Article

The general decline in road deaths and injuries following introduction of random checks of speed of motor vehicles and blood alcohol of drivers is a factor in a decline in deaths and injuries of cyclists in recent years.

Surveys carried out before and after introduction of compulsory helmet laws in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory have all shown increases in rates of helmet wearing, but also sharp declines in numbers of cyclists.

The earliest and among the best data of decline in numbers of cyclists are of child cyclists in Victoria, where total bicycle use by children decreased by 36 per cent in a year following introduction of the helmet law.