Helmet use among cyclists and motorcyclists involved in media-reported road traffic crashes after implementation of the national ‘One Helmet, One Belt’ campaign in China

Bibliographic Data

ID11175288
AuthorsMin Zhao (0000-0002-2500-3035, Central South University), Lei Yang (0000-0002-8956-6478, Central South University), Peixia Cheng (0000-0002-1008-8419, Capital Medical University School of Public Health, Beijing, China), David C Schwebel (0000-0002-2141-8970, University of Alabama at Birmingham), David Schwebel (Department of Psychology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Psychology, Birmingham, Alabama, USA), Wangxin Xiao (0000-0002-5478-8505, Hunan University of Technology and Business), Shuying Zhao (0009-0002-2237-6714, Central South University), Yu Wu (0000-0002-1537-5492, Central South University), Peishan Ning (0000-0002-9919-4495, Central South University), Zhenzhen Rao (0000-0002-1509-3671, Central South University), Li Li (0000-0001-9700-9682, Central South University, corresponding author), Guoqing Hu (0000-0002-5002-8015, Central South University, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume80
Issue1
Pages35-40
Publication date2026-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Epidemiology and Community Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0143-005X • E-ISSN: 1470-2738
PublisherBMJ (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1136/jech-2025-224411
PMID40947143
OpenAlexW4414167616
LanguageEN
References cited21

BACKGROUND: China implemented the 'One Helmet, One Belt' road safety campaign in April 2020 to improve helmet use among cyclists and motorcyclists. We evaluated its long-term effect. METHODS: We analysed crash data from 379 media sources that reported at least one road traffic crash per quarter between January 2019 and September 2024, as indexed by the Automated Road Traffic Crash Data Platform. The proportion of media-reported crashes involving helmeted motorcyclists and cyclists was compared before and after implementation of the national campaign. We calculated adjusted (aORs) using logistic regression, controlling for season and the COVID-19 pandemic period and fitted Joinpoint regression models to identify periods with significant changes. RESULTS: Among 20 546 media-reported crashes involving motorcyclists and cyclists, the overall proportion of riders wearing helmets increased significantly following the campaign's implementation (aOR: 2.37; 95% CI: 2.08 to 2.72). However, this increase emerged only in the first 8 months of the campaign (April-December 2020), after which proportions plateaued. Subgroup analyses detected distinct temporal patterns for motorcyclists (an initial increase followed by decline), professional delivery riders (no significant trends) and publicly shared vehicle riders (consistently increasing trends). CONCLUSIONS: Our study documents an initial increase followed by stabilisation in proportion of media-reported crashes involving helmeted motorcyclists and cyclists following the national injury prevention campaign. The intervention's effectiveness varied across rider subgroups. These findings underscore the importance of sustaining and enhancing the national campaign while developing targeted interventions for distinct user groups in China, also suggesting similar initiatives might be effective in other international contexts

China · Injury prevention · Poison control · Psychological intervention · Suicide prevention · Automotive and Human Injury Biomechanics · Human Factors and Ergonomics · Injury Epidemiology and Prevention · Traffic and Road Safety

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