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Source: ONE News
A leading cycle race promoter has added his voice to criticism of new research which found that the compulsory wearing of cycle helmets has contributed to 53 premature deaths a year and halved the number of cyclists.
The research, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal, found a 51% drop in the average hours cycled per person between the 1989-90 period when compared with 2006 till 2009, and a 20% higher accident rate over a similar period.
The helmet law was introduced in 1994.
Critics of the law have long complained that it has been a failed experiment and has done more harm than good.
However, New Zealand Cycle Classic Tour director Jorge Sandoval said yesterday that New Zealand drivers were aggressive idiots and it was not a sensible option to ride without a helmet.
Sandoval was hit by a truck while cycling on the Petone motorway about 15 years ago. He was not wearing a helmet and had to be treated in hospital for head injuries.
Since then, he has never cycled without a helmet.
"I only wear helmets because all drivers here are idiots. Unfortunately, in New Zealand, people are aggressive when they get behind the wheel.
The medical journal research was produced by Colin Clarke, honorary secretary of the Yorkshire Region's Cyclists Touring Club in England and a safety instructor who has cycled in more than 20 countries, including about 8000 kilometres in New Zealand.
He said safety would be better improved through policies supporting health and the environment than by the legal requirement to wear a helmet.
His claims were backed by Cycling Advocates' Network spokesman Patrick Morgan, who said helmet compulsion was a failed experiment.
"It does more harm than good and our policy is that it needs an independent review.
"Helmets can be useful, but cycling is no more risky than things we do every day like gardening, like walking, like driving a car."
A Transport Ministry spokesman said it would need time to look at the study but there were no plans to review the law.
Research findings
- A 51% drop in the average hours cycled per person from the 1989-90 period when compared to 2006-09.
- Risk to cyclists had not changed greatly between 1989-1990 and 2006-09.
- Comparing the ratio of cyclist to pedestrian injuries from 1988-91 to 2003-07 showed cyclists' injuries more than doubled compared with pedestrians.
- By 2003-07 cyclists had a 20% higher accident rate compared with before the law change.
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