Bicycle safety is the use of practices designed to reduce risk associated with cycling. Some of this subject matter is hotly debated: for example, the discussions as to whether bicycle helmets or cyclepaths really deliver improved safety. The merits of bicycle lighting are less controversial.
The state of knowledge regarding primary safety has advanced significantly through programmes such as Effective Cycling and the development of Britain's new National Standards for cycle training. In addition to technical improvements in brakes, tyres and bicycle construction generally (for example, it is now rare for a chain to snap and throw the rider when accelerating away from a stop), there are well-understood behavioural models which actively manage the risk posed by others..
As long ago as the early 1930s there were efforts to
clear cyclists off the road - cheap road bike to make way for private cars, then largely a preserve of the elite. These were successful in Germany, then an authoritarian regime, and spread during the war to German-occupied countries such as the Netherlands where civilian motor transport was also crippled by fuel rationing, but was resisted in other countries.
During the mid-part of the twentieth century, the traffic engineering response to the increased use of motor vehicles in the United Kingdom, as in the rest of the industrialised world, was to look for solutions which not only eased the passage of traffic through the streets, but which also protected vulnerable road users from the dangers of the motor car.
Helmet is the most important safety accessory for a cyclist.
A bicycle helmet is a helmet intended to be worn while riding a bicycle. They are designed to attenuate impacts to the skull of a cyclist in falls while minimizing side effects such as interference with peripheral vision.There is an active scientific debate, with no consensus, on whether helmets are useful for cyclists, and on whether any benefits are outweighed by their disadvantages. The debate on whether helmet use should be compulsory is intense and occasionally bitter, often based not only on differing interpretations of the academic literature, but also on differing assumptions and interests on the two sides.
These are the different types of helmets:
Helmet Fit and care
correctly worn helmet is important that a helmet should fit the cyclist properly – in one study 96 % were found to be incorrectly fitted. Efficacy of incorrectly fitted helmets is reckoned to be much lower; one estimate states that risk is increased almost two fold.
Most manufacturers like Universal, Muddyfox and Dunlop provide a range of sizes ranging from children's to adult with additional variations from small to medium to large. The correct size is important. Some adjustment can usually be made using different thickness foam pads. Helmets are held on the head with nylon straps, which must be adjusted to fit the individual. This can be difficult to achieve, depending on the design. Most cheap helmets will have multiple adjustment points on the strap to allow both strap and helmet to be correctly positioned. Additionally, some helmets have adjustable cradles which fit the helmet to the occipital region of the skull. These provide no protection, only fit, so helmets with this type of adjustment are unsuitable for roller skating, stunts, skateboarding and unicycling. In general, the more skull coverage a helmet provides, the more effectively it can be fitted to the head and hence the better it will remain on the head in an accident.
The helmet should sit level on the cyclist's head with only a couple of finger-widths between eyebrow and the helmet brim. The strap should sit at the back of the lower jaw, against the throat, and be sufficiently tight that the helmet does not move on the head. It should not be possible to insert more than one finger's thickness between the strap and the throat.
Newer helmets for toddlers and children feature flat backs that prevent the helmet from tilting too far forward when worn while riding in a trailer or child seat with a headrest.
The Snell Memorial Foundation recommends that any helmet that has sustained a substantial blow should be discarded and replaced, including any helmet involved in a crash in which the head has hit a hard surface or in which a fall has resulted in marks on the shell. Because some helmet materials deteriorate with age (in particular sunlight exposure), the Snell Memorial Foundation recommends that a helmet be replaced at least every 5 years, or sooner if the manufacturer recommends it.
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