A couple of weeks ago, during his oft-interrupted vacation on Martha's Vineyard, President Obama made the news for riding a bicycling while not wearing a helmet (his two daughters were wearing protective headgear). Andrew Malcolm, in a tongue-and-cheek piece about the episode that appeared in the Los Angeles Times, wrote: "In the interests of protecting Bay Staters whether they want it or not, Massachusetts does require helmets on motorcycle riders and anyone on a bicycle from age 1 through 16. ... Interestingly, Obama's home state of Illinois, where he was a state senator, is one of only two states that has no helmet laws about anybody riding anything anywhere. ... Twenty-one states—plus, predictably, the District of Columbia—[do] have laws requiring helmeted bicyclists."
Should bicyclists be required to wear helmets? Adventure Cycling, like most North American bike-tour organizers, requires trip participants to wear them. The rule brings very little resistance or criticism. But what about the lone individual cyclist out minding his or her own business? Should there be a federal law requiring cyclists of any age to wear a helmet? That is the case in New Zealand and Australia where, critics contend, mandatory helmet laws have actually damaged the public health by reducing the popularity of cycling.
In Europe, the wearing of helmets is far less common than it is in the U.S. and Down Under. A fear of making cycling less popular is one reason that even the European Cyclists' Federation is opposed to mandatory helmet laws, stating in a position paper that "Cycle helmets make cycling less convenient and should, therefore, by no means be compulsory."
It's a real head-scratcher. Think I'll snap on my helmet, go for a ride, and try to sort it all out.
C&O Canal photo courtesy of M. McCoy
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BIKING WITHOUT BORDERS is posted every Monday by Michael McCoy, Adventure Cycling’s field editor, and highlights a little bit of this or a little bit of that—just about anything, as long as it’s related to traveling by bicycle.
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This is always a hot-button topic on cycling forums, so you may very well exceed your comment quota on this one ;)
ReplyDeleteFor my part, I don't want to see mandatory helmet laws. I do wear my helmet most of the time, but sometimes I want to just ride around the block and I don't feel like wearing it. It's still debatable just how much good they do, and there is even evidence to suggest they may increase the risk of certain other types of injury.
I have no problem with ride and event organizers (or state parks) requiring helmet usage. It's more of a liability issue for them and I don't want to see those services go away. What I don't want is the government stepping in and making a ruling on it.
I rode the Bikecentenial Golden Spokes East trip in 1976 without a helmet. I started wearing a helmet in 1979, rode the TransAm in 1980 with a helmet, and to this day I feel naked without one, even if it's to the corner and back.
ReplyDeleteAs for mandatory rules, fine, if you don't wear one, don't come complaining to me when your head bounces off the road because you crashed. And that means no insurance awards even if due to someone else's negligence. No government paid-for health care either.
Would a helmet protect you in every case? No, but do you want to be helmetless in the situation where one would? Just something to make you go hmmm.
..Stephen - New York City
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ReplyDeleteI use to think wearing a helmet for stuff was not necessary. In particular I'm referring rollerblading and cycling. This is until I noticed scratches on my rollerblading helmet, then I thought it was a GREAT idea!
ReplyDeleteI don't have any scratches on my cycling helmet but I still think it is a good idea. When I started riding last year to prepare for my century ride, I didn't wear one and got yelled at by a biker on the trail, I got a helmet after that.
I've seen at least 3 bloody bikers on the side of the road and read of a few more that died, none were wearing a helmet that I could see.
About a month ago I saw a biker on the ground in the middle of the street, it looked like a car hit him and he had flipped onto the car and back onto the street; he was wearing a helmet.
Whether you like helmets or not, I think everyone can agree they like their head and their brains and certainly it is better to keep those two things together and intact.
Thanks
www.BikeRunYoga.com
It's not a right or wrong question; it's a question of perceived risk and conditions. I chose not to wear helmet for the vast majority of riding my needs. It's a simple measure of risk: riding aggressively off-road or with a pack of roadies merits a bucket, whilst poking along on my cargo bike or running errands around town fails to meet the risk threshold (for me).
ReplyDeleteVisit Holland or Denmark and observe the riding population -- very few don helmets.