It's rather a shame that the Government's punchy campaign to encourage teenage boys to wear cycle helmets has failed to win the backing of such a powerful advocate of safe cycling as Mike Healey, who runs a young cyclists' Saturday-morning club at the Richard Dunn Sports Centre.

Mr Healey says he fears the campaign could put younger children off cycling completely and make some parents unwilling to let them ride bikes because of the risks. He would prefer money to be spent on improving children's training, increasing the number of cycle lanes and educating drivers.

Any or all of those measures could indeed help to reduce the number of accidents involving cyclists. But however much money is invested in training for both riders and motorists or in special lanes there will still be mishaps.

Mr Healey says the images used in the advertising campaign are misleading because they suggest that you won't have an accident if you wear a helmet. If that is indeed the impression they are giving, then clearly the campaign needs some fine tuning.

The reality is that cycling will always have dangers. Even with special training and safety measures, given the sheer volume of motor traffic on the roads there will continue to be cyclists who have accidents. And some of them will certainly be saved from serious head injury if they are wearing a helmet.

So a campaign which seeks to persuade teenagers to put safety before style by making helmets "cool" is surely worth a try, even at the risk of discouraging some people from taking to their bikes.