By Flannery Dean, CBC News
Posted: Oct 17, 2012 8:05 AM ET
Last Updated: Oct 17, 2012 8:04 AM ET
On average, 70 cyclists are killed each year in Ontario as a result of collisions. For two years running, however, Hamilton hasn't had a cyclist die as a result of collision.
That's not to say that there haven't been plenty of close calls.
In July, an 89-year-old man was clipped by a car as he rode his bike along Hwy. 8 and Grays Road. The car sped away. The man was knocked to the ground and injured.
He wasn't wearing a helmet.
Hamilton police regularly educate cyclists about the importance of wearing protective headgear, said Sgt. Terri-Lynn Collings, a spokesperson for Hamilton Police Services. If they stop a cyclist for running a light or riding improperly, police will often suggest wearing a helmet, she said.
Parents: 'your head is just as precious as theirs is'
Collings also said she personally speaks to parents about setting a good example for kids. She said she tells parents who ride without a helmet "your head is just as precious as theirs is."
Cycle without a bike helmet and you make yourself three times more likely to die of a serious head injury, says a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal Monday.
The findings represent the first time that a link has been established between the wearing of a helmet and protection against a serious head injury, said lead author Dr. Navindra Persaud of the family and community medicine department at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto. Dr. Albert Lauwers, an assistant clinical professor in the Faculty of Family Medicine at McMaster University and a former president of the Ontario Coroners Association also contributed to the study.
"Previous studies have shown that helmets prevent non-fatal head injuries, but there was controversy about whether or not they prevent fatal head injuries," said Persaud.
Report: Adults account for 88 per cent of fatalities
The study, which drew on a data collected in a 2012 report on cycling fatalities by the Chief Coroner of Ontario, found that cyclists who died of a head injury were three times as likely to not be wearing a helmet compared to those who died of other injuries.
In Ontario, 129 people died from cycling-related injuries between 2006 and 2010. Of those killed, 94 weren't wearing a helmet and 71 died.
"Sixty-eight per cent of deaths could have been prevented by wearing a helmet," said Persaud.
The study also found that adults accounted for 88 per cent of fatalities.
The finding should be of greatest interest to cyclists over the age of 18—and by extension, legislators. Currently, the provincial government only legally requires helmets be worn by those 18 years old and under.
Men account for 78 per cent of fatalities
The significance of the statistic—that the very age group that the province of Ontario doesn't legally require to don the protective headwear also happens to be the most likely to die from injury—isn't lost on the study's lead author.
"The current law misses the people who would benefit from wearing helmets," said Persaud.
The coroner's report also found men were the most susceptible, accounting for 78 per cent of fatalities.
Persaud isn't sure why this is so and said that there isn't enough data at the moment to draw a conclusion.
"We don't know if it's because men cycle more [frequently] than women or whether there are more men cyclists or whether men have different cycling behaviours," said Persaud. The researcher hopes that the study will have various positive effects.
For one, he supports the coroner's recommendation that the province adopt mandatory helmet wearing for cyclists of all ages. He also believes helmet usage would increase if the government offered subsidies or tax breaks to encourage buying.
Perhaps surprisingly, Persaud said that helmets are not the best way to prevent fatalities, however. "Preventing cycling collisions are the most effective means." He added that dedicated bike lanes, traffic calming measures and education for drivers would go a long way toward preventing deaths.
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