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David Scott has already sold 100 helmets on his Wuxi university campus. Photos courtesy of David Scott
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Skeptics would say his work is more like Mission Impossible. The English language teacher wants the world's biggest group of cyclists to use their heads and wear safety helmets.
So far his safety campaign has covered the heads of 100 Chinese riders. Considering there are more than 700 million cyclists in the Middle Kingdom, the lively teacher has a way to go.
But the 62-year-old Canadian believes his campaign in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, will snowball into something bigger and has already attracted local television coverage.
"From here I'm going to tackle all of China," Scott says. "With the one-child policy, there isn't a mother in China who wouldn't put a helmet on her kid if she were only told that it's a good idea."
Scott, a keen cyclist himself, moved to China four years ago and noticed, like many expats do, that he was the only rider wearing a helmet.
He became very disturbed after he discovered that China had seven times more fatal bicycle accidents per rider kilometer than America and Europe.
His concern triggered his helmet campaign, which he initially saw a golden business opportunity.
"If I were a businessman, I'd keep this idea under my hat, start my own brand, work up the ads, finance a good business plan, and make a billion yuan overnight," he says.
"All it would be one guilt-inducing television advertisement, and every mother in China would be buying a helmet.
"They only have one child. Show them what brain damage looks like and sales would go through the roof.
"It was tempting. But I'd rather just see the helmets on Chinese heads.
Scott started buying and selling bike helmets on Jiangnan University campus last month and is selling them for 10 yuan each, which is about cost price.
"I can't believe that these helmets are made in China, but shipped to America and Europe while the Chinese ignore the largest market in the world.
