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Public health
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Helmet use in BIXI cyclists in Toronto, Canada: an observational study
  1. Marissa Bonyun1,
  2. Andi Camden2,
  3. Colin Macarthur1,3,
  4. Andrew Howard1,4,5,6
  1. 1Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
  2. 2Child Health Evaluative Sciences, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
  3. 3Department of Paediatrics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
  4. 4Orthopaedic Surgery, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada
  5. 5Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
  6. 6Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
  1. Correspondence to Dr Andrew Howard; andrew.howard{at}sickkids.ca

Abstract

Objective To investigate the use of helmets for cyclists choosing to use BIXI bikes in comparison to personal bike riders in the City of Toronto.

Design Cross-sectional study design.

Setting Cyclists were observed in Toronto, Canada.

Participants Of the 6732 sample size, 306 cyclists on BIXI bikes and 6426 personal bike riders were observed.

Outcome measure The outcome of interest was helmet use.

Results Overall, 50.3% of cyclists wore helmets. The proportion of BIXI bike riders using helmets was significantly lower than the proportion of helmet users on personal bikes (20.9% vs 51.7%, respectively, p<0.0001).

Conclusions Although the BIXI bike programme has provided an alternate means for Torontonians to use a bicycle, cyclists using BIXI bikes are much less likely to wear a helmet. Since the prevalence of helmet use in cyclists in general is already low, helmet use should be especially promoted in BIXI bike riders in order to promote a safe and healthy environment for cyclists.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial License, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non commercial and is otherwise in compliance with the license. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/ and http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/legalcode.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2012-001049

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    Supplementary materials

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    Footnotes

    • To cite: Bonyun M, Camden A, Macarthur C, et al. Helmet use in BIXI cyclists in Toronto, Canada: an observational study. BMJ Open 2012;2:e001049. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2012-001049

    • Contributors MB: study design, data collection, data analysis and interpretation, writing and editing of the manuscript, and final approval of the manuscript. AC: study design, data analysis and interpretation, writing and editing of the manuscript, and final approval of the manuscript. CM: consultation on design, data interpretation, writing and editing of the manuscript, and final approval of the manuscript. AH: conceptual framework and study design, data analysis and interpretation, writing and editing of the manuscript, and final approval of the manuscript.

    • Funding This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None.

    • Ethics approval Ethics approval was provided by the research ethics review board of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Data sharing statement No additional data available.