Sir, – Ciaran McPhillips (July 11th) writes after Dan Martin's 70km/h crash in the Tour de France to advocate new legislation making helmets compulsory for Irish cyclists. I value my head, and I wear a cycle helmet, but bad laws make people's lives worse. Contrary to perceived wisdom, there is no clear scientific evidence that cycle helmet laws save lives. The British Medical Journal (June 12th, 2013) gives a good summary of the complex mess of contradictory evidence on the benefits or otherwise of cycle helmets and the law. Most of the observed reduction in cyclist head injuries after introduction of legislation in Canada and Australia seems to have been due to the marked reduction in cycling that followed that legislation.
The real gains to be had in road safety lie elsewhere. The Netherlands and Denmark have high rates of cycling without helmets and yet have good cycle safety figures; good infrastructure is paramount rather than legislation that would hinder efforts to get people more active and healthy. – Is mise,
Dr DERMOT SHEARER,
Dublin 14.