Gordon Ramsay has urged cyclists to wear helmets after a crash left him looking like a “purple potato”, but experts are divided over their effectiveness.
Some research has shown that wearing a helmet dramatically reduces the chances of serious injury and dramatically reduces the number of people who die in accidents.
But other studies say they actually increase your chances of getting into an accident and increase your chances of suffering a life-threatening spinal injury.
Others say ordering cyclists to wear helmets is akin to victim-blaming and distracts from measures that would actually improve safety, such as better bike lanes and safer driving.
The debate comes after Ramsay, 57, said he was “lucky to be alive” after being involved in a “really bad accident” while cycling in Connecticut, US.
Gordon Ramsay told how he was involved in a serious accident while riding a bicycle in the United States
Ramsay urged his followers to always wear helmets, although research on their effectiveness is mixed.
He was left with severe bruising on his body, but did not appear to have suffered a head injury.
The television chef urged his 17 million followers on Instagram and 7.6 million on X to wear a helmet, no matter how short the trip.
However, there is some debate on the topic.
Olympic cycling champion Chris Boardman, for example, has previously said he will never promote high-visibility helmets or jackets for cyclists.
‘I want cycling in the UK to be like it is in Utrecht or Copenhagen and, more recently, New York City: an everyday thing that people can do in normal clothes, whether you’re eight or 80.
‘I want riding a bike to be a normal thing for normal people to do in normal clothes. Is that wrong?’
In an article for British cyclingargued that the Netherlands has impeccable cycling infrastructure and the lowest casualty rate in the world.
“I’m willing to bet that even those who swear by helmets and high visibility would feel comfortable ditching their body armor in an environment like that,” he said. ‘And that is the point; In Utrecht the real dangers for cyclists have been addressed.’
However, Ramsay’s call is supported by a 2018 analysis by scientists at the Institute of Transport Economics in Oslo, Norway, which found that helmets reduce a cyclist’s chances of dying in an accident by more than a third ( 34 percent).
Looking at data from 55 other studies, they concluded that helmets reduce head injuries by 48 percent, serious head injuries by 60 percent, fatal head injuries by 71 percent, and fatal head injuries by 71 percent. traumatic brain injuries by 53 percent.
Its effect on facial injuries was much smaller, although it still reduced them by almost a quarter (23 percent).
While other studies have suggested that helmets can increase neck and spinal injuries due to their weight and the friction they create when they hit and scrape the road, researchers said cyclists who wore helmets actually had slightly less probability of suffering one of these injuries.
The study, published in the journal Accident Analysis & Prevention, found that helmets were more effective in single-bike accidents, probably because accidents involving other vehicles are usually much more serious.
Overall, they said wearing a helmet while cycling was “highly recommended,” adding: “Bicycle helmets have consistently been found to reduce head injuries, specifically serious and fatal head injuries.”
Ramsay suggested his injuries could have been much worse had he not been wearing a helmet as he showed off a huge bruise to his followers on social media.
The television chef said he looked like a ‘purple potato’ after his ‘very serious accident’
But Colin Clarke, of campaign group Cycling UK, has repeatedly argued that the benefits of helmets are overstated and that their use can have negative side effects.
In a study presented at the National Road Safety Conference, it found that the popularity of cycling dropped by almost 60 percent in New Zealand after helmets became mandatory. He maintained that this explained the reduction in the number of cyclists killed.
At the same time, the rate of injuries, particularly to the arms and upper body, increased by 40 percent among cyclists, suggesting an increase in falls.
He argued that this may be because cyclists take more risks when wearing helmets, the imbalance caused by heavy helmets, or because some helmet designs obscure vision.
He also stated that discouraging people from cycling makes them less active and healthy and contributes to the global obesity crisis.
In another study, Clarke found that the Netherlands has a much lower death rate among cyclists than other countries, despite also having a much lower rate of helmet use.
He wrote: “The emphasis on helmets is unscientific and, more importantly, damages cycling and blocks the kind of cycling policy and infrastructure in successful cycling cities.”
Another study by scientists at the University of Bath showed in 2019 that motorists made riskier decisions when cyclists wore helmets.
Researchers used an ultrasonic distance sensor to measure how much space motorists gave to cyclists with and without helmets in Salisbury and Bristol.
They found that drivers passed cyclists 8.5 cm closer when wearing helmets.
The researchers said this is likely because helmeted cyclists are perceived to be more experienced and predictable, and therefore less likely to have an accident.
For the same reason, motorists gave cyclists the least space on the road. Bus and HGV drivers were the worst culprits of dangerous overtaking.
The study, published in the journal Accident Analysis & Prevention, said these snapshot assessments “can only provide poor guidance on the likelihood of a collision occurring” and said drivers should be “warned about the unreliability of the assumptions they make.”
Ian Walker, one of the researchers involved in the study, said Cyclist magazine: ‘I think it is inappropriate for people to be asked to buy and use a device if the reason is that other people have put them at risk, without their consent. “If people want to wear one because they fear a fall, especially mountain bikers, that’s a different matter, but there are obvious concerns regarding the first situation.”
It is currently not a legal requirement to wear a helmet while cycling in the UK. In the photo, cyclists waiting for the traffic to change in London.
However, Gordon Ramsay’s devotion to helmets remains intact.
On Saturday he posted a photo of his badly damaged helmet to show how it had protected his head.
“Honestly, you have to wear a helmet,” he said. ‘I don’t care how short the trip is. These helmets cost money but they are crucial.
‘Children, even for a short trip, should wear a helmet. I can’t explain to you the importance of wearing a helmet.’
It is currently not a legal requirement to wear a helmet while cycling in the UK.
