Cyclists totally opposed to compulsory wearing of helmets

national | rights, freedoms and repression | press release Monday May 17, 2004 12:45 by Shane Foran - Irish CycIing Campaign galwaycyclist at yahoo dot co dot uk Dublin CC: http://www.connect.ie/dcc, Galway CC: http://www.eirbyte.com/gcc, Cork CC:http://indigo.ie/~woz/ccc

Cyclists totally opposed to compulsory wearing of helmets as proposed by National Safety Council. The Irish Cycling Campaign calls yet again for the scrapping of the current NSC board which is dominated by the motoring industry to the detriment of cyclists, pedestrians and public transport users.

Cyclists totally opposed to compulsory wearing of helmets

From: Irish Cycling Campaign

Date: Thursday 13 May 2004

The Irish Cycling Campaign (ICC) expressed its total opposition to the mandatory wearing of cycling helmets. While the ICC is not opposed to helmet wearing itself, the mandatory use has proven to have a negative effect on cyclist safety. The ICC oppose the measure on a number of issues:

1. The Victoria example given by Eddy Shaw is totally misleading, and is base on the Towner report that has been widely discrdited for its distortion of the statistics. Although following the introduction of mandatory helmets did see a 48% fall in head injuries - cycling number decreased by a over 40%. Also the measure was taken as part of a wider anti-speeding and drink driving measures that saw overall road deaths decline by 50%.

2. The NSC board contains no cyclist or pedestrian members. Nor did the NSC consult with the ICC before announcing this measure.

3. A recent Australian study showed that targeting motorists for compulsory helmets could save 17 times as many lives as targeting cyclists.

4. The health advantages of cycling outweigh the risks by a factor of 20:1. Compulsory helmet wearing is proven to decrease cycling numbers. The British Medical Organisation (BMO) opposed mandatory helmet wearing for this reason.

5. Helmet debate takes away from the real issues: a. 75% of cyclist deaths in Dublin are caused by Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGV)
b. Speeding - 2003 saw 75,000 speed tickets being issued - a motorist can expect a ticket every 28 years ! c. Drink Driving - 2003 saw 15,000 breath test - a motorist can expect to be breathalyzed every 140 years !

Yet the NSC only pays lip service to these problems. The number of speeding tickets issued in Ireland in the 12 months after penalty points dropped from 300,000 the previous year to 75,000.

The ICC calls yet again for the scrapping of the current NSC board which is dominated by the motoring industry to the detriment of cyclists, pedestrian and public transport users.

More info at: www.cyclehelmets.org

ENDS
David Maher (086) 347 5357 PRO of the Irish Cycling Campaign (Dublin)
Shane Foran 087 9935993 PRO of the Irish Cycling Campaign (Galway)
Darren McAdam 021 4899970 PRO of the Irish Cycling Campaign (Cork)