Advocacy & Safety - Robert Hurst on Colorado's Proposed Mandatory Helmet Law

http://www.industrializedcyclist.com/20110_Mind_Suck.html

If america can wean ourselves off our current dystopian transportation model, kids without helmet laws stand a chance.

I completely agree with him on it. The law is ridiculous.

The Coloradoan is the local newspaper. It may do some good to start sending in letters.

I've written to each of the transportation & energy committee members to let them know about some of the dangers of MHLs. I've had a few good responses, most just say they'll take my opinion into consideration. (I think they completely ignored some of the studies I linked to). Some come back to say the law does have other useful parts to it besides requiring helmets... I want to ask them to find more than five lines in the bill that aren't helmet related.

I'm hoping it doesn't leave committee. I'll write letters to the Denver Post, Denver Daily and any other local news paper if it leaves committee.

I've written to each of the transportation & energy committee members to let them know about some of the dangers of MHLs. I've had a few good responses, most just say they'll take my opinion into consideration. (I think they completely ignored some of the studies I linked to). Some come back to say the law does have other useful parts to it besides requiring helmets... I want to ask them to find more than five lines in the bill that aren't helmet related.

I'm hoping it doesn't leave committee. I'll write letters to the Denver Post, Denver Daily and any other local news paper if it leaves committee.
I know John Kefalas personally and my mom is friends with Bob Bacon. I wish I still lived there... Maybe I'll sic my mom on them...

Mmmmm, Bacon.

http://www.industrializedcyclist.com/20110_Mind_Suck.html

There is a cheap shot in there at Sen. Bacon due to his perfectly political last name -- "...born to spend his life pandering under a dome somewhere..."

Actually Bacon taught high school for 31 years, which kind of reminds me of my own father.

Everything else I stand behind. The truth is roadkill.

EDIT: As a long-time high school teacher Bacon should have some inkling of the multi-faceted public health ramifications of encouraging 16-18 year-olds to drive instead of bike.

I'm sure you're not surprised that I admire your position on this issue Robert.

There is a cheap shot in there at Sen. Bacon due to his perfectly political last name -- "...born to spend his life pandering under a dome somewhere..."

Actually Bacon taught high school for 31 years, which kind of reminds me of my own father.

Everything else I stand behind. The truth is roadkill.

EDIT: As a long-time high school teacher Bacon should have some inkling of the multi-faceted public health ramifications of encouraging 16-18 year-olds to drive instead of bike.
He's a good guy, just misguided on this.

There is a cheap shot in there at Sen. Bacon due to his perfectly political last name -- "...born to spend his life pandering under a dome somewhere..."

Actually Bacon taught high school for 31 years, which kind of reminds me of my own father.

Everything else I stand behind. The truth is roadkill.

EDIT: As a long-time high school teacher Bacon should have some inkling of the multi-faceted public health ramifications of encouraging 16-18 year-olds to drive instead of bike.

From experience, one can quickly forget who they are and where they came from once elected to public office for any length of time.

I'm sure you're not surprised that I admire your position on this issue Robert.

Ah, no real surprise there.

Btw, have you ever seen this book (I have not):

Helmets: Safety Manual for Decision-makers and Practitioners (http://www.amazon.com/Helmets-Safety-Manual-Decision-makers-Practitioners/dp/9241562994)

I've written to each of the transportation & energy committee members to let them know about some of the dangers of MHLs. I've had a few good responses, most just say they'll take my opinion into consideration. (I think they completely ignored some of the studies I linked to). Some come back to say the law does have other useful parts to it besides requiring helmets... I want to ask them to find more than five lines in the bill that aren't helmet related.

Keep pestering them.

-Kurt

Ah, no real surprise there.

Btw, have you ever seen this book (I have not):

Helmets: Safety Manual for Decision-makers and Practitioners (http://www.amazon.com/Helmets-Safety-Manual-Decision-makers-Practitioners/dp/9241562994)

I have not. I'll have to check it out to see if it's worth the $60.

Understanding the WHOs position on the matter, I have my doubts.

Keep pestering them.

-Kurt
I plan on it.

Unfortunately, I feel I am fighting an uphill battle - Our statewide advocacy group, Bicycle Colorado, supports the bill.

... have you ever seen this book (I have not):

Helmets: Safety Manual for Decision-makers and Practitioners (http://www.amazon.com/Helmets-Safety-Manual-Decision-makers-Practitioners/dp/9241562994)


I have not. I'll have to check it out to see if it's worth the $60.

Understanding the WHOs position on the matter, I have my doubts.

I managed to do a bit of checking on this and found that one does not have to spend $60 for the report/book.

It's available for free download here (http://www.who.int/roadsafety/projects/manuals/helmet_manual/en/).

I haven't gone over it yet but have talked to a few who have and it refers to the same old TRT etc. case-control studies and does not refer to any debate among scientists on the merits of helmets.

Apparently, in several places it states, "Wearing a helmet is the single most effective way of reducing head injuries and fatalities resulting from motorcycle and bicycle crashes." when the Netherlands shows lower fatality rates per hour of travel due to safer driver behaviour and improved conditions for cycling. It also ignores Robertson's BMJ paper from 2006 that found no significant effect from helmet wearing.

The sad thing I find with the WHO position is the overall health benefits provided by cycling is ignored and the relatively small chance of injury is overemphasized. Mitigation of injury is given higher priority over prevention of injury or the prevention of health maladies. In health terms, one researcher has said that, if the benefits of cycling could be bottled, it would be the most popular drug in the world.

Right on, Robert.

Most of the root causes affecting cycling safety are behavioral in nature, for both motorists and bicyclists. Forcing people to wear a styrofoam hat does not come anywhere near addressing those root causes.

When we fought this in our town (and won), we found the single most important factor for bicycle safety is more bicycles. All over the world, the more bikes, the less risk to the individual bike rider. Most of the time, helmet pushers (I do wear a helmet but not forced to) cite the terrible and retracted Seattle study about helmets. If the study groups head injuries from motorcycles in with bicycles, then they are just blowing smoke out of their ass.

Crackerdog, how did you successfully fight the MHL?

Well, we are in a small town, 8,000 people. We convinced the city council to delay implementation for two years and by then we had enough info to prove it was a dangerous law. We also had some change in the makeup of the city council. Mandatory helmet laws are dangerous. They make lawmakers think they have done enough. Cars are the problem. If there were no cars, bicyclists would rarely be killed. In the Netherlands, they have the safest biking and the least use of helmets. Start by passing laws against killing bicyclists and pedestrians first.

I've had a helmet marketing idea for years. It would be a line of helmets, or alternative graphics and finishes on an existing line, that would be designed specifically so that parents would NOT want their kids wearing them. I don't have children, haven't been one in a while, and so don't have any good guesses as to what the helmets should look like. The idea is that you turn helmet wearing into an act of adolescent rebellion by turning them into something about which parents would say "You're not leaving this house with THAT on!"
End of teenage helmet resistance. Bell Sports, are you listening?

It was moved from the house committee on transportation and energy to the house committee of the whole. Anyone familiar enough with legislature terminology to know what a committee of the whole is? I'm assuming that means the whole house?