Nurses split over compulsory cycle helmet law

Nurses at RCN congress have debated whether cycle helmets should be made compulsory.

Currently, Jersey is the only part of the UK to have introduced a cycle helmet law for children aged 13 or under.

Acknowledging the topic is controversial, RCN Dorset branch member and avid cyclist Kathy Moore told RCN congress that the health benefits of cycling outweigh the risk involved, and that it is more important to encourage people to cycle than to force them to wear helmets.

Encouraging cyclists to wear helmets reduces the risk of head and face injuries, but doesn’t stop crashes from happening in the first place, she said.

Ms Moore suggested that promoting a ‘mutually respectful culture between cyclists, car drivers and pedestrians’ would make more of a difference than introducing a law.

RCN Bath branch member Debbie Bond cited a University of Bath study that suggests wearing helmets, not only makes cyclists take more risks because they feel safer, but also leads motorists to drive closer to cyclists for the same reason.

However, other speakers shared personal stories of family and friends whose lives had been saved or who had escaped serious injury because they had worn cycling helmets.

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