Do You Have To Wear a Bike Helmet

Do you have to wear a bike helmet? It is not a legal requirement to wear a cycling helmet in the UK. The Highway Code suggests that cyclists should wear a helmet. You will also find that most organised cycle events, including cycle club rides, will insist on you wearing a helmet. Most cycle facilities such as bike parks will also insist on a helmet.

Wearing a helmet is a controversial issue for some cyclists. Some leading cycle safety campaigners think that the focus on helmets takes away from things such as segregated cycle lanes. They argue that segregated cycle lanes could have a bigger impact on improving safety. It is often pointed out that Holland has one of the lowest rates of head injury in the world. It is remarked upon as everyone rides a bike but almost no one wears a helmet. This is down to bikes and cars being physically separated on different lanes and fewer people actually driving.

As the UK doesn’t have a comprehensive network of separated cycle lanes. Wearing a helmet is recommended and very common with regular cyclists. At Cycles UK we encourage people to wear a helmet regardless of if you are riding on the road or not.

The Statistics

A major study of bike helmet use around the world taken from more than 64,000 cyclists has found cycle helmets reduce the risk of:

Head injury by 51%

Serious head injury by 69%

Face injury by 33%

Fatal head injury by 65%

Modern cycle helmets are very light, comfortable and easy to wear. The chances of a bike helmet saving your life, or at least reducing the severity of an injury, are high enough to make it worth wearing one. So do you have to wear a bike helmet? You are not required to wear a bike helmet by law. However, there are plenty of statistics to show why wearing a Bike Helmet in the UK is particularly beneficial.