Why Bradley Wiggins is wrong on cycle helmets
Bradley Wiggins is a hero. Winning the Tour De France and an Olympic Gold Medal in the space of eleven days and bringing a huge dollop of charisma and rock’n’roll attitude with it – wow! And then he goes and blots his copybook, in my, er, book, by appearing to call for compulsory cycle helmets – although he later back-pedalled (ha!) on this.
We can go into all sorts of arguments about road accident statistics and survival rates, but to me it comes down to a single factor – if cycling is good (good for us, good for others, good for the planet) then it should be encouraged, not discouraged. As with all sustainable behaviour issues, when it comes to the decision point we must always make the ‘good’ option easier to follow than the ‘bad’ option. Having to purchase and wear a cycle helmet is an obstacle and cyclists face enough of those already. If you prefer to wear one, then fair enough, but experiences in Australia and New Zealand suggest cycling will become much less popular if it is enforced.
As soon as post this, I’ll be going out pedalling rather more sedately than Wiggins along the back roads and bridleways of Tyneside – visiting lots of tea shops – with the wind in my hair as it should be. Just hoping I don’t meet an ironic and sticky end having tempted fate!
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