Safety first, wear a cycle helmet

Published: 5 August, 2010

• BICYCLES for hire in London must be something we should all welcome.

What I noticed in the initial Press photographs was that nobody was wearing a helmet.

Bicycling in London is, as Jon Snow has said, a dangerous activity where you must watch out for your life. 

I was returning on a fine, light afternoon from a school meeting in 1995 when I was knocked off my bicycle in Kentish Town Road, near the Bengal Lancer,  by a car crossing over the road to join northbound traffic.

The car came into my path, and knocked me off.

I woke up in the Royal Free with a fractured skull and CSF (leaks from the brain).

Luckily for me, I survived, as many such do not.

However, I suffered permanent (invisible) damage to my hearing and balance. 

I was not wearing a helmet, and the damage would no doubt have been substantially reduced if I had been wearing a helmet. 

Cyclists are also at risk from parked cars when the driver opens the door into their path, not to mention lorries turning left.

So let’s see a few more helmets in evidence, even if these bikes for hire are not road-racers!

DEIRDRE KRYMER
Twisden Road, NW5