Cycling *is* dangerous. Walking down the street is dangerous. Travelling on the Tube is dangerous. Chopping wood is dangerous. Boiling a kettle is dangerous.
Face it, much of what we do everyday has huge potential for danger for ourselves or others but it is the processes and procedures around safely negotiating a dangerous environment/activity that reduces the risk to ‘as low as reasonably practicable’ (ALARP). It’s that ALARP principle by which we do most normal things. We will never make ourselves ‘completely safe’ and nor should we try. Yes, you can wrap people up in cotton wool but all you are doing is making them more flammable.
What we need to do, as others have mentioned, is get all road users working within the procedures that keep us all safe rather than seeking a magic solution like helmets and hi-viz, which in reality is a poor excuse for failure by people to ride, drive or walk safely
I respect the choice around helmet debate (and hi-viz for that matter) and make my own personal decision depending on the riding I am doing at the time and think others should be free to do the same. It is clear however from existing evidence that compulsion would do much to deter people from taking up cycling or in some cases continuing to cycle. As well as increasing the entry cost of the activity, it emphasises the dangerous nature of cycling but gives reassurance that will be misplaced for many types of incident. Of pretty much all of the fatal incidents in London involving cyclists that I have been made aware of the full details of a helmet would have been of no use.
Where I think they do come in handy are the many unreported small crashes and falls that for obvious reasons we don’t hear about; “Person falls over, minor head injuries averted, film at eleven” not being a major news item. Great for avoiding minor injuries but ineffective for most situations threatening fatal or severe injury.
There’s a guy I see quite often in the Richmond Park/Roehampton area who always wears full safety gear. He rides a touring bike, wears a boiler suit and has on full MTB body armour, hi-viz and a full-face helmet. He wears this stuff all year round. I asked him once why he wears all that stuff and he said “To be safe”. He never looks round and is totally clueless about road position and he is an exaggerated but real example of reaction to misplaced safety messages. Riding confidently and safely should be the message not victim-blaming ourselves out of existence.
If we should be seeking to make anything compulsory it should be free cycle training for children and adults, incorporating training for adults within the driving test.
