Head trauma and brain damage is commonly seen in victims of bicycle accidents. This is particularly true among children and adolescents (5-20 years). A number of studies showed that bicycle-related head injury and brain damage could be markedly reduced by wearing bicycle safety helmets. In Australia, the United States, Canada, Sweden and Denmark the use of bicycle safety helmets is already quite common. As a result of promotional activities the percentage of bicyclists who are wearing bicycle safety helmets has increased steadily over the last years. This increase has been accompanied by a decrease in the number of bicyclists killed or admitted to hospital with head trauma of brain damage. From a road safety point of view it would be very useful to introduce these safety helmets in the Netherlands as well. Planned health education programmes will be essential for this introduction to be successful.
Samenvatting