A Distorted Paradigm: Helmet Legislation Among Youth Detracts from a Comprehensive Attitude Towards Safety
...As H. L. Mencken would say, for every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong. This paper contends that helmet legislation as the primary thrust and cornerstone of bicycle safety campaigns among youth is a cookie cutter solution for three primary reasons. First, it misplaces the focus of campaigns and detracts from other safety behaviors. Second, it is an individual-level intervention that ignores a range of societal and structural factors that increase bicycle safety. Finally, it fails to take into account the importance of youth attitudes and social dynamics as important behavioral determinants. The overall effect is a myopic paradigm with which bicycle safety is approached, and this has harmful consequences for the overall aim of campaigns. Misplaced Focus
Legislation misplaces the focus of bicycle safety campaigns by putting helmets at the helm of the issue. Compliance with helmet laws is hailed as the primary safety behavior whilst the notion of a comprehensive attitude of safety is set on the back burner. Even non-legislative interventions such as research into helmet safety and aesthetic design, helmet giveaways, and educational programs for proper fit are spin-offs of the centrality of helmet usage. The implications of this tunnel vision are significant. The chance of an accident decreases significantly when cyclists use hand signals, are equipped with a safe bicycle and appropriate lighting equipment, travel at safe cycling speeds, and are unimpaired in their judgment by poor visibility or intoxication (4). Unfortunately, there has been a lack of emphasis upon such aspects of behavior in bicycle safety campaigns.
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Individual-Level Intervention
Helmet legislation places the responsibility for accident prevention squarely on the shoulders of the cyclist. It is an individual-level intervention that fails to highlight a range of societal and structural factors that increase bicycle safety. To begin with, the behavior of motorists is crucial to overall road safety. Significant injuries to a cyclist are 3-5 times more likely in collisions with motor vehicles as compared to bike only crashes. In most cases, both parties are at fault. Unfortunately, blame often falls on the cyclist, thanks in part to the societal expectations that they be the ones to exhibit safe behavior. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reinforces the importance of mutual responsibility and respect so that each party knows they are responsible for safety (4).
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The speed at which vehicles are traveling greatly impacts safety. Trial zones in which 20mph limits were enforced had significantly lower incidence of injuries and fatalities than their control counterparts (11). Injury criteria to the head (79%), chest (30%), and pelvis (16%) were reduced with a 6 mph decrease in speed (12). In this particular intervention, legislation may be a powerful tool to increase road safety.
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Conclusion
The health benefits and environmental friendliness of cycling are undeniable. Bicycle safety campaigns strive to decrease in mortality and rate of injury while simultaneously increasing access to the cycling-- a task particularly challenging with regard to the younger generation. This paper suggests that the use of helmet legislation as a primary thrust of bicycle safety campaigns has been deleterious to their overall aims.
Instead, a bicycle safety needs to be approached with a much more comprehensive attitude. This will reduce the skew of interventions towards helmet usage and place greater emphasis on the societal and structural factors that factor into safety. In addition, such an attitude will demand a revision of the approach towards understanding the target audience of youth. This may involve the soliciting of youth specialists, the extensive use of sociological models, and the observation of youth trends and cultural shifts. Campaigns should be assured that such efforts will not go unrewarded as positive decisions internally motivated are likely to carry on into adulthood and so confer long-lasting impact. To reach this aim, significant reforms need to be made to the paradigm through which bicycle safety is viewed.
<a href="http://sb721blog.blogspot.com/2007/12/distorted-paradigm-helmet-legislation.html">http://sb721blog.blogspot.com/2007/12/distorted-paradigm-helmet-legislation.html</a>;
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