cycle helmets (1 Viewer)

[june123]

Hello All - quick question. Are cycle helmets compulsory in France? Haven't worn them before but rules change.

 

[Nirvanauk]

Not sure but we have just spent 2 days in Saumur and my wife fell off her bike and badly bruised her face ( no helmet!) . We then went to the Vendee for two weeks came back to Saumur and she fell off her bike again! This time she had a helmet on. So my advice would be to wear a helmet at all times.
She has now given up bike riding !

 

[dellwood33]

It would appear that riding a bike in Saumur is to be avoided, with or without a helmet

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[peter marshall]

Hi
I can't say either way if law or not but my Mrs fell off and banged her head badly 2 years ago, we have worn helmets since just common sense, you only have one noggin. Peter

 

[Carol]

I would be wondering what caused her to fall off twice, if it was because she has not a lot of confidence on a bike, you could try the cycle paths, a lot quieter but good to get around.

If no obvious reason I would check why it happened.

We did not used to use cycle helmets but for the last couple of years we have, and now its like a seat belt seems much safer with one.

 

[june123]

helmets

Thanks to all. I've reluctantly agreed to wear my helmet in future. Partner is very pleased. I'm sure they make sense. They're just not very comfortable. I have fallen off on two occasions but never banged head. Just broke a rib! Perhaps I should also invest in a bullet proof jacket?

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[Nirvanauk]

I would be wondering what caused her to fall off twice, if it was because she has not a lot of confidence on a bike, you could try the cycle paths, a lot quieter but good to get around.

If no obvious reason I would check why it happened.

We did not used to use cycle helmets but for the last couple of years we have, and now its like a seat belt seems much safer with one.

Oh Carol, it gets better. She has decided that she is unsafe on bikes so went out and bought a Honda 125cc scooter. It has now been duly delivered and she now finds that she doesn't have a uk licence! (evidently a Bermuda licence doesn't count! ) we have just arrived home from a 400 mile round trip to London to get a tow bar and rack fitted at huge cost! So it's going to be a case of watch this space........

 

[ericonabike]

Just to add another viewpoint - I recently came off my bike at 25 mph, hit my helmetless head on the ground and suffered no lasting ill effects. I promise not to use that as an argument not to wear a helmet if everyone else promises not to hold up a shattered piece of polystyrene and say that 'this saved my life'!

For the record - the answer to the original question is 'no'. Compulsion exists in Spain, but not France. But you are required to wear a HiViz when riding out of built-up areas after dark.

 

[Gooney]

Not sure but we have just spent 2 days in Saumur and my wife fell off her bike and badly bruised her face ( no helmet!) . We then went to the Vendee for two weeks came back to Saumur and she fell off her bike again! This time she had a helmet on. So my advice would be to wear a helmet at all times.
She has now given up bike riding !

I seem to recall Saumur to be a good wine producing area, maybe something in the airoh:

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[icantremember]

Just to add another viewpoint - [HI]I recently came off my bike[/HI] at 25 mph, hit my helmetless head on the ground and suffered no lasting ill effects. I promise not to use that as an argument not to wear a helmet if everyone else promises not to hold up a shattered piece of polystyrene and say that 'this saved my life'!

For the record - the answer to the original question is 'no'. Compulsion exists in Spain, but not France. But you are required to wear a HiViz when riding out of built-up areas after dark.

Does that mean you will now be changing your user name to ericoffabike ?

 

[Carol]

Oh Carol, it gets better. She has decided that she is unsafe on bikes so went out and bought a Honda 125cc scooter. It has now been duly delivered and she now finds that she doesn't have a uk licence! (evidently a Bermuda licence doesn't count! ) we have just arrived home from a 400 mile round trip to London to get a tow bar and rack fitted at huge cost! So it's going to be a case of watch this space........

 

[Nirvanauk]

I seem to recall Saumur to be a good wine producing area, maybe something in the airoh:

Possible.......

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[Gunner29]

compulsary

Why do you ask if its a legal requirement to wear a helmet in France?
I firmly believe that cycle helmets should be compulsary for under 16's anyway and anything that can save death or injury should be worn irrespective of fashion, hair styles etc.
a few yrs ago I didn't wear a helmet, got a blow to the head and have suffered epilepsy since.Havent been able to drive since Dec 2010 and you don't realise how inconvenient thats is. :Angry:

 

[Jim]

I still don't wear a helmet but I would agree with a ban, but only after they ban, refined sugar, alcohol and tobacco which of course kill millions more than a lack of a cycle helmet.

 

[hilldweller]

Not sure but we have just spent 2 days in Saumur and my wife fell off her bike and badly bruised her face ( no helmet!) . We then went to the Vendee for two weeks came back to Saumur and she fell off her bike again! This time she had a helmet on. So my advice would be to wear a helmet at all times.
She has now given up bike riding !

So would her injuries be less if she'd worn a helmet ?

Bicycle helmets do not protect "face" and in fact protect so little so unless you have the right accident they are worthless.

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[Gunner29]

I still don't wear a helmet but I would agree with a ban, but only after they ban, refined sugar, alcohol and tobacco which of course kill millions more than a lack of a cycle helmet. My kids still wear a helmet! Broken Link Removed

Confused with your post Jim> you don't wear a helmet But agree with a BAN?? Plus I feel that you don't set a good example to your children ""Do as I say not as I do!"" A lot of children suffer head injuries esp on the stunt tracks etc.
Olympians all wear then for their sports Cycling both road and indoor Canoeing, etc

 

[Jim]

I don't need to set an example to my kids,the dead lady did that for me. They just think I'm stupid for not wearing one. As for agreeing with a ban. See this, then read my post again.

 

[Gunner29]

WHY

just WHY are people so against wearing a helmet???
Don't see many soldiers in Afghanistan without one>> As Peter said "Common sense"!!

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[lorger]

We have always worn ours since our daughter got her first bike, thought if she has to wear one so should we.

You are not allowed to cycle without a helmet on our site at work and you would be amazed at the amount of folk who wear their helmet from the plant to the gate and then take it off and hang it on their handle bars.

 

[sedge]

Well - people said exactly the same in ?1960s when they made people wear helmets on motorbikes, and again thereeafter when they brought setabelts in for cars etc.

These days I find myself sitting down on a bus and looking for my seatbelt ..... and feel quite unsafe really unless there's a fatter person sitting on the aisle seat beside me!

Bradley Wiggins, who OK does go quite a lot faster than the vast majority - says bike helmets should be compulsory - and I would think he actually has a lot more experience of cycling on roads, again, than the vast majority of us !

 

[yodeli]

Hello All - quick question. Are cycle helmets compulsory in France? Haven't worn them before but rules change.

Just to answer the OP ....... NO ! Then , just do as you wish , but there is the french law . Enjoy your holidays (BTW did not read all the answers . Have started with the last post up to the end of the first page only and obviously the thread had changed direction . So if the proper answer has been given already in the first page , can you then please excuse me to have answered a second time..;trying to hurry while still have connection



Amicalement

Frankie

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[thehutchies]

To paraphrase what I said in that prehistoric thread that Jim linked to: I'll happily start wearing a cycling helmet when all drivers and passengers start wearing motoring helmets.
You are far more likely to suffer head injuries in a car crash than a bicycle crash.

MotorhomeFun branded helmets, anyone?

I only wear a cycle helmet when I decide the risk of injury is sufficiently high.
Thinking about risk is much safer than believing a helmet will save you.

 

[Heyupluv]

Just to add another viewpoint - I recently came off my bike at 25 mph, hit my helmetless head on the ground and suffered no lasting ill effects. I promise not to use that as an argument not to wear a helmet if everyone else promises not to hold up a shattered piece of polystyrene and say that 'this saved my life'!

For the record - the answer to the original question is 'no'. Compulsion exists in Spain, but not France. But you are required to wear a HiViz when riding out of built-up areas after dark.

Due to Bradley Wiggins calling for all bike riders to wear helmets.. There has just been a short discussion on the TV ...should you.... or should you not wear a helmet .. they say not... there is NO evidence to say that it saves lives, in Fact the medical body for transport and Boris Johnson ..... both say the facts are there are far less fatal accidents when not wearing the helmet on a bicycleoh:...its up to you,
Boris Johnson said there will be no compulsory of wearing helmets in London
Going back to the question I am not sure if its compulsory in France...I do see many French adults and children passing our window without helmets oh:

 

[GJH]

In 1968 (well before cycling helmets were available) I went over the handlebars of a bike on a steep hill and made a perfect five point landing - knees, elbows and nose (still have all the scars) - before rolling down the road with the bike following me.

Obviously it didn't kill me but I had a nasty bang on the head which a helmet might well have lessened the effect of. I was still groggy the next day and wouldn't have gone in to school if I hadn't been doing my Physics "A" Level practical (which I didn't pass).

We've always worn helmets since they became available.

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[hilldweller]

just WHY are people so against wearing a helmet???
Don't see many soldiers in Afghanistan without one>> As Peter said "Common sense"!!

If helmets are so damned good how come we have so many dead and terribly maimed soldiers ?

Put a helmet on him, he'll be safe.

Doesn't look like that to me.

 

[icantremember]

In 1968 (well before cycling helmets were available) I went over the handlebars of a bike on a steep hill and made a perfect five point landing - knees, elbows and nose (still have all the scars) - before rolling down the road with the bike following me.

Obviously it didn't kill me but [HI]I had a nasty bang on the head [/HI]which a helmet might well have lessened the effect of. I was still groggy the next day and wouldn't have gone in to school if I hadn't been doing my Physics "A" Level practical (which I didn't pass).

We've always worn helmets since they became available.

Ahha ........ that accounts for a lot

 

[GJH]

Ahha ........ that accounts for a lot

I wondered who would be first to pounce on that

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[icantremember]

I wondered who would be first to pounce on that

It had to be said

 

[ericonabike]

I know I shouldn't get sucked into this again, but I can'y help myself...
Take a look at any form of motorised sport, from F1 to banger racing. They all have to wear helmets. So why don't the rest of us as we set off down the road? Are we better drivers than the pros, so that we never crash? Do we have a forcefield around us that wards off impacts? No? Then why don't we wear helmets, given that the speeds we can and do achieve are on a par with a lot of motorised sport - and on a par with all of them if you consider the closing speeds of a head-on crash.

Sounds laughable, the idea of wearing a crash hat in our cars and motorhomes, don't it? Yet it would have a huge impact on our safety [if it saves just one child's life...]. Yet to me the idea of forcing all cyclists, from Mrs Miggins popping to the shops on her shopper, to Bradley hurtling down a mountain at 50mph, is equally ludicrous. At a stroke it would destroy all the 'Boris Bike' schemes that have done so much to make utility cycling mainstream - how on earth would you provide properly sized and fitted helmets to all the folk who want to take a bike out? And it would force down the amount of cycling, as has happened in Australia, opening the door to a rise in obesity, heart attack and other diseases attached to a sedentary lifestyle.

I used to be a helmet stalwart. But then I realised that things ain't that straightforward. Compulsion is the wrong route to travel.

 

[brynric]

I'm just spending some time, with a bike, in Belgium and France. Lots of cyclists of all kinds. It seems to me that the majority don't wer helmets, but those who are racing or going "beyond the average" do. It would be a shame for people to be put off a great sport because of over regulation. I don't generally wear a helmet but I do have one and would put it on if outside my comfort zone.
I remember reading an Australian report that suggested that wearing a blond wig was safer than wearing a helmet. At least on a bike.

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