Bicycle helmet research
web links

cyclehelmets.org is the website of an international coalition of people with an interest in cycling and the damage being caused by the mandatory wearing of bicycle helmets. The coalition includes doctors, cycling safety experts, statisticians and people with professional involvement in bicycle helmet design and performance.

Cyclists Rights Action Group is an Australian website with further studies into the effect of bicycle helmet laws.

Situp-cycle.com is the blog of Australian documentary maker and researcher Mike Rubbo.

The WA Bicycle Transportation Alliance is a cycling advocacy group based in Perth that has identified the helmet law as an obstacle to promoting the use of bicycles.

Bicycle Australia is fighting for the repeal of mandatory bicycle helmet laws in Australia. The group is also active on Facebook.

The Liberal Democratic Party is the only Australian political party with an official policy opposed to mandatory helmets and other damaging government interference in our lives. You can use your vote to influence Canberra on bicycle helmet laws and other civil liberty issues!

British Medical Journal This 1999 article explains why the British Medical Association chose NOT to recommend mandatory bicycle helmet legislation anywhere in the United Kingdom. Alternatively, click here for a January 2001 article in the BMJ analysing the dangers of bicycle helmets and associated mandatory laws. The BMA now supports mandatory bicycle helmet legislation.

The New York Times has analysed America's increasing use of bicycle helmets, voluntary and mandatory, and found "the rate of head injuries per active cyclist has increased 51 percent just as bicycle helmets have become widespread". (Free NYT registration is required before the story can be viewed.) The St Petersburg Times has published the same story in full and registration is not required via this link.

The Cycle Helmet: Friend or Foe? by Senior Fellow Emeritus Mayer Hillman from the Policy Studies Institute in London, whose research concludes that bicycle helmet wearing should be neither mandated or encouraged.

Dr Mayer Hillman website.

History of Helmet Law in Australia

At War With the Motorist tackles British transport policies introduced in 2010 and promotes the safety of cycling with or without helmets.

The effectiveness of cycle helmets (PDF 152kb) by British bicycle crash litigation expert John Franklin analyses data from around the world and concludes that bicycle helmet legislation is counter-productive.

Cycle helmets: 25 years along the road (PDF 76kb) by British bicycle crash litigation expert John Franklin looks at what bicycle helmets have achieved in the real world over the past quarter century.

NoHelmetLaw.org leads the fight against the introduction of mandatory helmet laws in Austin, Texas.

The multilingual internet encyclopedia Wikipedia explains the mechanics of bicycle helmet design, history and use.

Changes in Head Injury with the New Zealand Bicycle Helmet Law (PDF 100kb) is an analysis by researcher Dorothy Robinson of the legislative impact on public health and cycling safety in the only other country apart from Australia where a national all-age bicycle helmet law has been enacted.

Cycling Health New Zealand presents data to argue for repeal of the legislation in New Zealand - one of only two countries in the world to suffer uniform national all-age mandatory bicycle helmet laws.

The Bicycle Helmet Legislation: Curse or Cure (PDF 116kb) analyses the failure of the bicycle helmet law since its enforcement in New Zealand in 1994, helping to explain why the Cycle Advocates' Network is now calling on that country's government to review the legislation.

Helmet Laws and Health Further research by Dorothy Robinson.

Australian teenage attitudes toward bicycle helmets.

Evaluation of the bicycle helmet law in Victoria during its first 12 months.

Evaluation of the bicycle helmet law in Victoria during its first four years.

Report by the Department of Urban Services on the decline in cyclist numbers following bicycle helmet law enforcement in the Australian Capital Territory in 1991.

Australian Helmet Experience: Is There Any Reliable Evidence That Australian Helmet Legislation Works? was presented by researcher Bruce Robinson from the Bicycle Federation of Australia at the Velo Australis conference in Fremantle, Australia, in 1996.

The Efficacy of Bicycle Helmets Against Brain Injury (PDF)

Australian Helmet Experience provides an excellent compilation of data concerning the effect of mandatory bicycle helmet legislation in different Australian States.

The Effectiveness of Bicycle Helmets: A Review: Motor Accidents Authority of NSW 1995 - presents the pro-helmet argument

An abstract from the National Centre for Biotechnology Information on the effects of Australia's bicycle helmet legislation.

An abstract from the National Centre for Biotechnology Information on a UK study into the effects of bicycle helmets.

An abstract from the National Centre for Biotechnology Information on another UK study into the effects of bicycle helmets.

West Australian police road safety statistics

Road Safety Research Report is a government study paper on bicycle crashes and injuries in Western Australia from 1987 to 1996, pre and post bicycle helmet laws.

The Vehicular Cyclist gives comprehensive and informative answers to any questions you may have about the effectiveness of bicycle helmets and the impact of mandatory laws.

Cycling Digest provides comprehensive links to and analysis of research and results from the various world localities where communities have been forced to wear bicycle helmets... all indicating a consistent legislative failure.

Le casque a velo (French) (Also available in English) presents evidence of the damage to public health that would be caused by mandatory helmet laws in France, where the government is considering legislation.

Making Walking and Cycling Safer: lessons from Europe

BicycleAustin.info considers the damage caused by mandatory bicycle helmet laws in Austin, Texas.

Bicycle Safety analyses the risks of cycling compared to other sports and activities.

Pedalling Health (PDF 416kb) ... health benefits of a modal transport shift.

Bell Helmets, Campaign of Terror is critical of the company's advertising policy which discourages cycling.

De Clarke's Personal Opinion on the Helmet Wars is an objective and well-reasoned overview of the need or otherwise for mandatory bicycle helmet laws.

A review of pedalling health by American researcher Ken Kifer provides detailed analysis of cycling injury risks and the life-saving benefits of cycling exercise.

Why I am Opposed to Mandatory Helmet Laws explains the conclusions drawn by Ken Kifer.

Is Cycling Dangerous? analyses data demonstrating that cycling is a safe and healthy activity that prolongs life and should not be discouraged.

Looking Through the Wrong End of the Telescope looks at why researchers and cyclists come to different conclusions about the safety of cycling.

Aussie Cycling Links is the ultimate directory service for bicycle web sites in Australia.

European Cyclists Federation 1991 - presents the same stats, different viewpoint. Alternatively, click here to find out why the ECF concludes that bicycle helmet legislation causes so much damage to society.

Understanding Head and Neck Trauma Albeit relating to motorcycle helmets, this article explains why helmets can increase the danger of head and neck trauma and provides possible clues as to why upper body injuries have increased substantially in Western Australia since the bicycle helmet law was introduced.

John Forester, one of America's leading cycling transportation engineers and litigation experts, presents articles on society's disdain for cyclists and its damaging misapprehensions about this form of transport.

BikeOz represents Australia's bicycle retail industry.

Target Risk by Gerald J.S. Wilde presents a thorough analysis on the psychology of risk-taking to explain why accident prevention measures such as mandatory bicycle helmet laws can often be counter-productive.



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