In 2006 Nathalie Sieben had a hard fall after which she suffered a brain injury. She now realizes all too well that a bicycle helmet could have prevented this.
On Wednesday during the first national ‘Cycling Helmet Day’, Nathalie will participate in a bicycle tour to promote the use of a helmet.
11,000 end up on the IC
The number of serious accidents involving cyclists continues to increase. The first national ‘Cycling Helmet Day’ should make the elderly, but also young people, aware of wearing a helmet while cycling. Because about 11,000 people a year end up in the ICU with brain injuries because they fall by bicycle. “We don’t want to make it mandatory, but we do want to promote it,” says neurologist and initiator Marcel Ariës. “If people first know what the usefulness of a bicycle helmet is, it will then become normal to always wear one.”
more common
Six years ago, Sieben had another crash without a helmet, but then on a regular bicycle. “My brother said to me, ‘How many hints do you want to get?'” Sieben says. In recent years, the number of accidents on normal bicycles, but especially on E-bikes, has increased. “We want helmet wearing to become more common in the streets,” says Ariës.
