IAM Safe Cycling

It is reassuring to get some common sense on safety. You can generally rely on the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM). Cycle training, it says, would be better for safety than making helmets compulsory. An online poll of 6,000 found only 1 per cent support for compulsory cycle helmets. More cycle lanes would be better still. Duncan Pickering, IAM Cycling Development Manager, said: “It is encouraging that people see additional public money – by extension further training and improved infrastructure – as the most important factor affecting cyclist’s safety. We would never discourage cyclists from wearing helmets. Cyclist behaviour, awareness of other road users and visibility would make a bigger difference.” Roundheads always imagine you can achieve things by compulsion, regulations, bans or prohibitions. They do not always work. Look at the ban on mobile phones while driving, which outgoing governors Ed Balls and Harriet Harman flout. Who remembers cycling with a Cyclemaster? Here is a 1952 one that took some of the effort out of cycling. It was 32cc and a 2-stroke and didn’t do much for a bicycle’s centre of gravity. It is in the motorcycle museum at Bakewell.