'Head injuries a silent epidemic'
More than 10,000 people are affected by head injuries every year according to the organisers of a new campaign on cycle helmets.
The campaign, called 'Mind your Head', has been started to raise awareness of the consequences of not wearing protective head gear while cycling and has claimed that head injuries are now a silent epidemic.
The first stage of the campaign focuses on cyclists, highlighting the widespread complacency that exists towards bicycle helmets.
Between 1998 and 2005 over 400 children on bikes were injured on Irish roads.
'Mind Your Head' spokesperson Barbara O'Connell has warned that children seem to be too image conscious to wear helmets:
"It's a peer thing," she said. " if their friends won't wear them, they wont wear them. I don't think they realise what a brain injury can do, just slipping into a pothole and going over the handlebars can ruin your life."
