But helmet laws decrease the number of people who cycle, sometimes by 30–51 per cent, making it more dangerous for those who do ride a bike.
If there are a lot of riders on the roads, drivers expect to see them and are usually watching for them. Image by Katrina Brain, used with permission. But with such convincing evidence on the benefits of wearing a biking helmet, why doesn’t every province and territory (or every country, for that matter) have a helmet policy? Because there’s a catch….Įight provinces (and zero territories) have mandatory helmet policies. Some parts of Canada have responded to these fatality rates by creating helmet use policies: eight of the 13 provinces and territories have helmet laws that require either minors (under 18 years old) or all ages to wear helmets when they’re riding a bike. In Canada, from the mid-90s until 2012, an average of 74 cyclists died every year following a bike accident, and estimates show that only 17–33 per cent of these accidents were the cyclists’ fault. Cars, other cyclists, pedestrians, and poorly designed biking infrastructure can all lead to crashes, even for the most cautious cyclist. After all, cyclists are vulnerable road users. This makes wearing a helmet seem like a no-brainer (pun-intended). If you’re in a bike accident, a helmet could reduce your odds of a head injury by about 51 per cent, and reduce your odds of a fatal head injury by 65 per cent. If you ever fall off your bicycle, you’ll want to be wearing a helmet.
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