I wrote to HM about riding with no helmet

IN 1998, Motor Cycle Action Group organised a protest meeting in Hyde park against the law making it an offence to ride a motorcycle while not wearing a helmet.

We do not object to helmet use, only to being fined if circumstances made it inconvenient. An example, riding to my then home three miles away at around 1.30am, I saw a hunched figure walking up the road. It was my 15-year-old daughter – she had been let down by her lift home.

I stopped, she got on the pillion, and five minutes later she was safe home. However, to comply with the

law, I would have had to leave her at the mercy of any passing miscreant while I went home, collected a spare helmet and returned, probably taking 15 minutes. As I have been riding since 1959, I’ve usually worn a helmet, but never actually needed it; I thought the risk minimal.

Back to the protest meeting.

Hyde Park is alongside Buckingham Palace. It seemed to me that as

Her Majesty seldom, if ever, wore a helmet while riding a horse she may be sympathetic to our cause.

So I wrote to her, explained the date and purpose of our protest, that helmet compulsion prevented giving a casual lift. I went on to say that if Her Majesty wished I would happily take her for a ride on my bike. Of course she would need a helmet which I would happily provide. I would not offer a used helmet to anybody, so it would be new.

To my surprise I actually got a reply, to the effect that Her Majesty would be away in Brussels that day, so could not be in Hyde Park.

While I suspect this was a polite way of saying ‘no’, I had more expected to be thrown in the Tower of London for my sauce.

But also, Her Majesty was kind enough to tell me she new the joy of riding motorcycles as she rode in the army during World War Two.

I have since found out that the Duke Of Edinburgh rode a lightweight bike for many years, while the young men then known as William and Harry both rode bikes.

PS. Several years ago it was proposed to make helmet use compulsory if riding or handling a horse. I pointed out numerous disadvantages via the magazine Horse & Hound. Such as, if leading

a small child riding a Shetland Pony, both child and leader must wear helmets. I mentioned Her Majesty not wearing a helmet, making it unlikely the law would ever be passed. So far as I am aware, children must wear helmets, adults can be adult and choose for themselves.

Mike Baker St Austell, Cornwall