The results of 10 years’ experience with the Skaraborg bicycle helmet program in Sweden

Abstract The aim of the study was to utilize the Skaraborg Bicycle Helmet Program (SBIHP)to describe processes and methods contributing to attitudinal and behavioral change favorable to bicycle-helmet wearing. A subsidiary aim was to demonstrate how a helmet-wearing program can be built up. The background to the study lies in the fact that the SBIHP has been evaluated to have produced a significant average annual reduction, of 3·1%, in all bicycle-related injuries in Skaraborg County in Sweden over the period 1978–1993. Increased helmet use contributed to a 59% drop in head injuries in the same period. This reduction makes it interesting to examine factors relevant to the program at municipal and county level, and also the national and international factors that may have contributed to the outcome. The structure of the process is described in time sequence, by means of program documentation, campaigns, information meetings and newspaper articles. A county-wide injury-prevention program designed to utilize...

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