Comments on: Should you be required to wear mandatory bicycle helmets?

By: pjrob

pjrob — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 05:40:09 +0000

The plethora of helmet-saved-my-life anecdotes begins to not ring true eventually. Not only because they did not exist before bicycle helmets in any degree. In my estimation they are like the observations of someone who wears hearing protectors or an industrial helmet and begins to notice how often he bumps them on things, but then concludes those objects would have hit his ears or head. The sound is amplified and the space your head has to negotiate is greater, hence the distorted perception of having been saved from injury.

By: Pusty

Pusty — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:32:00 +0000

Personally I find that its ridicolous. I live on a farm and have been in numerous accidents on my bicycle, and I’m fine. Most of the cops don’t even bother with this petty law anyways.

However in the city where its more dangerous I can understand this to a greater extent, but don’t impose it, rather than this encourage it.

By: Andrew Clunn

Andrew Clunn — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:00:15 +0000

My parents made me wear a helmet. Totally uncomfortable. Didn't fit right. Kids mocked me for it. Forget helmets. I'll bike on the wild side. Make whatever decision you want for yourself or your kids, but stay out of my life.

By: hoohoos

hoohoos — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:46:05 +0000

i get dat dawg

By: Zack

Zack — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 19:52:08 +0000

I think you should always have your children be safe than sorry. Listen, I'd rather land on a helmet, than on my actual head.

By: Richard Keatinge

Richard Keatinge — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 11:29:09 +0000

Actually the figures don't show that bike helmets work at all. helmet laws have stopped a lot of people cycling and have done nothing for head injury rates, see http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fc... (Robinson's work uses the best scientific methods, all available control groups and so on.) It appears that helmets break easily, but don't absorb the impact, see the engineers quoted at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_helmet. A broken helmet has simply failed, and the widespread anecdotes on the theme of "a helmet saved my life" seem to owe more to wishful thinking than to science. As for "a car ran over my head", see the pro-helmet site http://www.helmets.org/smush.htm; if a car goes over your head, I'm sorry to say you won't be sitting up and praising your helmet. The only known connection is that helmets have strangled a few young children who were wearing helmets while playing off their bicycles. I no longer wear a helmet and haven't pressed them on my children. I do check that their brakes work and that they have a good idea of the rules of the road. At my moderately advanced age it's far too dangerous not to cycle - regular cycling, Danish style, not too far, not too fast, nearly halves the death rate, see http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract... Bicycling is good for health, but helmets don't seem to be.

By: papadawg

papadawg — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:52:34 +0000

When will this government "control every aspect of our lives" ever stop? What about personal responsibility for our own actions/inactions?

Just how much personal freedom are YOU willing to give up in the name of security?

Frankly, I am getting mighty tired of the government trying to babysit me from the cradle to the grave. Enough is enough.

Personal safety should always be a personal choice left up to the individual and that individuals insurance company. Get my drift? If you do something really stupid and get injured or killed when taking proper and obvious safety measures would have prevented it, then the Insurance company should not have to pay for your stupidity.

That is my not-so-humble opinion!

By: Jared

Jared — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:14:17 +0000

Yea, the only reason why people don't wear them is because we have this image that it's only for kids, but I remember getting hurt a few years ago and I could've done some damage. I think if it's mandatory, everyone would have to wear them, making it less of a peer-pressure thing to not do so.