Road safety: 44 percent of cyclists wear a helmet
Over the past five years, the proportion of cyclists wearing helmets has risen sharply.
(Image: ADFC Bremen / AOK)
Helmets are becoming increasingly popular among cyclists. Last year, 44.4 percent of all cyclists wore a helmet in urban areas. Five years ago, the figure was 22.8 percent. This is according to the results of traffic monitoring by the Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt). Among riders of conventional bicycles, the wearing rate was 35.4 percent, among pedelec riders 65 percent.
82.8% of children aged 6 to 10 wore a bicycle helmet in 2023. Among 11 to 16-year-olds, the figure was 47.4 percent and 33.1 percent among 17 to 21-year-olds. Among 22 to 30-year-olds, 36.7 percent wore a helmet, 31 to 40-year-olds 47.3 percent, 41 to 60-year-olds 44.2 percent and 46.6 percent of those aged 61 and over wore a bicycle helmet.
No plans to make helmets compulsory
In 2022, around 40% of all cyclists wore a helmet, compared to just under 35% in 2021. The helmet-wearing rate for riders of conventional bicycles was 34 percent, and 60 percent for pedelec riders. These figures from the BASt were quoted by the German government last year in a response to a small question from the CDU/CSU parliamentary group.
The latter also wanted to know whether the mandatory helmet requirement demanded by CDU/CSU politicians should be introduced. In response, the federal government said that it would continue to rely on the principle of voluntariness. In addition, the helmet-wearing rate has been increasing for years. The current figures confirm this.
Optional direction indicators
In the answer, the Federal Government also mentioned that it was planning to allow optional direction indicators on all bicycles with the new version of the Road Traffic Licensing Regulations. This would also include a hazard warning light function that is activated after a fall. The German Road Safety Council (PDF) is in favor of such a function.
The bicycle industry, on the other hand, believes that the energy required for indicators and warning lights may not always be available on conventional bicycles. However, the situation is different with pedelecs. The energy of the drive battery, which must still be available for the lights even two hours after the motor has been switched off due to the low charge, also guarantees the safe operation of indicators.
Wearing a helmet is apparently not always common practice among motorized two-wheelers either. In 2023, 98.6 percent of riders and 99.3 percent of observed passengers on motorcycles wore a helmet. Parts of protective clothing were worn by 51 percent of riders, 22.6 percent wore full protective clothing.
(anw)