To study the effect of the wearing of a helmet by cyclists a literature research was carried out. The authors feel that to use a helmet might be a recommendation to further the safety of cyclists. Another possible recommendation might be the change of the outside body of cars to make them cause less harm in a collision, cars being the most frequent collision partners of cyclists. Very few publications were found on the use of a helmet by cyclists, both in the IRRD database and in the SWOV library, most of them were based on laboratory experiments on helmets. It is noteworthy that the only research calculating the effect by the comparison of users and non-users of helmets, has been carried out in australia, where only 2% of the traffic victims consist of cyclists. In the netherlands where the share of bicyclists is more than 20% no study has yet been undertaken. Only one or two existing helmets are worn with pleasure by cyclists, because weight and cooling are important factors.
Samenvatting