Plan to make cycle helmets compulsory in North

A £50 (€61.05) penalty may have to be paid by parents of young cyclists in the North who do not wear safety headgear, it was revealed today.

Plan to make cycle helmets compulsory in North

A £50 (€61.05) penalty may have to be paid by parents of young cyclists in the North who do not wear safety headgear, it was revealed today.

Helmets would become compulsory for all if politicians go ahead with the proposals.

But payments for not wearing them will be suspended if it is a first offence and the person later purchases the protective equipment.

A spokesman for brain injury charity Headway said: “There are still children being injured in cycling accidents so more needs to be done through both education and legislation.”

Helmet wearing rates across the UK have increased steadily since 1994 with up to a third wearing them on major roads.

The charity’s spokesman added: “Alongside the evidence that cycle helmets save lives and prevent lifelong disability is the common sense notion that wearing a helmet surely provides one’s fragile skull with more protection than not wearing one.

“Too many Headway service users sustained their brain injuries as a result of cycling accidents. While some spend their days regretting not wearing a helmet, others have been told by the doctors treating them that had they not been wearing one, they would not have survived. We all think ’it will never happen to me’.

“Unfortunately, the evidence proves it does happen and cyclists need to accept they are at risk and better protect themselves before it’s too late.”

SDLP Assembly member Pat Ramsey has finished the first draft of a Stormont bill to be submitted next month.

According to the Transport Research Laboratory helmets were effective in most accidents but that depended on the size of the injured party and type of incident.

It said a helmeted head can fall at least four times as far for the same risk of injury as an unprotected head.

In 2008 there were 115 cyclists killed and 2,450 reported seriously injured in Britain, the Department of Transport said.

Mr Ramsey said he hoped the bill would receive the full support of his Assembly colleagues.

“It is clear and obvious from brain injury group Headway that there is an increasing number of young people having serious accidents on their bikes,” he said.

“We must legislate for this at the Assembly. Particularly when some accidents sustained by young people can easily ruin their lives permanently.”

A Department of the Environment spokeswoman said: “The department’s current policy mirrors the Department for Transport’s in Great Britain and encourages all cyclists to wear approved helmets.

“There is currently no legal requirement for cyclists in Northern Ireland to wear helmets on public roads. Any cycle helmet used should meet current regulations and be of the correct size and safely secured. These guidelines, along with further advice on appropriate clothing for cycling, are included in the Highway Code.

“The draft Road Safety Strategy issued to public consultation in March 2010 did not propose the mandatory wearing of helmets but welcomed comments on this and a number of other measures relating to cycling safety. The Department plans to publish a new Road Safety Strategy for Northern Ireland in December 2010.”

A British Medical Association spokeswoman said cycling should be encouraged as a safe and healthy alternative to car use but ways of improving safety must also be identified.

“As part of our policy to promote safe cycling, BMA(NI) supports the compulsory wearing of cycling helmets for both children and adults. The best evidence available highlights the reduced risk of head injury when helmets are used and the success of similar initiatives in lowering injury rates in other countries,” she said.

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