WRITTEN QUESTION E-2029/00 by Reino Paasilinna (PSE) to the Commission. Automatically opening clasps on children's bicycle helmets.
Date: 2000-06-21
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EC conformity marking, child protection, safety device, two-wheeled vehicle

20.3.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 89 E/133

(2001/C 89 E/145)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2029/00

by Reino Paasilinna (PSE) to the Commission

(21 June 2000)

Subject: Automatically opening clasps on children(cid:146)s bicycle helmets

A number of fatal accidents involving children have occurred recently in which the cause of death was that
the clasp on the bicycle helmet would not open under the child(cid:146)s weight at the time of the accident.

How is the quality of bicycle helmets for sale in the EU regulated at Community level? Is it possible to
make it a compulsory requirement that bicycle helmets should have a clasp which opens automatically
under the child(cid:146)s weight?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(27 July 2000)

In the light of the information received from the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the fatal
accidents involving children wearing bicycle helmets were caused by the helmets becoming trapped in
fixed equipment during their use in playgrounds. The helmets were not being used for their intended
purpose and the children died by strangling on the helmets(cid:146) fastening device. In such cases, the protection
offered by the chin strap, although adequate for cycling, becomes dangerous when children become
trapped and hang themselves.

Cycling helmets are covered by the (cid:145)new approach(cid:146) Council Directive 89/686/EEC of 21 December 1989,
on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to personal protective equipment (PPE) (1).
This Directive has been obligatory since 1 July 1995; Annex 2 contains the essential health and safety
requirements that must be respected by the manufacturer,
in so far as applicable. The requirements
stipulate that helmets and their chin straps must be so designed and manufactured that in the foreseeable
conditions of use for which they are intended the user can enjoy appropriate protection of the highest
possible level.

Standard EN 1078 (cid:145)Helmets for pedal cyclists and for users of skateboards and roller skates(cid:146) mentions in its
introduction the danger of children being strangled due to the helmet becoming trapped.
It makes
reference to standard EN 1080 (cid:145)Impact protection helmets for young children(cid:146), which concerns helmets
for children of below seven years of age that are not intended for use either during games on playgrounds,
or when using playground equipment.

As with all the harmonised standards whose references are published in a new approach directive, it is not
obligatory to apply standards EN 1078 and EN 1080, although they serve as a reference for manufacturers.
However, when these standards are applied, bicycle helmets intended for children do benefit from a
presumption of conformity with Directive 89/686/EEC.

Member States are responsible for monitoring the market and taking appropriate measures regarding
equipment that is not in conformity or is dangerous. The procedure known as the (cid:145)safeguard clause(cid:146),
included in Article 7 of Directive 89/686/EEC, allows a Member State that discovers that PPE bearing the
(cid:145)EC(cid:146) mark and used in accordance with its intended purpose could compromise the safety of individuals to
take all necessary measures to remove that PPE from the market and prohibit its marketing or free
indicating the
movement. The Member State concerned must inform the Commission of such action,
reasons for its decision. This procedure also allows standards with shortcomings to be challenged.

The European Committee for Standardisation has been contacted to examine whether standards EN 1078
and EN 1080 have shortcomings and whether it would be appropriate to amend them to better prevent
accidents by strangulation, while still maintaining the helmets(cid:146) protective properties when used for their
intended purpose.

(1) OJ L 399, 30.12.1989.