Cycling is being promoted as a viable mode of transport. Governments are making provision with quite a lot of money being spent on cycle ways and even some building owners ( well done – love your green ethic! ) have installed racks, showers and change rooms, so it IS getting easier.

I’ve just been re-reading the January 2010 report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Climate Change.  I became interested in the transport statistics following a recent conversation about pollution from motor vehicle emissions in the city (about 40% of Brisbane’s pollution is due to cars, I’m told).  The City of Brisbane is pretty keen to get people out of cars and while buses and trains are an option in any city,  I've noticed an increasing number of articles in papers and magazines on cycling.

The ABS has reported that motor vehicles contribute 11.5% of national carbon emissions, more than half of that number being from cars. Obviously most of it is not here on the Coast (except on weekends, maybe).
It got me thinking though, that whether it is concern about emissions or whether it is fitness, lifestyle, efficiency (you can take your bike right up to the door of where you want to be) or just because it's cool that makes cycling an attractive alternative, there is still the issue  of safety and convenience to grapple with.  Cyclists and more importantly, potential cyclists mull over this some time if not every time they venture out.

Safety will improve with better cycle ways/paths and better attitudes in vehicle drivers but there is still the problem of inconvenience that is stopping many people from using bicycles as their main form of transport around town.

Helmets! 

If you hire a bike, do you hire a helmet?  Is it clean?

If you’ve just been to the hairdresser or spent some time blow waving your hair are you going to put a helmet on? 

Do you carry your helmet as well as your briefcase into meetings?

How do you carry your shopping and your helmet?  Or do you leave it on when you go into shops?

The law says you must wear a helmet when riding a bike (thankfully it doesn’t say you have to wear lycra) but I wonder if there is any room to move to make riding without a helmet OK and therefore easier for people to choose the bike for short trips.

Is it all that unsafe to cycle around town at slow speeds without a helmet or is it really only necessary on the open road?