Several senators relaunched this Thursday, via a bill, the debate on the wearing of compulsory helmets when cycling, an obligation which, until then, only applies to children under 12 years of age. This bill follows the practice of cycling, which has increased since the start of the pandemic. In Tours, the number of bicycle passages jumped by nearly 25% on the Wilson Bridge between last December and December 2020.
Two visions clash
It is a group of centrist senators who proposes to make the helmet compulsory for “any driver of a vehicle with one or more wheels, whether motor or electrically assisted, as well as for any cycle driver”, under penalty of a fine of 135 euros.
“Almost two-thirds of fatally injured cyclists were 55 and over in 2019 “and” head trauma is the leading cause of death among cyclists“, explains the centrist senator François Bonneau in his proposal.
“It seems like a bad idea“, reacted Françoise Rossignol president of the Club of cycling towns and territories.”So that there are more bikes, we must not put the brakes on the practice“. A point of view shared by Adrien Pitault, co-president of the cycling collective 37:”78% of people who have had fatal cycling accidents have had it for leisure. That the wearing of a helmet is compulsory in sports clubs for a sporting practice is very good, on the other hand for a daily practice, if we look at the figures, they are not the most affected by mortality, therefore this obligation of wearing a helmet is totally counterproductive“.
In Tours opinions are divided
According to the Road Safety Observatory, 1/3 of cyclists wear a helmet today in France. In the streets of Tours, very few people wear helmets, young and old alike have a good reason. “I have one but I don’t wear it “ explains Jean-Pierre a septuagenarian “It annoys me … the mask, the helmet … no but … we must stop”. However, I picked up some bowls, once I took a door, when I fell I was afraid to hit the corner of the sidewalk … in addition, helmets are annoying, we do not know where to put them, you have to take it everywhere it’s painful“. Valérie has a completely different opinion”I’m more for it, anyway we put it on the children, now it’s everywhere, we wear a helmet to ski, it’s good that the children put it on to ride a scooter too. It’s up to us parents to set an example, sometimes we don’t put it on and that’s not good“.
This is not the first time that a bill on the wearing of bicycle helmets has been examined. “the French are fed up with having obligations imposed on them“launched in 2019 Elisabeth Borne, then transport minister.
The compulsory wearing of a bicycle helmet is not yet for tomorrow
This text proposing this very controversial measure was defeated this Thursday afternoon in the Senate, it was not finally adopted in committee where it was examined at first reading in the hemicycle as part of a space reserved for the centrist group at the origin of the bill. Its author withdrew it at the end of the general discussion and it was therefore not put to the vote of the Senate.