§ Mr. Liddell-GraingerTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to assist councils to encourage the use of bicycles in rural areas. [115609]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe English Regions Cycling Development Team, funded by the Department, is shortly to report on the progress being made by all highway authorities in England to provide facilities for cycling. Their report will identify areas where action is needed to remove barriers to increasing levels of cycling, taking account of the local context, whether rural or urban.
The Department is also supporting a conference at Nottingham University in September this year on "Promoting Cycling in Rural Areas". The Department has jointly funded work with the Countryside Agency for a number of years to promote bike and rail journeys, particularly in areas that are not well served by public transport.
§ Mr. TruswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received regarding the fitting of(a) bells and (b) other warning devices to all bicycles by (i) owners and (ii) manufacturers and suppliers; and if he will make a statement. [115622]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe Department for Transport carried out a public consultation last year into proposed changes to legislation controlling the sale of adult pedal cycles, including making it a requirement for a bell to be fitted prior to sale. Those responding included individual cycle owners, suppliers and manufacturers as well as the Bicycle Association of Great Britain, which represents cycle manufacturers and importers, the Association of Cycle Traders, which represents independent dealers, and the Cyclists" Touring Club which is a national organisation of cyclists.
As bells have a strong association with bicycles, the consultation did not address the fitting of other warning devices.
The Pedal Bicycles (Safety) Regulations 2003 were laid before Parliament on 15 April this year.
§ Jane GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the costs and benefits of(a) his Department"s campaign to promote helmet-wearing for teenage cyclists and (b) other strategies and campaigns to promote cycle use. [115841]
§ Mr. JamiesonOur Road Safety Strategy described the range of activity we are undertaking to make cycling safer, and that does not differentiate between them on grounds of cost and benefit. They all have value and a role to play in helping to reduce cyclist casualties. The strategy addresses the improvement of conditions and infrastructure, driver education, and the measures cyclists can take to protect themselves. As part of that package we said that we would encourage helmet wearing, recognising the evidence that helmets can reduce the severity of head injuries.
We are principally addressing adolescent boys. That is because the rate of deaths and serious injury for boys is about five times that of girls, and the 12 to 15-year age group accounts for about 60 per cent. of deaths and serious injury among boys. We also know that the early 164W indications from the 2002 wearing rate survey is that while generally rates have gone up from 16 per cent. in 1994 to 25 per cent. in 2002, for boys, the rate has decreased from 16 per cent. to 12 per cent. So we need to draw their attention to the potential safety benefits of cycle helmets, and the publicity material has been tested with the teenage audience to ensure that they will be receptive to it.
§ Jane GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the possibility of increased injury risk to cyclists wearing helmets as a result of diffuse axonal injury or subdural haematoma caused by rotational rather than linear impacts to the head. [115842]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe Department has made no assessment of these specific injury mechanisms. When accident data were collected by the Transport Research Laboratory in the early 1990"s those cyclists wearing helmets did not have any head injuries. Those that did sustain a brain injury were not wearing helmets.
A recent independent review of the literature, commissioned by my Department, critically assessed a number of studies to consider the effect of bicycle helmets on head, brain, facial and neck injuries to cyclists. The report concluded that—"Bicycle helmets have been found to be effective at reducing the incidence and severity of head, brain and upper facial injuries. Bicycle helmets have been found to be effective in reducing injury for users of all ages, though particularly for children." Results of this review are available on the Department for Transport website.
§ Jane GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the relative involvement rate, per kilometre cycled, of(a) helmeted and (b) unhelmeted cyclists in accidents which result in head injuries in the last three years. [115843]
§ Mr. JamiesonOur current data do not record information on whether or not cyclists were wearing helmets and therefore do not allow an assessment of this nature. However, the Bicycle Helmet Initiative Trust has been running a cycle helmet promotion scheme in Reading since 1992. Their data show that during that time cycle helmet use by children has trebled and there has been a 45 per cent. reduction in the number of hospital treated head injuries, although no data on changes in cycling levels were recorded.