Irish parents could be fined if children don't wear helmets

What's the betting that this was written from the press release, someone new to the need to read balancing papers when any item comes in regarding helmets.

"Helmets are already mandatory in 13 European countries, and the UK is planning to implement a similar law for the under-14s."

Mmmmmm I don't think so. Please list them or retract this statement

Don't do it Ireland! If you want cycle safety for children build GOOD cycle paths around schools so that children can cycle to school in safety: a polystyrene helmet only protects your brain and not much at that, avoiding collisions full stop should be the priority here.

"A survey in New Zealand earlier this year suggested that helmet requirements had halved the number of cyclists on the road."

As a New Zealander at school in the 80s and 90s I would say this estimate is very conservative. Parents unprepared to risk fines started driving their kids to school, increasing traffic on the school run and making it more dangerous for anyone who cycled, and then as cars got bigger and drivers less used to driving around cyclists, cycling for transport dropped right out of the mainstream and became a dangerous and inconvenient (for everyone else) pastime.

Add to this, a whole generation of kids grew up being told that the roads are for cars, now they all are grown up and drive accordingly. Many of my friends would never let their kids ride on the road, aside from it not being safe they simply dont think that is what roads are for.

Ireland needs money. Such rules come in here only to raise revenue.

I have to say, I'm surprised that you publish stuff without doing even the most basic check for accuracy.

"Helmets are already mandatory in 13 European countries, and the UK is planning to implement a similar law for the under-14s."

Helmets are mandatory in almost no countries in Europe, and certainly nowhere near 13.

Neither are there any plans for the UK to implement a helmet law for under 14s.

You also fail to point out that the "EU-wide audit of child safety" was extremely selective, and like most such audits, refused to look at the most reliable evidence which shows that helmets don't make you safer on a bike. This audit was completely biased, as all the press reports quote from it the completely discredited 85% figures from the grandaddies of helmet promotion, Thompson, Rivara and Thompson. The briefest independent research would have found out that this figure is bad science and has been completely disproved on peer review, and isn't even supported by the people who produced it any more. There's a simple test for the validity of helmet research: if it quotes the 85% figure it's rubbish.

Even more interesting is what happened to professional racers when helmets were made mandatory: did the death rate go up or down? Well, it appears to have gone up considerably, with one estimate saying that it's trebled.

Check out cyclehelmets.org for a few facts rather than just repeating the biased reports of others.

Eight cyclists under the age of 15 have died in Ireland in the last three years. Sad though that is, you have to ask if they would have died had they been wearing a helmet.