Bicycle helmet laws

Some countries and lower jurisdictions have enacted laws or regulations which require cyclists to wear a helmet in certain circumstances, typically when riding on the road or a road-related area (such as a bicycle lane or path). In some places this requirement applies only to children under a certain age, while in others it applies to cyclists of all ages.

Modern varieties of bicycle helmet first became commercially successful from 1975. Industry helmet standards were developed from the 1970s and are still under development. Even before then, there had been calls for riders to wear helmets, based on the assumptions of high risk to cyclists and effectiveness of helmets in preventing serious injury.

The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons campaigned actively to raise public awareness, acceptance and demand, and helmets first became compulsory across Australia from 1991 to 1992. In New Zealand, Rebecca Oaten was a prominent champion; after a disastrous head injury to her son in 1986 she traveled the country to push the importance of wearing helmets. For six years she visited an average of four schools a day. Bicycle helmets became compulsory in New Zealand in January 1994. A report from the Australian Department of Transport in 1987 cast doubt on the effectiveness of helmets in real accidents. In 2004 members of the UK Parliament questioned the claims made for helmets in an Early Day Motion.

By 1991, after widespread well-resourced campaigns, the use of helmets had attained near-universal support in the United States, becoming what the League of American Wheelmen characterized as a "Mom and apple pie" issue. Some official and professional bodies in the English-speaking world now support compulsory use of helmets. A 2009 poll of U.S. adults found that 86% supported helmet laws for children. Support has spread elsewhere; Safe Kids Worldwide, which has received financial support from equipment suppliers including helmet manufacturer Bell Sports, was founded in 1987 and is currently active in a total of 17 countries. Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Iceland, New Zealand, Sweden, and the United States have bicycle helmet laws, in at least one jurisdiction, for either minors only, or for all riders. Spain requires helmets to be worn while cycling along public roads outside population centers, except for riders with a medical exemption or during extremely hot days.

Helmet laws are not universal in the United States; most U.S. states and municipalities have no laws or regulations regarding helmet use. In the U.S.A. 21 states and the District of Columbia have statewide mandatory helmet laws for children. 29 U.S. states have no statewide law, and 13 of these states have no such laws in any lower-level jurisdiction either. The territory of Guam made helmets compulsory for all bicycle riders and passengers on 27 February 2012.

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