Road Safety Week puts focus on bicycle helmets
Cyclists are being urged to wear a helmet as part of Road Safety Week.
A study of 37 cycling deaths over a 10 year period found that bicycle helmets offer protection at speeds of less than 50 km an hour.
While cycling deaths are down this year, there's been a 59% increase in injuries to cyclists between 2011 and 2012.
Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at the Mater Hospital, Seamus Morris says helmets make a huge difference to cyclists: "Over the last five years we've seen a 300% increase in patients presenting with spinal injuries as a result of cycling.
"One of the classic injuries that a patient who falls from their bike sustains is a head injury, so many of these patients are very severely injured and the one factor that makes a huge difference in relation to this is helmet-wear which is protective by between 60% and 80%, the other common injury that these patients often have is spinal injuries."
