Helmet Laws, Helmet Use, and Bicycle Ridership

Kraemer, John

doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2016.03.009

Cited by 10 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 33 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Immediately following the helmet law in Finland, an estimated 42% of Finns aged six years and older reported that they were deterred from cycling, but only 0.063% of all responders gave helmet use as the most important reason for not cycling. This result is consistent with findings in Australia (Olivier, Boufous and Grzebieta 2016) and Canada (Dennis et al, 2010;Macpherson, Parkin and To 2001), while a US study found mixed results (Kraemer 2016).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Bicycle helmet law does not deter cyclists in Finland

Radun

Olivier

2018

Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviou

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Bicycle helmet law does not deter cyclists in Finland

Radun

Olivier

2018

Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviou

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As shown in the research, helmet use is also more characteristic of people using bicycles for sports and recreational purposes than of those who cycle daily at short distances (Popa et al 2016), which again confirms the need for education in this scope. Legal regulations play a significant role in the promotion of helmets as elements of improving cyclist safety: such rules have real power to lead to increased use of this form of protection among cyclists (Kraemer 2016). Helmets may also be found in certain bicycle-sharing systems, which often results precisely from cycling regulations in force in a given region.…”

Section: )mentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban Cycling as an Indicator of Socio-Economic Innovation and Sustainable Transport

Kwiatkowski

2018

Quaestiones Geographicae

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Environmental pollution in cities is an increasingly popular issue tackled in research. One of the elements with a significant impact on the state of urban ecosystems is transport with its pressure on individual components of the environment. Sustainable urban transport is gaining prominence as a postulate expressed in cities’ strategic documents, constituting an element alleviating the negative effects of anthropopressure. In the light of the need to introduce innovative solutions for clean forms of transport, numerous papers indicate the bicycle as an answer to some of those problems. The article presents a review of literature referring to the socio-economic aspects of using the bicycle in cities as a means of transport for daily commuting. The analysis is based on publications on cyclist safety in road traffic, the perception of the bicycle as a means of transport in cities, and the introduction of innovative solutions, such as bicycle-sharing systems.

show abstract

Effectiveness of road safety interventions: An evidence and gap map

Goel,

Tiwari,

Varghese

et al. 2024

Campbell Systematic Reviews

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundRoad Traffic injuries (RTI) are among the top ten leading causes of death in the world resulting in 1.35 million deaths every year, about 93% of which occur in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs). Despite several global resolutions to reduce traffic injuries, they have continued to grow in many countries. Many high‐income countries have successfully reduced RTI by using a public health approach and implementing evidence‐based interventions. As many LMICs develop their highway infrastructure, adopting a similar scientific approach towards road safety is crucial. The evidence also needs to be evaluated to assess external validity because measures that have worked in high‐income countries may not translate equally well to other contexts. An evidence gap map for RTI is the first step towards understanding what evidence is available, from where, and the key gaps in knowledge.ObjectivesThe objective of this evidence gap map (EGM) is to identify existing evidence from all effectiveness studies and systematic reviews related to road safety interventions. In addition, the EGM identifies gaps in evidence where new primary studies and systematic reviews could add value. This will help direct future research and discussions based on systematic evidence towards the approaches and interventions which are most effective in the road safety sector. This could enable the generation of evidence for informing policy at global, regional or national levels.Search MethodsThe EGM includes systematic reviews and impact evaluations assessing the effect of interventions for RTI reported in academic databases, organization websites, and grey literature sources. The studies were searched up to December 2019.Selection CriteriaThe interventions were divided into five broad categories: (a) human factors (e.g., enforcement or road user education), (b) road design, infrastructure and traffic control, (c) legal and institutional framework, (d) post‐crash pre‐hospital care, and (e) vehicle factors (except car design for occupant protection) and protective devices. Included studies reported two primary outcomes: fatal crashes and non‐fatal injury crashes; and four intermediate outcomes: change in use of seat belts, change in use of helmets, change in speed, and change in alcohol/drug use. Studies were excluded if they did not report injury or fatality as one of the outcomes.Data Collection and AnalysisThe EGM is presented in the form of a matrix with two primary dimensions: interventions (rows) and outcomes (columns). Additional dimensions are country income groups, region, quality level for systematic reviews, type of study design used (e.g., case‐control), type of road user studied (e.g., pedestrian, cyclists), age groups, and road type. The EGM is available online where the matrix of interventions and outcomes can be filtered by one or more dimensions. The webpage includes a bibliography of the selected studies and titles and abstracts available for preview. Quality appraisal for systematic reviews was conducted using a critical appraisal tool for systematic reviews, AMSTAR 2.Main ResultsThe EGM identified 1859 studies of which 322 were systematic reviews, 7 were protocol studies and 1530 were impact evaluations. Some studies included more than one intervention, outcome, study method, or study region. The studies were distributed among intervention categories as: human factors (n = 771), road design, infrastructure and traffic control (n = 661), legal and institutional framework (n = 424), post‐crash pre‐hospital care (n = 118) and vehicle factors and protective devices (n = 111). Fatal crashes as outcomes were reported in 1414 records and non‐fatal injury crashes in 1252 records. Among the four intermediate outcomes, speed was most commonly reported (n = 298) followed by alcohol (n = 206), use of seatbelts (n = 167), and use of helmets (n = 66). Ninety‐six percent of the studies were reported from high‐income countries (HIC), 4.5% from upper‐middle‐income countries, and only 1.4% from lower‐middle and low‐income countries. There were 25 systematic reviews of high quality, 4 of moderate quality, and 293 of low quality.Authors' ConclusionsThe EGM shows that the distribution of available road safety evidence is skewed across the world. A vast majority of the literature is from HICs. In contrast, only a small fraction of the literature reports on the many LMICs that are fast expanding their road infrastructure, experiencing rapid changes in traffic patterns, and witnessing growth in road injuries. This bias in literature explains why many interventions that are of high importance in the context of LMICs remain poorly studied. Besides, many interventions that have been tested only in HICs may not work equally effectively in LMICs. Another important finding was that a large majority of systematic reviews are of low quality. The scarcity of evidence on many important interventions and lack of good quality evidence‐synthesis have significant implications for future road safety research and practice in LMICs. The EGM presented here will help identify priority areas for researchers, while directing practitioners and policy makers towards proven interventions.

show abstract

Helmet Laws, Helmet Use, and Bicycle Ridership

Abstract: Laws increased helmet use in all jurisdictions, with limited evidence of reduced cycling. Although sound health policy, laws should be coupled with physical activity promotion.

Cited by 10 publications

References 33 publications

Bicycle helmet law does not deter cyclists in Finland

Bicycle helmet law does not deter cyclists in Finland

Urban Cycling as an Indicator of Socio-Economic Innovation and Sustainable Transport

Effectiveness of road safety interventions: An evidence and gap map

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About