crash helmets

[fruitsalad]

just arrived back from a hol in zante and could'nt believe the amount of people on scooters and motorbikes without crash helmets, why is it the rules on safety in the uk is so strict but not in these european countries, even see young children standing on the front of scooters while the parent were riding it, and one bloke towing a horse behind his bike unbelievable.

[jno]

my guess is the rules are just as strict but nobody obeys them. Serve them right if they get their brains scrambled. However, I believe the traffic in Zante is slightly less intense than, say, on the M1, so it may not be as risky.

[Narolines]

Spot on. jno; in Cyprus the law is that crash-helmets must be worn when riding any kind of motorised 2-wheel vehicle, and failure to observe this law is punishable by a heavy fine and licence endorsement. On average, about 20% of riders observe the law, and in 16 years of visiting and living there I've never seen a single rider pulled over for not wearing a helmet. I've been passed as though I were standing still on one of the island's few motorways (100 kph speed limit) by a helmetless rider on a big 4-cylinder bike when I was doing 140 kph, and the police car we were both passing ignored us completely.

[saintee]

In France however the law states that the rider must have a helmet with them when on their scooter. It does not state that the rider must be wearing the helmet in order for it tobe legal. For this reason, almost every scooter seen had a rider wearing no helmet but had one hooked on the handlebars. This meant that the rider DID indeed have a helmet with them but by not wearing it were not infringing on any law.