xlazymx

anyone know the bicycle helmet laws for california (bakersfield). do i just have to be over 16 or is it 18 years old here?

i just don't want to get some bullcrap ticket from some bored cop while riding home from school someday..

x136 

I think it's 18, though it doesn't seem to be enforced (I live down the street from a high school, and kids just don't wear them).

That said, wear one anyway. It's worth it.

xlazymx

Noooooooo!

Suttree

cal vehicle code for those who asked

"21212. (a) A person under 18 years of age shall not operate a
bicycle, a nonmotorized scooter, or a skateboard, nor shall they wear
in-line or roller skates, nor ride upon a bicycle, a nonmotorized
scooter, or a skateboard as a passenger, upon a street, bikeway, as
defined in Section 890.4 of the Streets and Highways Code, or any
other public bicycle path or trail unless that person is wearing a
properly fitted and fastened bicycle helmet that meets the standards
of either the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) or
the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), or
standards subsequently established by those entities. This
requirement also applies to a person who rides upon a bicycle while
in a restraining seat that is attached to the bicycle or in a trailer
towed by the bicycle."

It is also possible your town has more stringent rules.

RastamanD

my cousin got stopped in Bakersfield for not wearing a helmet. he was 15.

wear one

beeftech

Get a Catlike or a Lazer all the cool kids wear them.

*WildHare*

Why worry about the law? Just wear one and be done with it...after awhile it becomes second nature just like a seatbelt. You'll feel naked without it after awhile. Better safe than sorry. I know I might be sippin food through a straw if I hadn't been wearing mine when I took a serious spill. I prefer to look at the big ol' gouge in my helmet from a rock than thinking about the alternative...Nurse Betty checking on me every couple of hours in the convalescent hospital.

walking disease

wear a helmet.

guhjeeh

google

unogear

I crashed from time to time both mountain biking or road and surely helmet saved my life. I never get on bike without helmet.

JimmyOneSmith

Yeah. I say just wear one. I had to spend 2 days in the hospital cause I didn't wear one. Now I will never ride without one, and it becomes second nature. I recommend the Giro Flak helmets. They are good and look halfway decent.

paulwwalters

I always wear one. I doubt they help much if you get hit by cars, but I don't want to be paralyzed in the event that I hit a pothole or something and flip. And I still don't trust myself with clipless either.

*WildHare*

Clipless can be fun I remember my first time. I rode for several miles up and down a fire road. When I got to the end at the outlet street I stopped I'm sure the cars going by got a kick out of the dweeb stuck to his bike laying on the side of the road.

fgk23n

haha, I saw that happen a few months ago to a guy in full lycra on his nice road bike, only it was at a busy intersection. I laughed more when the cop he was next to got out of his car.

newsun

the law is if you wear your helmet your head is protected, if you don't, it's not. wear it.

bitterspeak

Wear one. Better safe than sorry.

Mehow

wear one

uke

Wear one. I'm not wearing one now because it's really cold and I'm too cheap to buy a snow helmet, but yeah, I'd recommend wearing one.