Bicycle helmet laws UK

[Illyria54]

Is it law in the UK for all ages to wear a cycle helmet or is it still just for the under 16's? I have just bought a mountain bike and will be wearing a helmet regardless as I haven't been cycling for a very long time, just wondered what the law was now. Thanks.

[pauln90]

It is of course advisable,but as yet there is no legislation to compel you to wear one.

[Gromit]

It is not the law that under 16s have to wear an helmet either.

[Illyria54]

Thanks both, I thought it was law for under 16's, it certainly should be.

[helpmetoo]

go on, encourage the nanny state!

we already have to put up with victimless 'crimes' by having to wear crash helmets on motorbikes and seatbelts in cars.

perhaps it should be law to wear gloves and kneepads when out as a pedestrian incase of tripping up on a deadly paving slab.

[Illyria54]

OO look, it's Victor Meldrew.
Lifes too short to be that miserable helpmetoo, please lighten up before it is too late.

[Bewlay Bros]

Victimless crimes????

So people refusing to wear their seatbelts in the rear of cars have never killed or cabbagefied the front seat passengers then, due totheir ignorance?

What about the emergency services who have to deal with people thrown out of cars with most head ons over 26.3 miles per hour because of their ignorance.

Wearing seatbelts is hardly a violition of civil liberties is it? Oh no I have to spend 1.76 seconds clipping a belt in to place that may save my life!!!!

Silly puerile answer there helpmetoo.

Iiiyria, regarding your post as said, not law just advisable.

If people think it is is uncool not wearing a cycle helmet, it is certainly more uncool going through life in a wheelchair, eating mashed pear and dribbling all the time methinks.

[helpmetoo]

plenty of pear dribblers amongst seatbelt wearers, it is of course all a matter of degree,

if i was in a nasty one and ended up dribbling because of wearing a belt, i would of course rather cop the full impact and call it a day,

that would be a conscious choice and one i should be allowed to make,

living is a gamble,

its not as straight forward as small crash you live and big crash you die

[Bewlay Bros]

And rear seat passengers?

And what about the police who have to scoop bits of your skull up from the road afterwards?

And the cost to the NHS when you are cabbaged?

Granted some laws are assisting in this nanny state, but some are merely there to save lives and instil a degree of safety.

Banning conkers from primary schools and making children anglers wear life jackets at pond sides is ridiculous but seatbelts I am 100 percent for.

And lets hope the same will be introduced to cycle helmets.

[Illyria54]

I will be wearing my helmet whether it looks silly or not, I agree with you Bewlay Bros, I have a cousin who is a paramedic and though he doesn't talk about it much I know that some of the sights he sees are none too pleasant. & I certainly don't see wearing a seatbelt as a violation of my civil liberty either.

[whiffey]

Interesting point regarding cycle helmets - you are actually at greater risk of an accident wearing one than not. Research has shown that motorists will pass helmeted cyclists much closer than non-helmeted ones, presumably because they regard them as having extra protection ?

My advice, avoid the helmet, it's an illusion of protection; ride on the pavement wherever it is safe so to do.

[Gromit]

A transport academic once commented (not seriously) that the best way to improve driving and avoid serious accidents would be to fit every steering wheel with a sharp spike facing the driver.

[Illyria54]

I have lived in Holland a Germany, and in these countries they actually cater properly for cyclists, they have proper cycle lanes, in this day and age when we are constantly being told to walk or cycle I think it is about time we had proper cycle lanes, I don't mean the piddly excuses we have in some cities, I mean proper ones where cyclists are well away from motorists, yes I am going to be using my bike more but I am also a driver who when she sees a cyclist ahead swears under her breath and wishes he/she would get out of the bl**dy road! I don't live in a town but in the countryside and cycling down country lanes is a nightmare, a lot of blind bends and cars exceeding the speed limit coming the opposite way on your side of the road, there are no pavements to escape on to.