A Consultant in Emergency Medicine in County Cork is urging cyclists to wear lights and helmets on the road.
Dr Chris Luke, Senior Public Health Lecturer at University College Cork said helmets cut the risk of serious head injury in half and reduce the risk of facial injury by 25%.
On The Hard Shoulder this evening, he said he is not in favour forcing people to wear helmets by law, noting that the idea tends to “evoke an extraordinary reaction amongst serious cyclists.”
He said the science behind the protection provided by helmets is rock solid.
“The human skull is particularly thick at the front and the back, I suppose, to allow people to walk into walls or fall backwards on to their bums,” he said.
“But if you are one of those unlucky people that fall onto the side of the head for example, classically, outside a pub after a few drinks or a fight, if you bang the side of the skull that is where the damage is done – because the bone is quite thin above and in front of the ear.
“So that is where you tend to crack it and where you tend to bleed slowly and where the most tragedies tend to occur in terms of simple falls, for example off a bike or a stumble.
“Basically, head injuries are not something to be taken lightly at all.”
Mandatory helmets
He said the argument against mandatory helmets seems to be “basically theological” without any “substantive scientific argument” behind it.
“I do think it would be difficult to police it though,” he said. “The Irish are not famous for their love of laws. We tend to look at speed limits as targets rather than guidance.
“I do think the Gardaí have enough to be doing really. I would rather that lights were mandatory for a start and high viz vests and so on.”
Safety
He said the new separated cycle lanes installed around the country have made cycling a much safer pastime.
“Obviously, there is an element of personal responsibility and I do think people should really seriously consider wearing high-viz clothes,” he said. “Certainly, lights on their bike and I do think helmets are essential particularly in traffic.”
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