According to the national road safety strategy of Sweden, 70 per cent of the cyclists should use helmet by 2020. Swedish research suggest that an increased use of bicycle helmets has the potential to reduce the number of fatalities among cyclists by 25 per cent and the number of seriously injured cyclists by at least ten per cent. In 2005, Sweden passed a law requiring bicycle helmets for children up to 15 years of age. There are no indications that policy-makers have any intention of extending this law to all cyclists. Thus, in order to reach the national helmet target for 2020, more focus needs to be directed on policies and measures that increase the voluntary use of bicycle helmet. Specifically, three questions need to be addressed by policy-makers: (1) What are the arguments and driving forces for cyclists in the local context to use bicycle helmets on a voluntary basis? (2) Which groups should be targeted for increased use? (3) What governmental policy instruments could be used to reinforce the voluntary driving forces? Helmet use among Swedish cyclists in 2013 was 36 per cent. The rate of helmet use varies sharply amongst the nearly 300 municipalities in Sweden. In many smaller municipalities helmet use is lower than 10 per cent, but in Stockholm the rate reached 73 per cent in 2013. Cyclists in Stockholm use several arguments to explain their behaviour. The central arguments focus on the intense traffic situation, the wish to protect oneself and one's family and the perception that modern helmets are fashionable. Other cyclists cite personal experiences with accidents, mass media pressure and the perception that the use of helmets has become the norm. It is also argued that helmet use has reached a level where its growth has become self-sustaining. This study identified a total of 25 arguments and local driving forces for voluntary helmet use. (Author/publisher)
Abstract