Since 1988 VTI has performed annual observation studies of cyclists’ helmet wearing habits in 21 towns in Sweden. Below is a summary of the observations conducted in 2013 on behalf of the Swedish Transport Administration. The 2013 study, in line with previous studies, focused on four main categories of cyclists: • Children (0—10 years) who cycle in their spare time in residential areas; • Children (6—15 years) who cycle to/from their primary or secondary school; • Adults (? 16 years) who cycle to/from work; • Adults (? 16 years) and children who cycle on cycle routes. The results show that children ? 10 years cycling in residential areas on average wear a cycle helmet at 79 percent. Children cycling to/from primary or secondary school (6—15 years old) wear a bicycle helmet on a lesser scale, at about 61%. However the rate differs greatly, almost 34 percent in secondary school (children 13—15 years old) and almost 85 percent in primary school (children 6—12 years old). Among adults who cycle to/from work, the usage rate is about 29 percent. Most cyclists were observed on cycle routes and helmet usage of adults here is about 30 per cent. The weighted average rate of helmet use seen over all categories in 2013, soared to the highest ever. The rate increased continuously until the end of the 1990’s when stagnation occurred for some years. In 2005 legislation requiring children up to 15 years of age to wear a cycle helmet by law, was brought into effect. Helmet use increased again between 2004/2005 and 2008, followed by a stagnation that was broken 2011. The estimated value of the average helmet use is about 36 per cent for the year 2013, which is significantly higher than the 33 per cent in 2012. The difference is statistically significant at risk level 1%. (Author/publisher)
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