(Photo: German Traffic Safety Association e.V.)
Helmets and protective clothing protect drivers of two-wheeled vehicles against injuries in the event of accidents. The BASt has been recording the use of helmets by drivers and passengers of motorised two-wheeled vehicles in urban traffic since 1976. Since 1992, the BASt has also been observing how many cyclists wear a helmet.
On 1st August 1980, a penalty fine was introduced for drivers of two-wheeled motorised vehicles abusing the obligation to wear a helmet. Since the middle of the 1980s, the proportion of such drivers wearing a helmet has been approx. 100 per cent.
(photo: German Traffic Safety Association e.V.)
Today, around half of all drivers of motorised two-wheeled vehicles wear – together with the helmet – complete (or parts of) protective clothing, such as jacket, boots or gloves. The proportion among passengers is rather less. The wearing of protective clothing, however, depends very much on the type of vehicle.
A good ten per cent of all cyclists wear a helmet in urban traffic. The figures for children between six and ten years are significantly higher, with around two-thirds wearing a helmet.