It would seem obvious: wearing a helmet while cycling will protect your head from injury should you fall off.
Not so, according to Norman Baker MP.
Last month the Junior Transport Minister – who is in charge of cycling policy in Britain – defended his decision not to wear a helmet, saying: ‘We encourage children to wear them but adults are capable of making up their own minds.’
He also cast doubt over whether helmets, which are filled with hard foam designed to absorb the shock of a head impact by distributing the force, made bicycle use on the road any safer at all.
‘I like to feel the wind in my hair,’ added Mr Baker, who is balding.
The comments caused uproar – with cycling organisations, brain injury charities and medics queuing up to correct the Minister.
There are more than ten million regular cyclists in Britain, yet figures suggest that only 16 per cent wear helmets.
The Prime Minister, David Cameron, a one-time bicycle commuter, sometimes remembers to wear one.
London Mayor Boris Johnson still seems unwilling to don one.
The most recent data from the Department for Transport shows that in 2009, 104 cyclists were killed on the roads and 2,606 seriously injured and there were more than 14,000 reported minor injuries.
According to independent organisation Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), about 40 per cent of cyclists admitted to hospital in England have head injuries.
In 2009 TRL conducted a review that concluded that helmets are effective at preventing head and brain injuries – especially if there isn’t another vehicle involved.
It concluded that between ten and 16 per cent of the fatalities could have been prevented by wearing an appropriate helmet.
A review of research from the UK, Australia and America suggests that cycle helmets decrease the risk of head and brain injury by up to 88 per cent.
But helmets won’t prevent all injury and it is this that the anti-helmet lobby has seized on.
‘If you are hit by a car at 40 mph, your helmet is useless,’ says Colin Shieff, consultant neurosurgeon at the Royal Free Hospital in London.
‘However, if you fall off your bike, you are still at risk of significant injury when your head hits the ground – this is where a helmet may protect you.’
Cycling head injuries broadly fall into two categories: direct injuries, where the head makes impact with another object, and rotational injuries, sustained when the head is twisted.
The latter are more likely to cause death or chronic brain damage.
A helmet is unlikely to protect the head in such cases. In terms of blood and broken bones, a bang on the head may seem undramatic.
However, Shieff says: ‘You may disrupt the jelly-like substance that is the brain, causing widespread dots of haemorrhage and torn nerve cells.
'Such damage could cause life-long problems with mobility, memory and intellect.’
Shieff feels helmets are crucial. But not everyone agrees.
‘We aren’t against helmets, but we believe their efficacy is limited and that wearing them may be counter-productive,’ says Roger Geffen, campaigns and policy director of CTC, the UK’s national cyclists’ association.
‘If you’re caught lightly on the side of the head you may simply sustain a graze,’ says Geffen.
‘If you are wearing a helmet, your whole head could be spun round. Spine and neck injuries may also be very serious.’
Despite this, TRL’s 2009 report found no evidence to suggest that wearing a helmet increased risk of rotational head injury.
Some studies have suggested that people will be put off cycling if forced to wear helmets.
‘Long term there are going to be a lot more people dying from obesity-related conditions if you effectively discourage such exercise,’ points out Geffen.
A poll of 4,000 people was conducted by the Institute of Advanced Motorists last month.
Ten per cent said they’d give up cycling if helmets became law.
One thing most experts agree on is that cyclists should seek out properly fitting, well-made protection.
‘Always look for the European standard mark EN 1078, or EN 1080 for younger children,’ says Dr Bryan Chinn, director of a helmet and head injury consultancy.
Dr Chinn also stresses the importance that the helmet fits.
‘In the event of impact, you don’t want it to move at all,’ he says.
He also recommends that you do up the chin straps as tightly as possible and use a helmet covering the temples.
The last Which? report about cycle helmets, in 2005, did suggest that some helmets are superior.
Some of the top-rated brands – Canyon, Giro, Trek and Specialized – are all widely available in the UK.
There is no law that dictates cyclists must wear a helmet, so it remains your choice.
But brain injury association Headway spokesman Luke Griggs offers a final thought: ‘A number of Headway members sustained their injuries through cycling accidents.
'They are now spending the rest of their lives wishing they’d chosen to wear a helmet.’
source: dailymail.co.uk
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