NO: James Styring, spokesman for Cyclox, Oxford city cycling lobby group
Although I think these accidents could be a wake-up call to many, I don’t think making cyclists wear helmets or high-viz vests mandatory would reduce accidents any more than making pedestrians wear them would.
Bradley Wiggins (the UK Tour de France winner who was injured in a collision with a car) is a professional cyclist, he is a family man, he’s probably ridden more miles than anyone in the country and he knows what he is doing on a bike.
Cycling is safer than walking and I don’t think it makes that much sense. It is more important to have good lights on a bike.
Putting helmets on does turn many people off from cycling, and I think making people wear high-viz vests would do the same.
There is an argument over the impact this will have on levels of obesity and how the costs from that will rise.
I don’t think it’s the same as forcing drivers to wear seatbelts by law – cyclists fall off quite frequently so there is not the same need to protect as there would be in a car.
Cyclox would like to see improved road systems and have more road systems designed with cyclists in mind, and drivers need to keep more of an eye out.
YES: Bob Price, Labour city council leader
It’s a complex issue but I think that at night I certainly wouldn’t object to high-viz vests being made mandatory.
It’s not just cars that are a danger to those on bikes – cyclists often can’t see each other when riding along, let along pedestrians so it would definitely help to avoid collisions. There is a responsibility for all road users and pedestrians to act sensibly but the vests are something to think about to cut accidents.
I did hear about the Bradley Wiggins incident and am glad to hear that he is OK but also that cycling safety is on the agenda again.
I’m a frequent cyclist myself so this is something I am interested in and am eager to hear the debate on.
We would have to think about how effective they would be in the day time and the advantages, but I think it would definitely work at night, when there are more dangers lurking about.
I’d certainly have no problem with it myself.
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