The terribly thorny subject...

You wait around three years for someone to write a pointless post and then...

I was having a look at an old post I'd written about the British Medical Association trying to make the wearing of cycle helmets a legal requirement. It should be pointed out that's when you're on your bicycle. Not at all times. We can bathe without the need for safety equipment.

The post in question is now over six years old. If the British Medical Association is pushing for this legislation, it hasn't been terribly successful so far. Maybe that's bureaucracy for you and it's still in the pipeline? Whatever the case, I was interested to see what I'd written at the time. What would a young, early thirties, go-getter think of such a premise?

As it turns out, I thought something pretty similar to my opinion nowadays (although I might word it a little differently now). I'd still hope such a law doesn't come into force. Of course the intentions of the BMA (no, not the team Cadel Evans rides for) are good and I applaud them for trying to do something they believe will better humanity in some manner. The people calling for helmet wearing to become law are doing so because they want cycling to be safer for all. They're not terrible ogres who want to do everything they can to destroy cycling in all its forms.

All the same, it's something I continue to feel should be left up to the individual's choice. I can't see any scenario where helmet wearing/not wearing protects or endangers anyone other than the cyclist him or herself.

Some people hate wearing a helmet and may be put off cycling if forced to use one. Chances are that said people aren't regular cyclists (some may be) but the cycling they do could form an important piece of physical exercise in their lives. Perhaps such people might find they enjoy cycling after trying it for a bit. That's pretty much what happened with me. I didn't like wearing a helmet at first, went out on wee scoots on my cheap mountain bike and became hooked on cycling (then stopped for ages and got fat).

It's probably best to try to get people to exercise more. I'd imagine there are more heart attacks etc. through inactivity than injuries caused by not wearing a cycle helmet (although admittedly the former has a considerably larger 'catchment').

That witter was in relation to this post from six years ago. Blimey! How time flies.

Just for the record, I have started to wear a helmet again after a few years of not doing so. Surprisingly, I've found it's fairly comfortable and I forget all about it being on my noggin. The only downside I've noticed is little insects getting caught in the holes and crawling about on top of my head for a while. Even that's just unpleasant but does me no harm.

I even bought myself a new helmet the other day, tried it out for the first time today (which is what had me thinking about this) and, as has been the case, completely forgot it was on my head. Mind you, I also forgot to set our burglar alarm when I was out cycling today so that might say as much about me and my mental deterioration as it does about helmet comfort.