In Viking times, you would not hear a Viking say ‘it ruins my hair’ when he needed a helmet on his horse. No excuses. He just wanted to wear it for safety. Now is the time for you to do the same and wear a helmet on your modern horse, according to the Council for Safe Traffic.
Whether you are a Viking on a journey or a cyclist who goes in traffic, it is good to wear a helmet, says the Council for Safe Traffic in its new campaign ‘The helmet has always been a good idea’.
Humor and irony
In the campaign, you meet broad-shouldered and battle-dressed Viking chief Svend, who tries to make stupid excuses to avoid wearing a helmet.
“There is a lot of humor and irony in our new campaign,” says Lisbeth Sahl, senior project manager at the Danish Road Safety Council.
“But behind it is also a message that the excuses we sometimes have for not having a bicycle helmet can be a little silly when we look at how high the price can be if you fall and hit your head.”
Helmet makes a difference
A bicycle helmet halves the risk of serious head injuries when you fall off your bicycle. Therefore, the Council for Safe Traffic recommends that more cyclists start riding with helmets.
“Our brain controls everything we do, and that’s why it’s important to take care of it,” says Sahl. “A broken arm can usually grow together, but hitting your head can in many cases have serious consequences for a very long time.”
Rise in helmets stopped
The helmet became popular from 2015 to 2019, but this increase has stopped in recent years. A new number of bicycle helmets shows that now 47 percent of cyclists in Danish cities wear one.
From 2015-2019, police have registered 633 cyclists who have either been seriously injured or have lost their lives as a result of a head injury. In the capital, most were registered: 249.
“There’s a huge benefit to getting more people to wear helmets and take care of their heads,” Sahl said.