From June 1st, the Traffic Management Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security will carry out the "One Helmet, One Belt" safety guard operation. In addition to the use of safety belts that are more familiar to the public, it is also proposed to rectify that motorcycle and electric bicycle riders do not wear safety helmets behavior. At the same time, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces took the lead in passing new electric bicycle management regulations. After the implementation, driving electric bicycles without wearing helmets will be fined.

　　Since the announcement of "One Helmet and One Belt" was released on April 21, the helmet has become another sought-after commodity with a skyrocketing price after masks this year. The demand for helmets was released in a short period of time, and even under the imbalance between supply and demand, there was even a situation where "a helmet is hard to find".

Helmet prices generally double

　　On the two e-commerce platforms of Taobao and JD.com, www.thepaper.cn combed the historical prices of the top 20 electric bicycle helmets sold, and found that the price of helmets changed significantly in mid-May, and generally increased by 2 in the short term. More than doubled, some of the price increases even reached 4 times.

　　This is mainly related to the new electric bicycle management regulations adopted by Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces on May 15. This is the first mandatory regulation on the legal level for electric bicycle drivers to wear safety helmets. Related news reports and promotional activities have made people who travel on electric bicycles realize that helmets are really necessary.

　　However, by the end of May, the price of helmets had dropped slightly.

　　This is mainly related to the information released by the Ministry of Public Security on May 20: The penalty for not wearing a helmet from June 1 is limited to motorcycles, and the behavior of not wearing a helmet for electric bicycles is mainly propaganda. The helmet does not need to be prepared immediately, which makes many people who have not bought it sigh of relief. At the same time, local market supervision and administration bureaus also issued a warning letter in response to the surge in helmet prices.

　　Nonetheless, the price of the helmet has not fallen back to the level it was a month ago, and the price of most brands has doubled compared to the beginning of May.

Wearing a helmet while cycling can save your life at a critical moment

　　The public security department strengthened the management of helmets worn by drivers of electric bicycles, which originated from the role of helmets in reducing the risk of traffic accident deaths.

　　According to research, electric bicycles have the highest proportion of lower limb injuries and craniocerebral injuries, and the main reason for craniocerebral injuries is that electric bicycle drivers generally do not wear helmets. In addition, the consequences of craniocerebral injury are far more than those of other parts. The death cases are basically craniocerebral injury.

　　This is similar to motorcycle traffic injuries. In driving a motorcycle, the helmet has a significant protective effect, which can reduce the fatality rate and the occurrence of craniocerebral injury. Drivers who don't wear safety helmets are 41.04 times more likely to be injured than drivers who wear safety helmets.

　　Although most people understand the role of wearing a helmet, there are really not many people who have the habit of wearing a helmet while riding an electric car.

It is still not a consensus that electric cars wear helmets

　　According to a survey conducted by the Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the correct wearing rate of helmets for electric bicycle drivers in Shanghai is 12.5%, and the wearing rate is lower in other cities-the helmet wearing rate for electric vehicle drivers in Maanshan City is 5.9 %, Suzhou City is only 2.2%. While few riders take the initiative to wear helmets, a survey in Shanghai shows that only 1.93% of passengers wear helmets correctly.

　　At the same time, for many electric vehicle riders, the greater role of the helmet is to keep the wind warm. The Shanghai study has continuously tracked the correct wearing rate of helmets for electric bike riders in different seasons for three years, and the changes have been obvious.

　　Nowadays, when the "One Helmet and One Belt" safety guard operation is taking place, it is at the time of the summer that many people do not want to wear helmets because they are too hot even when they have helmets.

There is a huge gap in helmet demand

　　Although fines and other means can quickly increase the importance people attach to wearing helmets, the Ministry of Public Security temporarily suspended the punishment for not wearing helmets for electric bicycles during the "One Helmet and One Belt" safety guarding operation, which may mainly consider the current excessive demand for helmets. Short-term market is difficult to balance supply and demand.

　　At present, the number of electric bicycles in China has exceeded 250 million. For example, there are 38 million electric bicycles registered and produced in Jiangsu, a major province in China.

　　If only 10% of the electric vehicle cyclists already have helmets, this means that there will be more than 200 million helmet demand gaps across the country. Therefore, it is difficult for some strong people to require everyone to wear a helmet for more than a month.

　　Many businesses also smell the business opportunities. According to the data of Tianyanzha, since the launch of the "One Helmet and One Belt" operation on April 21, 2020, as of May 18, based on the industrial and commercial registration, a total of 3,503 new helmet industry-related enterprises have been established in China. In the eastern coastal provinces. Among them, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong, and Zhejiang ranked the top four in terms of the number of newly added related companies, accounting for 48.57% of the total number of newly added related companies nationwide.

　　Now, the "One Helmet and One Belt" safety guard operation has begun. Although driving electric bicycles without wearing helmets does not need to worry about being fined, like Jiangsu and Zhejiang, it is already a trend that laws and regulations across the country promote the riding of electric bicycles to wear helmets. The demand for helmets will not decrease.

　　Surging News Reporter Chen Liangxian