By Charles Pekow — Children are less likely to wear a helmet properly while biking than adolescents or grown-ups, observers in Montreal found. A research team watched 2,000 cyclists across the city in the summer of 2021 to see if an increase in biking during the pandemic affected the rate of helmet use. It discovered that helmet use had increased over a similar study done a decade earlier, despite the addition of bikeshare programs, which generally don’t provide helmets.
But men and minorities were less likely than others to wear a properly-fitted helmet.
The study suggests considering mandatory helmet legislation, subsidies for helmets, and targeted education to children and their caregivers.
Read Factors Associated with Bicycle Helmet Use and Proper Fit: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Montreal Cyclists during the COVID-19 Pandemic at https://link.springer.com/article/10.17269/s41997-023-00747-8 – code-availability.
