Do Helmet Laws reduce the use of bicycles dramatically?
Perhaps. In Australia. For a while. All claims that helmet laws reduced the use of bicycles go back to a study by Dorothy Robinson of the University of New England in Australia, summarized in Injury Prevention. Robinson writes in the summary: the effect of unpopular helmet laws on cycling activity is readily seen. In Melbourne, surveys were conducted pre-law in May 1990 and post-law in May 1991, at the same 64 sites and same observation times. Counts of child and adult cyclists declined by 42% and 29% respectively. In total, 297 more helmeted cyclists were counted than pre-law, compared with 1100 fewer cyclists. It’s as if the law didn’t so much encourage helmet wearing as discourage cycling! In her original study (PDF download here) she says “Cyclists often consider helmets hot, uncomfortable and inconvenient.” She also claims that “the frequently cited example of legislation in Ontario not discouraging cycling is misleading.”- can it be that Australian results are biased because it i
