The effects of a 4-year program promoting bicycle helmet use among children in Quebec

A program to encourage bicycle helmet use among school children appears to have worked. Observers recorded helmet use among children ages 5 to 12 at different sites in two similar Canadian communities, one of which had implemented a bicycle helmet use campaign designed to increase use in this age group. Before the program began, 1.3% of children wore bicycle helmets. Between 1990 and 1993 helmet use increased in both communities. However, in the community with the campaign, observed helmet use increased to 33% of children observed in 1993 compared with less than 15% of children observed in the comparison community. Helmets were more likely to be worn by girls, younger children, and children riding on bike paths and school roads as opposed to neighborhood streets. Children observed in middle- to upper-class communities were three times more likely to be wearing helmets.