CAN’s current policy:

"There is evidence that mandatory cycle helmet wearing legislation is not working as intended and should be reviewed. Priority needs to be given to other safety issues such as motorist behaviour and roading improvements."

CAN's position is not to call for optional wearing of helmets, but to review the wider effects to date of helmet-wearing legislation; the distinction is important. For example, it is entirely possible to be both supportive of the benefits of helmet wearing, whilst not supporting helmet-wearing legislation.

A reasonable analogy might be encouraging people to wear a hat/sunscreen when outside in the sun (to reduce the chance of melanomas), but not making it compulsory to do so.

While the benefits of helmet-wearing legislation seem self-evident, further investigation (and there is a lot of research on both sides of the argument) suggests that there may be unintended consequences in terms of the perception and take-up of cycling, and the subsequent health of the general population. The fact that the countries with the greatest levels of cycling and best cycling safety records do not have compulsory helmet laws also calls into question the need for a law.

So, CAN suggests that the law in NZ be reviewed to evaluate whether the benefits of having compulsory helmet-wearing outweigh the costs/dis-benefits. Since the law's inception in 1994, this has not been done (although some studies have considered the crash data), which is a reasonable request.

This is not a high priority for CAN. When we have polled our membership in the past on helmet-wearing legislation, the response has been very evenly split for and against. In the same polling however, helmet legislation was also the lowest ranked issue on which we should be campaigning. It clearly remains a divisive issue.

CAN fully supports the use of helmets when undertaking recreational cycling in difficult terrain or high-speed competitive racing. In situations like these that are likely to cause a fall from a bike (which is what a helmet is designed to protect against), it is sensible to wear a helmet.

If you are interested in finding out more about both sides of this debate, we encourage you to look at the many comprehensive websites on the topic. However, we acknowledge that we have members at both ends of the spectrum and we hope that (irrespective of your beliefs) you will continue to support CAN's overall aims to make New Zealand a more cycle-friendly nation.