Netherlands is one of the country that does not have mandatory helmet law, and yet their injury rate is one of the lowest in the world (Comparing the amount of the distance they have traveled with fatal accidents happened per kilo meter, it is the lowest among any other country.) What are the policies that make this significant progress? How did the Dutch achieve it?
First and the most important reason, bicycling is super safe in in the Netherlands. The average bicycling speed in the Netherlands is as slow as a jogger, which is about 4-5km per hour. In addition, bikers have their own pathway, they do not have to share lanes with other vehicles. The bicycle infrastructure is connected to everywhere else.
Helmet requirement discourages bicycling. The Netherlands does not have the mandatory helmet laws since it is counterproductive. Hence, wearing a bicycle helmet do not necessarily makes people feel safer. In some research they found that wearing a bicycle helmet have a physiological impact while bicycling, which makes people feel danger is within the reach in any second.
What do you think about these arguments? Do you feel safer not to wear a bicycle helmet if bike pathways are separated?
Lin
Helpmet 