How the Danish cyclists were convinced to use a bicycle helmet - without a law

Over the past 20 years the use of bicycle helmet in Denmark has increased markedly. Today almost half of the cyclists in city traffic and 8 out of 10 cycling school children use a bicycle helmet. And this is despite the fact that there is no legislation on the use of bicycle helmets for cyclists in Denmark. This article explains how a combination of public campaigns, information, education, improved helmet design and improved availability has changed the Danes’ attitudes towards helmets and affected behaviour. A necessary precondition for the effectiveness of the helmet promotion activities has been a persistent assessment of motivations and barriers among cyclists and continuous observational studies to monitor helmet use. The article includes 5 examples of previous and current interventions to promote helmet use.