. Overall helmet use increases safety and we are at the point in the UK were encouraging wearing one just makes more people wear one and eventually when everyone wears one the idea that it stops people cycling because it makes you feel less safe is gone. It just becomes putting on a hat like a pair of shoes. Just like seatbelts. I agree that ask a dutch person to wear one when they have never done so will make them feel less safe. Its all about normality and getting used to things.