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While many safety campaigners believe there would be a reduction in head injury and other casualties resulting from a cycle accident, more than 10% of cyclists claimed in a poll that they would give up riding if wearing helmets became compulsory.
The survey, conducted by the Institute of Motorists, sought the views of more than 4,000 people and discovered that only 20% of respondents wanted the wearing of protective head gear to be part of legal restrictions.
Bicycle helmets are not as important as wearing conspicuous clothing and using lights as a means of avoiding a vehicle accident, according to most of those who replied to the survey.
Training to ride safely in traffic is regarded as the second most important priority in reducing the toll of collisions which often result in personal injury and consequent compensation from the driver involved.
With a third of survey replies saying they would continue to ride a bike without a helmet, whatever the law said, it seems that, although 60% of cyclists do wear one, the same percentage feel the decision to use head protection should be a personal choice.
IAM cycling manager Duncan Pickering said, "Ultimately, fewer than ten per cent voted that they didn't think wearing a cycle helmet was beneficial at all, so if cyclists feel safer wearing one it makes sense to do so."
Many cycle accidents could be prevented by cyclists positioning themselves more defensively in relation to larger vehicles, he added.
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