Cycling tsar rides into helmets row
WEST Midlands cycling commissioner Adam Tranter landed his new job just three months ago – but has already ridden head first into a heated debate about helmet safety.
Mr Tranter was appointed by West Midlands Mayor Andy Street in December in a bid to get more people to switch to ‘active travel’, having previously volunteered as Bicycle Mayor for Coventry.
By working with Transport for West Midlands, the Department of Transport and local partners, the aim is to improve the region’s cycling and walking policies and plans.
But in a column for the Post’s sister paper, the Birmingham Mail, Mr Tranter said he had “already spent too much time explaining to people why I don’t always wear a helmet’’.
He added: ‘‘It tends to dominate the conversation on cycling when there are many things that would have much greater impact on safety.”
In his view, other factors such as Dutch-style infrastructure could do more to improve safety, while at the same time reducing deaths from inactivity because people should not be “forced to wear special safety gear” in order to enjoy the health benefits of travelling on two wheels.
Mr Tranter said in the column: “Imagine if every time you popped out for a walk, you felt you had to wear safety gear or risk being judged by people on Facebook. Most people wouldn’t bother walking much.
‘‘But it’s exactly what we expect of people cycling, even though we need to shift millions of Brum’s short journeys out of cars. A quarter of resident car journeys in Birmingham are under one mile, about five to seven minutes by bike.’’
When he posted the column on Twitter, Jeremy Canon responded
saying: “Your stance, given your position, is dangerous. You are a figurehead for cycling... As cyclists we are the only people responsible for our safety.
“Would you go out at night without your lights? Would you go out at night without wearing reflective clothing?”
Colin Harper added: “Why not just wear a helmet, avoid the distraction
and get to the real issues.”
In response to people who disagreed with his argument, Mr Tranter posted: “My article makes my position clear. We can’t base population-size policy on a small number of personal anecdotes – or waste time discussing it any further. If we did, we’d make shin pads mandatory for all car drivers based on this.”