Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas is right to demand all cyclists be forced to wear helmets
Yesterday, in an interview in the Sunday Times Magazine, this year’s winner of the Tour de France spoke great sense and suggested cyclists be forced to wear helmets.
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Actor Lyndon Ogbourne introduces his latest charitable endeavour Inspired by the excitement of the success of Bradley Wiggins in the Tour de France and spurred on by the 2012 Olympic buzz, I set myself the challenge at the beginning of June to start training for a cycling expedition of well over 600 miles travelling […]
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In comments, Geraint Thomas remarked:
“I would certainly make helmets compulsory… I always wear a helmet. I’ve put on a helmet more times than I’ve buckled a seatbelt.”
“Helmets have come on a lot – well ventilated, not too hot, you don’t look stupid – no reason not to.”
Though speaking in direct contradiction to Cycling UK – whom believe “there is no justification for making helmet wearing compulsory” – Mr Thomas is entirely right. If cyclists, including those using such things as Santander Cycles, were forced to put one on, there most certainly would be less accidents and deaths on our roads.
#PutAHelmetOn #SaferCycling #RoadSafety
Pictured top: Boris Johnson and Geraint Thomas on bicycles; we’d suggest the latter knows best about whether to where a helmet or not
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Readers have their say
8 comments
Banning cyclists would be BETTER!!!!!!!!!!! Get them out and sack them off the roads!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Most of them are drunk anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree with you on this! They are pests on the roads!!! Make them pay a road tax or ban them!
Although I do choose to wear a helmet myself, the data to support the introduction of compulsory helmets for cyclists is pretty thin on the ground. They clearly protect the head from minor injury, but, counter intuitively there is little data to suggest that they are effective in the prevention of serious head trauma. If cyclists want to do that they should don a full face motorcycle crash helmet. Certainly there is much financial gain to be made from compulsory introduction, and I do not know if Geraint Thomas’ sponsorship arrangements include helmet manufacturers. But under currently available evidence I would hesitate to resort to compulsion.
BOG OFF!
@N Perhaps you are explaining to us that when you bought your helmet, you got one free. In which case congratulations.
If however “BOG OFF” is an expression of your disagreement with my post, then I thank you for demonstrating what gormless prick you are, and proving that your opinions are not worth the few nanoseconds that they take to read
I HOPE TO RUN YOU DOWN!! Get a life or go back where you came from!!
I have to agree, there is no evidence to suggest helmets work, especially the current design. We have compulsory helmets for cyclists here in Oz, but they would do better to make some sort of compulsary registration, so we could at least report them when they run red lights and zebra crossings. We had an elderly gent killed on a crossing here not long ago, because some lycra lunatic couldn’t wait and knocked over. Also ffs, please make it compulsary to ride in single file, that’s not law here, but its a no brainer.
Hoping he makes it.