Call for Helmet usage in the Netherlands

[Martin318is]

Interesting article that has come out showing the statistics there and the expectations of reduction in death and injury if helmets were worn by riders.

http://www.bv.com.au/general/bikes-&-riding/42382/

There are other threads about the topic of helmets in general - this one is more about what likelihood there is of any change in a heavy bike use country compoared to lighter use countries. Does anyone think this will lead to any change there?

 

[the student]

wont work at all... most people dont do bike racing over here, wont do much over 20 km/h on their city bikes. The people wont feel like wearing a helmet or even having their children wear one. I think it just doenst cut it, we ride bikes to the bar get drunk and just ride back happily again, ( causes some accidents, although cyclist hit by cars is the major problem for serious injury ) bringing along a helmet would just make you look stupid.
On city bikes you wont see anyone wearing a helmet ( and if you do see one they are most likely german tourists. )

on road bikes and mountain bikes or during racing there is hardly anyone without a helmet, which is actually kind a strange. No one wants to wear them on city bikes, but on road bikes you see very little people without a helmet.

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

I suppose the situation in the Netherlands is comparable with the Belgian situation here.

I don't see it happen here, youth (14-24) will never wear helmets outside sports situations.
I self always wear my helmet on my race bike, never when on my normal bike.

People here use their bikes to go out, to go shopping, ... It's just very unpractical, and uncomfortable to wear a helmet in these situations.

Would it be only older people (+25) using their bike to go to work, or younger (-12) to go on a sunday ride with their parents, helmet usage would be easier to be introduced & even obligate. It's already getting slightly more popular in these groups (but totally absent in the 14-24 group)

There's absolutely no way you can make youth (biggest cycling group) were helmets here. Not even by law.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

I suppose the situation in the Netherlands is comparable with the Belgian situation here.

I don't see it happen here, youth (14-24) will never wear helmets outside sports situations.
I self always wear my helmet on my race bike, never when on my normal bike.People here use their bikes to go out, to go shopping, ... It's just very unpractical, and uncomfortable to wear a helmet in these situations.

Would it be only older people (+25) using their bike to go to work, or younger (-12) to go on a sunday ride with their parents, helmet usage would be easier to be introduced & even obligate. It's already getting slightly more popular in these groups (but totally absent in the 14-24 group)

There's absolutely no way you can make youth (biggest cycling group) were helmets here. Not even by law.

This is very true, I myself wore my helmet until I was 15 or something -I always use it when on my racing bike though-. One reason for this might be that your feet aren't clipped in on a normal road bike so you feel safer.
When I was 12 they distributed helmets at our school for free, with cool stickers and such so the rest of the year everybody was wearing one

 

[Barrus]

Interesting article that has come out showing the statistics there and the expectations of reduction in death and injury if helmets were worn by riders.

http://www.bv.com.au/general/bikes-&-riding/42382/

There are other threads about the topic of helmets in general - this one is more about what likelihood there is of any change in a heavy bike use country compoared to lighter use countries. Does anyone think this will lead to any change there?

Also the numbers of how many deaths and injuries it will pre-empt are controversial to say the least, a lot of experts give contrary evidence. (this only concerns these numbers in the Netherlands, do not take this as a general statement)

 

[PinchFlat]

wont work at all... most people dont do bike racing over here, wont do much over 20 km/h on their city bikes. The people wont feel like wearing a helmet or even having their children wear one. I think it just doenst cut it, we ride bikes to the bar get drunk and just ride back happily again, ( causes some accidents, although cyclist hit by cars is the major problem for serious injury ) bringing along a helmet would just make you look stupid.
On city bikes you wont see anyone wearing a helmet ( and if you do see one they are most likely german tourists. )

on road bikes and mountain bikes or during racing there is hardly anyone without a helmet, which is actually kind a strange. No one wants to wear them on city bikes, but on road bikes you see very little people without a helmet.

I've seen so many people here biking to a crit with a helmet strapped to their backpack that the irony has worn off.

Helmets will eventually become more commonplace -it's just taking longer than other countrys. Over the last few years the norm has finally been changing for kids to wear helmets.

 

[Barrus]

I've seen so many people here biking to a crit with a helmet strapped to their backpack that the irony has worn off.

Helmets will eventually become more commonplace -it's just taking longer than other countrys. Over the last few years the norm has finally been changing for kids to wear helmets.

Where do you live? I ask this because outsid of only a minute number I have never seen kids wearing helmets over here

 

[Roland Rat]

wont work at all... most people dont do bike racing over here, wont do much over 20 km/h on their city bikes. The people wont feel like wearing a helmet or even having their children wear one. I think it just doenst cut it, we ride bikes to the bar get drunk and just ride back happily again, ( causes some accidents, although cyclist hit by cars is the major problem for serious injury ) bringing along a helmet would just make you look stupid.
On city bikes you wont see anyone wearing a helmet ( and if you do see one they are most likely german tourists. )

on road bikes and mountain bikes or during racing there is hardly anyone without a helmet, which is actually kind a strange. No one wants to wear them on city bikes, but on road bikes you see very little people without a helmet.

Completely agree. Besides, I was so impressed when driving around Groningen last year firstly how many people there were on bikes, and secondly how they seemed to have priority over the cars. They were coming at you from all angles and it certainly made people drive slower and more courteously than in UK towns.

 

[the student]

Once you get the hang of it you will know when to look for cyclists, they appear evrywhere during your driving lessons so you'd better learn to watch them, even when they dont have priority. Most of the time it works pretty well. And the amount of people in an accident really isnt that high considering the amount of people cycling and the amount of cars on our clogged up roads.

 

[fatandfast]

seeing as how you can provide a decent helmet for @ 2 dollars US and that w the cost of a serious head injury in the millions over a lifetime. I think they should just show up to high use bike paths and streets and just hand them out. Just like the bowls full of condoms not everyone gets used but at least if they are around the risk is reduced

 

[Barrus]

seeing as how you can provide a decent helmet for @ 2 dollars US and that w the cost of a serious head injury in the millions over a lifetime. I think they should just show up to high use bike paths and streets and just hand them out. Just like the bowls full of condoms not everyone gets used but at least if they are around the risk is reduced

People will point and laugh, but they will not take the helmets. Mainly because they are seen as completely pointless and quite frankly if you ride on a normal citybike or something with a helmet people will certainly think you are a tool, or perhaps will think you are some sort of special needs person

 

[Polyarmour]

People will point and laugh, but they will not take the helmets. Mainly because they are seen as completely pointless and quite frankly if you ride on a normal citybike or something with a helmet people will certainly think you are a tool, or perhaps will think you are some sort of special needs person

Well we wouldn't want people pointing and laughing, far better to have a head injury right?

I came off my hybrid last week. I was coming down a 6% hill, taking it very carefully at about 5km/h because the conditions were so dodgy. Despite my caution the front wheel slipped on a big patch of wet rotting leaves, I came off and seriously whacked my helmet on the concrete which had me seeing stars for a few minutes. The argument that you don't need a helmet when you ride slowly is just nonsense.

 

[the student]

I have never slammed my head into the concrete and i have crashed quite a lot of time, not only biking but also horse riding. but my helmet has always been totally scratch free.

 

[Barrus]

Well we wouldn't want people pointing and laughing, far better to have a head injury right?

I came off my hybrid last week. I was coming down a 6% hill, taking it very carefully at about 5km/h because the conditions were so dodgy. Despite my caution the front wheel slipped on a big patch of wet rotting leaves, I came off and seriously whacked my helmet on the concrete which had me seeing stars for a few minutes. The argument that you don't need a helmet when you ride slowly is just nonsense.

You do realise I gave an argument as to why people will not take the helmets even if they are free. Really if they will ever become common place it will take at least more than a generation for any chance to come because no adult will put on a helmet when they are just riding to work or to the grocery store on a regular city bike or something similar. I would not do it either, the only time I ever fell of my normal bike in a single vehicle accident was when I was drunk, other than that nothing even closely resembling a crash has ever happened on my regular bike, you just ride differntly when you use such a bike, and really to take a helmet everywhere you go is a significant inconvenience and quite frankly on a citybike I think it is completely useless due to manner you ride and if you crash, how you crash

 

[JA.Tri]

An acquaintance was riding his bike to the shops...he never raced anywhere...tyre slid on a metal grate...he fell hitting his head, no helmet, on the kerb. Dead...instantly according to inquest.

 

[Polyarmour]

Really if they will ever become common place it will take at least more than a generation for any chance to come because no adult will put on a helmet when they are just riding to work or to the grocery store on a regular city bike or something similar.

First you make it illegal to ride with out a helmet. Then you start fining people for not wearing helmets. Then guess what? Everyone starts wearing helmets and nobody even questions it. That's what happens.

 

[Barrus]

First you make it illegal to ride with out a helmet. Then you start fining people for not wearing helmets. Then guess what? Everyone starts wearing helmets and nobody even questions it. That's what happens.

You'll need to get the voters on the idea for such a law to pass, especially when you consider the amount of people who ride their bike, even politicians who ride their bike without wearing a helmet. Most people will think it is a unnecessary measure which unduly infringes on people to make their own decisions. I do not think this will pass through either the second and especially not through the first chamber. And even if it did, probably a lot of people still won't wear them, just take a look at the amount of people who ride without any lights, for example

 

[Polyarmour]

You'll need to get the voters on the idea for such a law to pass, especially when you consider the amount of people who ride their bike, even politicians who ride their bike without wearing a helmet. Most people will think it is a unnecessary measure which unduly infringes on people to make their own decisions. I do not think this will pass through either the second and especially not through the first chamber. And even if it did, probably a lot of people still won't wear them, just take a look at the amount of people who ride without any lights, for example

You might be right... for now. But it's like the boy trying to plug the **** (ie the wall in Holland that holds the sea out .. not the woman who likes other women) with his fingers, eventually it will get through. I've seen too many of these safety issues come in over the years. Steel capped boots, hardhats on construction sites, fluoro shirts, ear muffs, eye protection, harnesses etc etc. Initially everybody ridicules it, says it will be impossible to implement, too expensive, gets in the way, doesn't work anyway, over my dead body etc, but then one day it gets legislated in some way. There follows a couple of years of discomfort getting the punters to comply after which you're left wondering what all the fuss was about. It's the way of the world. We never reduce the safety of anything, we always increase it. And helmets are a cheap way of avoiding a $10million brain injury. Ultimately the politicians will have to accept this argument as they also sign the cheques for the ever ballooning health budgets. By the way, I've been wearing seatbelts for 35+ years and I've never been in an accident (touchwood). Does that mean I shouldn't have to wear one? That infringes on my rights too.

 

[Barrus]

The problem is that the evidence that helmets would help reduce the amount of fatal or severe accidents for cyclist in the Netherlands however is not consistent and uncontroversial, different studies and experts present different figures and in general a lot of these experts say that it will have little to no effect on the number, especially for people above the age of 12 or 15 or something, under that age it could have an effect, above that age it most likely won't have any effect and is almost completely useless, even most of the organization that call for helmet use only do so for childern. This means that even those who are pro helmet use are only pro helmet use in particular cases and when questioned about it state that they have no intention what so ever to have adults wear helmets. The number you state is a fallacy and grasped out of thin air, there is no evidence as of yet that helmet usage would decrease the amount of brain damage in the Netherlands

 

[Polyarmour]

Last week I fall of my bike at 5km/h and whack my head so hard I would have cracked my skull. I have absolutely no doubt about this. But then I read from the anti helmet brigade that there are no studies and no evidence etc etc. I remember the tobacco lobby doing the same thing. It's a strange world we live in that we need verification of common sense.

 

[Barrus]

Last week I fall of my bike at 5km/h and whack my head so hard I would have cracked my skull. I have absolutely no doubt about this. But then I read from the anti helmet brigade that there are no studies and no evidence etc etc. I remember the tobacco lobby doing the same thing. It's a strange world we live in that we need verification of common sense.

Seriously, how much do you know about helmet use and the effects of helmets in the Netherlands? Combined with the manner in which bikes are used over here? I do not state that helmets are completely useless, there are many instances when they are very usefull, however in the Netherlands most studies state, even by those that call for helmet use, that helmet use will not have any drastic effect on the general population, for childern, perhaps, yes, for others not so much. The amount of deaths and severe head trauma is not likely to change if such a policy is implemented. You do realize that if you folllowed common sense you would not ride a bike without all sorts of protective gear all over your body

 

[kelvedon wonder]

Are the death rates very high from head injuries in the Netherlands? I rode from Colchester to Amsterdam last year, and the only place where I felt I needed a helmet was the UK. I the Netherlands we hardly ever met traffic, and when we did we were given priority (took me several hours to work out why people were stopping for us when they were coming off roundabouts - I had to have my wits about me when I got back to the UK and became the motorists' enemy!). The only people we saw in helmets were the Rabobank team out on a training run.

 

[Boeing]

I can't make my kids wear a helmet here in socal. I catch them with it on but no strap leaving the neighborhood trying to fool us. Heck I cant make them run a cable to their front brake on a fixie which is law now. (am I a bad parent knowing the risk and demanding them to abide but deep down think it kind of cool they ride no brakes and no helmets.?)

Even though they have seen me with 2 broken helmets over the years from my handling skills. And a broken rib from a Fixed training ride.


In the bigger picture and unrelated to my life, riding at any level in any country; I support helmet laws personally however I am in no position to tell anyone how to live their lives. Not sure that makes sense

 

[Boeing]

Reading some of the above:

If you are going to post about a law in your country on and international forum, don't turn around and tell people they are not qualified to comment because they are not a fellow countryman. please spare us from your indulgence

 

[Barrus]

Are the death rates very high from head injuries in the Netherlands? I rode from Colchester to Amsterdam last year, and the only place where I felt I needed a helmet was the UK. I the Netherlands we hardly ever met traffic, and when we did we were given priority (took me several hours to work out why people were stopping for us when they were coming off roundabouts - I had to have my wits about me when I got back to the UK and became the motorists' enemy!). The only people we saw in helmets were the Rabobank team out on a training run.

Looking at the percentages they are not really that high, the numbers themselves are quite high, but if you contrast this with the number of cyclists it is not that high of a percentage

And @ Boeing: this is a discussion about a Dutch system and when I gave him some information about the studies done so far concerning helmet use in the Netherlands the only come back I got was this:

Last week I fall of my bike at 5km/h and whack my head so hard I would have cracked my skull. I have absolutely no doubt about this. But then I read from the anti helmet brigade that there are no studies and no evidence etc etc. I remember the tobacco lobby doing the same thing. It's a strange world we live in that we need verification of common sense.

Which confirms that there is absolutely no manner in which you can make a discussion, seeing as everything is refuted without any consideration about what has been said. Fun fact is that in the case of the tobacco lobby they had a vested interest in keeping people smoking, the only persons who have a vested interest in this are the helmet manufacturers in ensuring that people buy helmets, so you would think that the evidence would most likely point toward a complete prohibition on riding without a helmet if you would follow the analogy of polyarmour