Scaring the 'Skit' Out of the Swedes

A Swedish reader of Copenhagenize.com sent in this photo of a billboard in Stockholm. It is paid for by a non-governmental organisation called Nationalförenigen för trafiksäkerhetens Främjande [NTF] or The National Society for Road Safety.

There is no mandatory helmet law in Sweden for adults but these NTF seem to think there should be one. The billboard reads:
"A helmet law protects in more ways than one"

Notice the bird shit on the helmet. You know you don't have a solid scientific case when bird shit is your best Unique Selling Point.

Anyway, our reader doesn't fancy seeing fewer Swedes cycling - which is one of the primary consequences of a helmet law. A drop of 20-40% in the number of cyclists, which has been the decrease in all the regions with mandatory helmet laws, would be a catastrophe for Sweden.

Our reader took the liberty to inform people of the dangers of a helmet law. The grafitti underneath the message "A helmet law protects in more ways than one..." is his work and it reads, quite simply:

"Fewer choose the bicycle."

Wonderful when grafitti is married to rationality and common sense. A little bit of activism is more than welcome.

Our reader asked me if I could come up with other slogans to add to the billboards. He's spraypainted "Fewer Choose the Bicycle" on all the billboards in his area but is keen to finetune the message.

Any great ideas out there among our helmet sceptical readers?

Regarding this NTF organisation, their website is textbook fear-mongering. They link to two pro-helmet websites but not to any of the many helmet-sceptic websites out there.

The Swedish people, like any people, deserve to be presented with both sides of the case if they are to make up their own minds. Refusing to highlight the many scientific studies that feature helmet-sceptic research is just wrong.

Why is it so difficult to at the very least show both sides of the coin instead of insulting your citizens' intelligence by trying to make up their minds for them? When you only show one side of the issue and pretend the other side doesn't exist, it is propaganda. Nothing more, nothing less.

While people like the NTF are doing what they can to promote helmets and reduce Swedish cycling levels, there are, fortunately, many orgs in Europe that are doing what they can to promote cycling positively. Thankfully.

I couldn't find any reference on the NTF website to promotion of helmets for pedestrians or motorists. Must be a mistake.

Here's an idea a friend of mine came up with. 'In many countries there are Advertising Standards groups that promote decent, honest and truthful advertising.
There must be a Swedish equivalent.'

'It would be interesting if a Swede challenged this campaign on the grounds that the helmet is being presented as a road safety aid. It would be good to see how they defend the idea that cycle helmets, designed for simple falls, might be effective in road collisions.'

Interesting indeed.

Overcomplicating Winter Cycling - Why It's Bad

One of the main focuses of this blog has always been on how Copenhagen and other cities have succeeded in increasing cycling levels by approaching the subject using mainstream marketing techniques. Tried and tested marketing that has existed since homo sapiens first started selling or trading stuff to each other. Modern bicycle advocacy, by and large, is flawed. It is firmly inspired by environmentalism which, in turn, is the greatest marketing flop in the history of humankind. Four decades of sub-cultural finger-wagging, guilt trips and preaching have given few results among the general population. When sub-cultural groups start trying to indoctrinate and convert the public, it rarely ever succeeds. For the better part of a century, people all over the planet rode bicycles because they were quick, easy, convenient and enjoyable. In hilly cities. In hot cities. In snowy cities. After the bicycle largely disappeared from the urban landscape because urban planning s...

A Walking Helmet is a Good Helmet

At long last logic prevails. A new campaign has hit the streets of Denmark, thanks to the visionaries at The Danish Road Safety Council [Sikker Trafik] and Trygfonden [an insurance company]. Intense promotion of walking helmets for pedestrians has begun. This logic has been sorely missed. These two organisations have happily promoted bike helmets but pedestrians suffer just as many head injuries, if not more. This Danish campaign poster reads: "A walking helmet is a good helmet" "Traffic safety isn't just for cyclists. The pedestrians of Denmark actually have a higher risk of head injury. The Danish Road Safety Council recommends walking helmets for pedestrians and other good folk in high risk groups." The slogan is catchy in Danish since it kind of rhymes. All in all it's a brilliant project. Let's save some lives. The new walking helmets will be available in the Danish Cyclists Union's [Dansk cyklist forbund] shop. Although, as the...

Driving Kills - Health Warnings

I think it's safe to say that we have a pressing need for marketing cycling positively if we're to encourage people to ride bicycles and begin the transformation of our cities into more liveable places. Instead of scare campaigns about cycling [a life-extending, healthy, sustainable transport form], wouldn't it be more appropriate to begin campaigns about the dangers of automobiles? Many people in car-centric countries no longer regard cars as dangerous. Maybe they realise it, but the car is such an ingrained part of the culture that the perception of danger rarely rises to the surface of peoples consciousness. Sure, there are scare campaigns for cars out there, but what if we just cut to the chase? Much like smoking. Only a couple of decades ago, cigarettes were an integral part of life, whether you smoked or not. That has changed radically. We think that we could borrow freely from the health warnings now found on cigarette packs around the world. In order to be tho...

The Life-Sized City Blog

Search This Blog