Bruce Bursford RIP

If you have interests in the future direction in which cycling is going in the country, you may want to take action over this proposal.

From: Bikebiz
Title: April 23rd – Could this be a black day for cycling?

Perhaps. That’s when Eric Martlew’s private member’s bill, ‘protective headgear for young cyclists’, gets its second reading. Many MPs support Martlew’s bill. Any measure that says it aims to save children’s lives is a vote winner. But will a kid lid law, in fact, lead children to ditch their bikes, leading to the unintended consequence of more deaths via obesity-related illnesses? MPs need to be better informed. To date, they seem to have absorbed only BHIT’s argument. Time to write to your MP…

Well I’ve written to Tony Lloyd my MP about this, whilst I’m pro-helmet I’m not pro-compulsion. I think it’s the thin end of the wedge and as Carlton Reid’s article says “many helmet campaigners seem to think helmets will be a panacea for all cycle-related head trauma. Unfortunately, motorists think so too and speed up to pass helmet-clad cyclists because they are seen to be ‘protected’ and ‘serious cyclists’. (Source: TRL 549, Drivers’ perceptions of cyclists). Motorists pass such ‘serious’ cyclists much closer than they would have done otherwise” and in the Netherlands where helmet wearing is almost unknown, yet there is no epidemic of cycle-related head injuries.

I’ve had a link to the bike brothers site sitting in my mailbox for sometime. I just couldn’t remember why. Last night I remembered. It’s because within the pages of the site their is a tribute to the late Bruce Bursford.