Cycling shorts are a staple piece of clothing in the wardrobe of every fashionista. Most choose to style them with an oversized hoodie or tee and can either be worn with sneakers or a pair of killer heels. Just ask supermodels such as Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, and Hailey Bieber who are often photographed looking ultra stylish running errands or on the runway wearing them.
Whilst we’ve accepted that cycling shorts are hot and freely worn by cyclists all over the world, cycling helmets aren’t given the same credit and instead get the side eye from many avid cyclists. But why would a helmet be treated with the same dignity as pair of sassy shorts? A helmet just messes up your hair! It’s not as if they save lives or anything…
For my first assessed essay in my legal systems and methods module at university I chose to write about why there should be a law against cycling without wearing a helmet. The word limit was 250 words – shorter than my cycling shorts
The central thesis of this paper is to establish whether there should be a law against not wearing a helmet when cycling.
By legislating the use of bicycle helmets while cycling, lives could be saved. In 2016, major head injuries were the cause of one third of cycling fatalities[1]. Bicycle helmets can reduce the risks of head and brain injuries[2] caused by cycling accidents, and can reduce brain injuries by 88%.[3]Furthermore, survivors of brain injuries can suffer with life altering disabilities[4], however through legislating the use of bicycle helmets, government spending could be saved; as well as health care assistants’ valuable time.
Queensland, the first place to introduce bicycle helmet legislation, implemented the new law by issuing penalty fines to those who decided to go against the law.[5]
Applying a similar fining system in the UK could be a problem as additional police officers could be called upon, thus compromise government spending. However, through reducing the money having to be spent on cycling related injuries and the NHS’ resources, money could be redirected to the police department to fund extra patrol. Additionally, a fining system could bring funds into the government and benefit public spending, thus citizens.
This thesis has provided a critical argument on the use of bicycle helmets and explains how implementing a legislation and making bicyclist helmets mandatory while cycling, lives and government spending could be saved.
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[1] The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, Road Safety Factsheet, page 2.
[2] European Commission, Mobility and Transport, Road Safety. PP 3 – https://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/specialist/knowledge/pedestrians/promote_cycling_and_bicycle_helmets_or_not/pros_and_cons_regarding_bicycle_helmet_legislation_en
[3] https://www.headway.org.uk/news-and-campaigns/campaigns/cycle-safety/ (Helmets for preventing head and facial injuries in bicyclists)
[4] https://www.headway.org.uk/about-brain-injury/individuals/effects-of-brain-injury/
[5] https://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/sites/roadsafety/files/specialist/knowledge/pdf/ref_54_helmets.pdf –
