There’s a terrific article in The Guardian’s family section today. It’s an interview with Tim Gill, who "wants to free children from a zero-risk culture that overprotects and infantalises them at just the time they should be tasting freedom and taking responsibility".

Gill has written a book, No fear: Growing up in a risk-averse society, published by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

He argues convincingly that children growing up today are no more at risk from adults than his – my – generation was in the Sixties and Seventies. The chances of a child being abducted remain vanishingly small. Yet the media hysteria over tragic cases like Madeleine McCann encourages parents to treat their offspring with extreme care – which can actually do more harm than good. He cites the case of Abigail Rae, a toddler who wandered out of her nursery and drowned in a nearby pond. A male passer-by told the inquest that he had seen her and been concerned. But he did nothing, because he was afraid of looking as if he was abducting her.

Gill is a member of CTC, the UK’s national cyclists’ organisation. CTC has long campaigned against a classic example of misguided risk prevention: the attempt to make it compulsory for cyclists, especially children, to wear helmets. Despite soaring levels of child obesity, recent years have seen a number of MPs launching private members’ bills attempting to force children or adults to wear helmets for cycling. The latest example was by Conservative MP Peter Bone. (So much for the idea that the Tory party opposes the Nanny state.) Can you imagine toddlers being arrested for leaving their helmets on the front lawn? That’s the level of stupidity involved in this attempt to banish risk from young lives. And who has any evidence that cycling is more dangerous than climbing a tree or running downstairs? Surely we should all be forced to dress in full body armour at all times for fear of … life.

Tim Gill is right. There’s no such thing as a risk-free life. (Even if there were, it would be too miserable to contemplate.) Forcing every child to wear a helmet simply sends the message that cycling is dangerous. It isn’t. Yes, there are risks, but they are far fewer than allowing youngsters to balloon in weight. CTC’s website suggests that children are more likely to suffer a head injury on foot than while cycling. So why isn’t Peter Bone MP calling for children to be forced to wear helmets while out walking? Just as alarming, cycle usage has fallen dramatically (between 25% and 40%) in countries that have introduced compulsion. Exactly the wrong thing to do if we’re to tackle obesity and reliance on cars for personal transport.

All this simply shows that we’ve lost the ability to judge risk. Campaigners for cycle helmets always cite cases where a helmet has prevented serious injury. Similarly, parents will point to cases such as Madeleine McCann as justification for never letting their children out of their sight. It’s understandable: fear is a powerful force, and can easily overcome rational judgement. When I was 11, I regularly cycled around Cardiff, visiting my aunt and uncle or escaping into the countryside. (Alone or with a friend – no helmets in sight!) Small chance of that happening now. Instead, we’d get a lift in a car. Ah, but there are far more cars around than in 1974, cry the risk-warriors. True, but a car is a car, and if you’re afraid of 100 cars you’ll be afraid of one. I had learned to watch out for careless drivers. Best of all, I discovered the pleasure of getting exercise in fresh air – helping shed the excess pounds I was starting to put on.

Tim Gill is unlikely to reverse false fears overnight. But he is a voice of sanity in a world where reason is in short supply.