Children and helmets

by Dermot Ryan
(Ireland)

I was surprised to see your claim that children have to wear bicycle helmets by law in Denmark. I've checked, and this does not seem to be the case. Two attempts to pass a law, in 2009 and 2012, failed.

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Jul 23, 2024
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by: Charlie

Morten,

Your views are probably valid, but I believe that any kind of safety equipment is good for children. We recently had a young girl run over by a lorry in Aarhus. She fortunately survived, but her injuries would have been a lot worse if she did not have a helment on according to the hospital staff. I am not interested in getting into a big debate about it and this site is not about arguing those issues. You have your own sites and blogs, where people can debate it or do as they pleae. This site is to help expats acclimate to Denmark.

I have already had Mikael Colville-Andersen (supposive CEO of Copenhagenize Design Co send emails filled with profanity and slurs about the above information. Shameful that CEOs? should act like that - it is no way to promote their cause or help anyone. I do appreciate your points and have posted your comments.

Charlie
Jul 23, 2024
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starstarstarstarstar 		Helmets are a matter of choice when cycling. Both choices normal.
by: Morten Lange

Great, that you corrected this error.

Furthermore on a _very_ closely related topic,
the page claims : "Even though it is not a law, you should wear a cycle helmet when bicycling in Denmark."

The wording should indicates that you might be pestered by the police and also that Denmark is more stringent on this than then, say European average. Not so :-)

The facts are:
* Dansk Cyklist Forbund recommend using helmets as does the fearsome and visible Traffic safety apparatus, but this needs some important context:
* Denmark is one of the safest countries to cycle in, as per international statistics.
* No official body and rarely anyone at all will pester people cycling "helmetless". Except if you are a sportive / competitive setting.
* The statistics showing Denmark to be one of the safest to cycle in also show that there are somewhat fewer killed pr thousand million kilometres cycled in the Netherlands where even fewer wear helmets.
* Numerous studies and summaries of scientific knowledge presented and utilized by the WHO, show that cycling prolongs life. People that start to cycle live longer, in spite of a somewhat higher risk of minor injuries.
* Recently the OECD published a report on cycling safety, where helmet promotion was covered but did not make it to the detailed list of safety advice.
* In spite of this, sadly, as mentioned above, the Danish Cyclists' Federation (unlike their Dutch counterpart and their common European "mother" organisation) recommend using a helmet when cycling, thus undersigning the portrayal of cycling as dangerous, as opposed to walking or driving a car (or sitting still). Driving is by the way exceptionally dangerous to others.

If you want to discuss this, you can contact me at morten7an /at\ yahoo.com or on twitter or talk to Helmet Freedom on Facebook.

Disclaimer : I am in the European Cycists' Ferderation helmet group, and I know high-profile Danes that will argue from both points of view regarding helmet promotion.

Best Regards,
Morten Lange
Jul 23, 2024
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by: Charlie

You are correct and it has been updated. Thanks for the heads up.

Charlie

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