Down with helmet laws?
#26
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Triggered much?
Certainly not before you read what actually happened there: https://publichealthinsider.com/2022...helmet-policy/
Understand that the Seattle law was a health regulation, and data on the actual very selective enforcement of the rule led the Board of Health to determine that encouraging helmet use was going to be more effective than punishing non-use.
Certainly not before you read what actually happened there: https://publichealthinsider.com/2022...helmet-policy/
Understand that the Seattle law was a health regulation, and data on the actual very selective enforcement of the rule led the Board of Health to determine that encouraging helmet use was going to be more effective than punishing non-use.
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Helmet laws are just like any other law invented by people that for some reason want to control what other people do. That said, I always wear my helmet even tho I mostly ride my trike and have only a short distance to fall.
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I've never even heard of anyone getting a ticket for riding helmet-less.
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If you think helmet law enforcement has ever, anywhere, generated more than a rounding error's worth of revenue for any government entity, you must've fallen off your 'bent and hit your noggin pretty hard.
I've never even heard of anyone getting a ticket for riding helmet-less.
I've never even heard of anyone getting a ticket for riding helmet-less.
The enforcement is, where it does happen, highly "selective". Stopping people on bikes is actually pretty hard to do. When I was a kid in Minneapolis, the police were actually trying to enforce a bike license requirement, and it was laughably easy to avoid getting stopped, especially since the cops attempting it were always on foot.
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Triggered much?
Certainly not before you read what actually happened there: https://publichealthinsider.com/2022...helmet-policy/
Understand that the Seattle law was a health regulation, and data on the actual very selective enforcement of the rule led the Board of Health to determine that encouraging helmet use was going to be more effective than punishing non-use.
Certainly not before you read what actually happened there: https://publichealthinsider.com/2022...helmet-policy/
Understand that the Seattle law was a health regulation, and data on the actual very selective enforcement of the rule led the Board of Health to determine that encouraging helmet use was going to be more effective than punishing non-use.
However, data presented to the Board of Health has shown racist and discriminatory enforcement. Seattle Police Department data collected and analyzed by Seattle Neighborhood Greenways and the Helmet Law Working Group shows that police disproportionately gave helmet law citations to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color cyclists.
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Why is it a necessity? Is it because it's so intrinsically dangerous that to not wear a helmet is likely (the word is likely, not possible) to result in a serious injury? If so, I disagree. I think cycling is not very dangerous. That is not to say I think it it is without risks of injury, it's just that I think that the risk of serious injury is small. There is a very small possibility of a serious head injury while cycling without a helmet. Although I do wear a helmet, I do not think its a necessity. I think kids riding without helmets is perfectly OK and I'm glad to see they're out doing something physical without being afraid.
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Why is it a necessity? Is it because it's so intrinsically dangerous that to not wear a helmet is likely (the word is likely, not possible) to result in a serious injury? If so, I disagree. I think cycling is not very dangerous. That is not to say I think it it is without risks of injury, it's just that I think that the risk of serious injury is small. There is a very small possibility of a serious head injury while cycling without a helmet. Although I do wear a helmet, I do not think its a necessity. I think kids riding without helmets is perfectly OK and I'm glad to see they're out doing something physical without being afraid.
People should wear chemical & cut resistant gloves when washing there dishes...... Read that again. Bet it gets funnier every single time.
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Why is it a necessity? Is it because it's so intrinsically dangerous that to not wear a helmet is likely (the word is likely, not possible) to result in a serious injury? If so, I disagree. I think cycling is not very dangerous. That is not to say I think it it is without risks of injury, it's just that I think that the risk of serious injury is small. There is a very small possibility of a serious head injury while cycling without a helmet. Although I do wear a helmet, I do not think its a necessity. I think kids riding without helmets is perfectly OK and I'm glad to see they're out doing something physical without being afraid.
Since I started riding a bike in the late 1950s, I've done what must be close to a million miles on my bikes, and yet I've had only four biking-related concussions.
Or maybe it's five. Can't remember for sure. Either way, that proves how unnecessary helmets are.
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#37
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what does car conflicts mean?
and how are helmets - a device for safety - bewing up racial concerns?
*english is not my native languge so i may be missing something here?
and regarding bycicle hemlmets - if it is not a full face that protects the chin it's kind of bad to bite down into a curb but hey, at least you'll live to tell the tale?
and how are helmets - a device for safety - bewing up racial concerns?
*english is not my native languge so i may be missing something here?
and regarding bycicle hemlmets - if it is not a full face that protects the chin it's kind of bad to bite down into a curb but hey, at least you'll live to tell the tale?
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I looked at the regions of helmet requirements in the US, not too many places require them for all ages; certainly requirements for kids makes tremendous sense.
I've almost always been a cautious rider. When I was around 10 I biked down a friends steep driveway at high speed wiping out and creaming one side of my face; strangely I didn't cry but my friend Richard did.
I've never worn biker garb and seldom helmets. I'm always conscious of car doors possibly opening suddenly and reckless drivers. I bike as far to the right side of roads as I can usually except when it is rough or there is broken glass.
I've almost always been a cautious rider. When I was around 10 I biked down a friends steep driveway at high speed wiping out and creaming one side of my face; strangely I didn't cry but my friend Richard did.
I've never worn biker garb and seldom helmets. I'm always conscious of car doors possibly opening suddenly and reckless drivers. I bike as far to the right side of roads as I can usually except when it is rough or there is broken glass.
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Absolutely. In fact, there's never been a single situation where head injury was likely enough to justify the use of helmets. Race car driving, construction work, military combat . . . the list goes on and on.
Since I started riding a bike in the late 1950s, I've done what must be close to a million miles on my bikes, and yet I've had only four biking-related concussions.
Or maybe it's five. Can't remember for sure. Either way, that proves how unnecessary helmets are.
Since I started riding a bike in the late 1950s, I've done what must be close to a million miles on my bikes, and yet I've had only four biking-related concussions.
Or maybe it's five. Can't remember for sure. Either way, that proves how unnecessary helmets are.
Are you sure you wrote this?
Really great sarcastic post, but I suspect it might go over some (possibly concussed) heads.
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It's based on who was actually getting ticketed for not wearing a helmet (and, implicitly, who was not). Selective enforcement suggests strongly that it isn't being enforced for safety reasons, but instead to harass members of groups the police want to push around.
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Once per year on a warm Spring day, I would grant myself a nostalgic ride sans helmet out in the countryside.
Never, ever again will I do that.
Why?
I had a bizarre crash last September landing on my left side, cracking the helmet pretty good. Broke left hip bone (torchanter), 5 ribs. collar bone, scapula, humerus in 3 pieces, left elbow and they had to surgically break my ulnar to put me back together. The Trauma team could not believe my head was ok, they said you must have had a really good helmet. It was the top of the line Laser MIP, it now in the landfill.
Never, ever again will I do that.
Why?
I had a bizarre crash last September landing on my left side, cracking the helmet pretty good. Broke left hip bone (torchanter), 5 ribs. collar bone, scapula, humerus in 3 pieces, left elbow and they had to surgically break my ulnar to put me back together. The Trauma team could not believe my head was ok, they said you must have had a really good helmet. It was the top of the line Laser MIP, it now in the landfill.
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#42
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It's based on who was actually getting ticketed for not wearing a helmet (and, implicitly, who was not). Selective enforcement suggests strongly that it isn't being enforced for safety reasons, but instead to harass members of groups the police want to push around.
makes sense.
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Once per year on a warm Spring day, I would grant myself a nostalgic ride sans helmet out in the countryside.
Never, ever again will I do that.
Why?
I had a bizarre crash last September landing on my left side, cracking the helmet pretty good. Broke left hip bone (torchanter), 5 ribs. collar bone, scapula, humerus in 3 pieces, left elbow and they had to surgically break my ulnar to put me back together. The Trauma team could not believe my head was ok, they said you must have had a really good helmet. It was the top of the line Laser MIP, it now in the landfill.
Never, ever again will I do that.
Why?
I had a bizarre crash last September landing on my left side, cracking the helmet pretty good. Broke left hip bone (torchanter), 5 ribs. collar bone, scapula, humerus in 3 pieces, left elbow and they had to surgically break my ulnar to put me back together. The Trauma team could not believe my head was ok, they said you must have had a really good helmet. It was the top of the line Laser MIP, it now in the landfill.
I consider helmets a necessity for me especially as I ride rather fast, but don't believe in making it legally mandatory because I don't think that kind of enforcement actually increases helmet use.
Last edited by livedarklions; 06-01-22 at 10:16 AM.
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Nothing anywhere near as traumatic, but I've had two occurrences that could have been major damage turned into non-events by my helmet. I've discovered that if you're not looking for them, small overhanging branches over roads don't really call attention to themselves. "Thwack!!!!!" right into my helmet. They were glancing blows that basically just startled me, but the sound sure made me think there was no way my head would have been injured, possibly severely, if I hadn't been wearing the helmet.
I consider helmets a necessity for me especially as I ride rather fast, but don't believe in making it legally mandatory because I don't think that kind of enforcement actually increases helmet use.
I consider helmets a necessity for me especially as I ride rather fast, but don't believe in making it legally mandatory because I don't think that kind of enforcement actually increases helmet use.
I should have mentioned that the trauma team said many cyclists who come in w/o wearing a helmet lose consciousness or in other words they often get knocked out, which by definition is a serious concussion. Only after I relived every detail of the incident for them did they consider me not having lost consciousness. I guess I have had 4 somewhat serious crashes in 40+ years but that was the first that I hit my head. One was at 35 mph, two were at 40-45 mph and the really bad one was only 20 mph. Go figure.
I also do not think mandating helmets would have much of a benefit.
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#45
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Once per year on a warm Spring day, I would grant myself a nostalgic ride sans helmet out in the countryside.
Never, ever again will I do that.
Why?
I had a bizarre crash last September landing on my left side, cracking the helmet pretty good. Broke left hip bone (torchanter), 5 ribs. collar bone, scapula, humerus in 3 pieces, left elbow and they had to surgically break my ulnar to put me back together. The Trauma team could not believe my head was ok, they said you must have had a really good helmet. It was the top of the line Laser MIP, it now in the landfill.
Never, ever again will I do that.
Why?
I had a bizarre crash last September landing on my left side, cracking the helmet pretty good. Broke left hip bone (torchanter), 5 ribs. collar bone, scapula, humerus in 3 pieces, left elbow and they had to surgically break my ulnar to put me back together. The Trauma team could not believe my head was ok, they said you must have had a really good helmet. It was the top of the line Laser MIP, it now in the landfill.
curious about bycicle laws in those states.
this here is really awkward cause only certain types of people were being ticketed.
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Connecticut requires a bicycle rider to wear a helmet but motorcyclist are not required to wear one, IIRC. Same with Pennsylvania.
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even a slow speed accident a helmet can help. I was doing maybe 10mph at most when this stopped car jumped and knocked my bike out from under me. my helmet bounced off the pavement instead of my forehead. all H ad was a big knot on my leg. I had already cracked my head open twice as a kid glad I did not do it again
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#50
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No state requires adults to wear bicycle helmets. States are all over the place in their mc helmet requirements: https://www.iihs.org/topics/motorcyc...met-laws-table
CT requires mc helmets for 17 and younger.