Evaluation of New Zealand’s bicycle helmet law

[MontyVeda]

I wouldn't let my kids out on their bikes without a helmet.

my brother's like that with his kids... and as a result they seldom go out on their bikes, which is a shame.

 

[screenman]

That doesn't square with the increase we have here.

Good point, maybe those taking it up are beyond the Xbox age.

 

[screenman]

my brother's like that with his kids... and as a result they seldom go out on their bikes, which is a shame.

My kids rode with a helmet on from an early age, they still wear helmets. They are now 41, 36 and 25, so it did not stop them.

 

[mickle]

None of my four kids own helmets.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

Why are the cyclist numbers still down in NZ?

There could be many reasons for this completely unrelated to the ill-timed helmet compulsion of 25 years ago.

 

[mickle]

I wouldn't let my kids out on their bikes without a helmet.

Not one of my four kids currently owns a helmet.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

None of my four kids own helmets.

I blame the parents.

 

[ChrisV]

Not one of my four kids currently owns a helmet.

Do they own bikes? Are you expecting them to buy their own helmets? Do you care if they wear helmets or not?

Some more information required.

 

[Arrowfoot]

Why are the cyclist numbers still down in NZ?

If you been to NZ, you will notice that it is sparsely populated and distance to schools and conveniences are quite distant away from the urban centres. However there is a strong sports cycling culture but not the commute on bike culture like the European cities. The deep freezer is still the mainstay as well freshly gown veg, chicken and eggs in the back garden.

 

[Wobblers]

There could be many reasons for this completely unrelated to the ill-timed helmet compulsion of 25 years ago.

Can any of these reasons explain the stepwise fall in numbers coincident with the time that compulsion was brought in?

 

[Onyer]

If you been to NZ, you will notice that it is sparsely populated and distance to schools and conveniences are quite distant away from the urban centres. However there is a strong sports cycling culture but not the commute on bike culture like the European cities. The deep freezer is still the mainstay as well freshly gown veg, chicken and eggs in the back garden.

Distances are not conducive to cycling. We drove from Wellington to Napier and only passed through one major town. No way you could cycle that route. Get outside the towns and you are on major roads and the NZ drivers are mad! I cycled the Kapiti coast cycle path - 50 miles there and back - along quiet back roads and cycle paths. But that was it, no other cycle routes in that part of the country. No cycle lanes in major cities either. NZers seem to be more into off roading rather than road cycling and certainly not communting. I guess Christchurch may be a different, as it is flat, but I haven't been down there for a while. Wellington and Auckland would be too hilly to cycle.

 

[Wobblers]

If you been to NZ, you will notice that it is sparsely populated and distance to schools and conveniences are quite distant away from the urban centres. However there is a strong sports cycling culture but not the commute on bike culture like the European cities. The deep freezer is still the mainstay as well freshly gown veg, chicken and eggs in the back garden.

So what?

Unless this has changed substantially in the last 25 years it has little bearing on the fall in numbers cycling in NZ.

(And I think we need a kiwi to comment on NZ cycling culture... paging @User, User to the thread please)

 

[Wobblers]

I don't wear a helmet riding to the local convenience store but all else there is the helmet. If it is not for me, its at least to save friends and families from attending an unnecessary funeral. I actually do remember the first time I don a helmet, I genuinely thoughts I looked a right proper sissy. Kept a low profile. Went for group gathering without one until I found safety in numbers. That was years ago.

"A NZ report from 1985 by Sage et al2 detailed that out of 20 bicycle riders fatally injured in Auckland, between 1974 and 1984, 16 died (80%) of injury to multiple organ systems and suggested that not many lives could be saved by wearing helmets."

When I read this line it said to me, that some lives could be saved, rather than not many could be. Does that make me a glass half full type of person?

I wear a helmet through choice and hope it stays that way.

Except whole population studies do not show any difference between the casualty rates of those with helmets and those without. In other words, the best epidemiological evidence we have does not establish that helmet wearing brings any safety benefits.

 

[classic33]

Except whole population studies do not show any difference between the casualty rates of those with helmets and those without. In other words, the best epidemiological evidence we have does not establish that helmet wearing brings any safety benefits.

Choice of cycling without a helmet in New Zealand isn't there!

 

[Wobblers]

Choice of cycling without a helmet in New Zealand isn't there!

I would hazard a guess that the researchers used other countries other than NZ. I also think it reasonable to expect the laws of physics to apply equally well there...