Not sure this is a left or right issue. It is a public health and safety
issue which you can choose to cast as a leftist conspiracy if such
infantile casting of aspersions makes you feel better.
As to Mike Rewey's assertions, I think you can make the same argument
about life jackets, seat belts, hunter safety courses, immunization
rules or laws or virtually any policy or law that imapcts public health
and safety. The logical conclusion of your argument or the data you
present is that if there is a disparate economic impact effecting the
poor, then we should strongly consider not enacting public policies that
would otherwise reduce head injuries and save lives. Is that really the
argument you want to present?
Makes more sense to me to require bicycle helmets at minimun for
children and then figure out how to finance school and community based
free helmet or sliding scale fee based helmet distribution programs to
children. If adults want to endanger their health and safety that's
their decision and I'm OK with that unless it presents a public health
crisis of some kind. Craft enforcement law or policy so that children
are never cited or arrested but instead are provided with a helmet. I
suspect there are many volunteers in every community that would be
willing to act as helmet fitters/providers/teachers. There are many ways
to approach the way in which such programs can operate. Madison already
has HMO based helmet programs for children if memory serves.
Regards,
Brian Mink
Monona, WI
kurt bermuda wrote:
The left can play safety stats all it wants. Doesn't matter. Fear wins
over stats any day of the week. Good luck stat-ing this one away. The
fear of head injury people will have their own useless stats. Duh. It
won't change the fact that the left owns "safety". This time their own
agitation propaganda is coming home to roost. They might actually have
to adhere to their own fear mongering. Old dumb can always come back
and cost you later. Let's see those stats.
That's what I've always said when confronted by helmet "safety"
claims. If helmets are all about safety, then obviously car drivers
should wear them. Lots of blank stares after that one. Including dumb
leftists who wear helmets mostly for progressive religious reasons.
Helmets are a placebo for low-skill bikers.
Signed the outlaw biker
On Fri, Feb 20, 2015 at 8:53 AM, STRAWSER, Charles
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
The safety of cyclists on the road is most highly (positively)
correlated with...the number of cyclists on the road.
See "Safety in Numbers slide on John Pucher's presentation of his
research here:
http://www.policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/BikeWalkPublicHealth_April%206.pdf
As for Mike Rewey's question: "Why not motorcyclists? Why not
Pedestrians?"
Well why not CAR DRIVERS?
""The results [of studies in Australia show] that a ["motoring
helmet"] headband can greatly reduce the severity of an impact to
the head [by up to] 67 percent with the honeycomb cardboard
prototype, when compared with an impact with no headband."
http://www.copenhagenize.com/2009/10/australian-helmet-science-for-motorists.html
Here's the CDC on barriers to helmet use (and hence why requiring
it would discourage cycling):
Barriers to helmet use include cost, the wearability of bicycle
helmets, and a lack of knowledge regarding helmet effectiveness
(33). In addition, some school-age children (i.e., children less
than 15 years of age) believe that wearing a helmet will result in
derision by their peers (34). Among older children and adults,
rates for helmet use are influenced by some of the same
demographic factors as rates for seat belt use (e.g., age,
education, income, and marital status) (14,33), and some of the
reasons given for not wearing helmets are similar to those given
for not wearing seat belts (e.g., rider was on a short trip,
helmets are uncomfortable, and negligence) (14). Approaches to
overcoming some of these barriers to helmet use include
community-based programs (33) and bicycle helmet legislation,
which may be particularly effective among school-age children
(34-37). http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00036941.htm
I think it's in every individual cyclist's best interest to wear a
helmet and visible clothing (and I do so myself, and require it of
my son), but it's clearly in the best interests of cyclists in
aggregate to eliminate ANY laws that discourage cycling, including
helmet laws. Anyone advocating any laws that would discourage
cycling is either uninformed, or does not really have the best
interests of cyclists (in aggregate) at heart.
Now I must go and get the marshmallows to roast on the flames of
the helmet war that is about to ensue.
chuck
-----Original Message-----
From: Bikies [mailto:[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>] On Behalf Of Michael Rewey
Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2015 3:53 PM
To: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Bikies] CA Proposed Mandatory Helmet Law
I agree with the Cal Bike Coalition opposition for many reasons.
First it would make the poor
the most likely violators. Why not motorcyclists? Why not
Pedestrians.
Mike Rewey
On 19 Feb 2015 at 15:40, Clayton Griessmeyer wrote:
California Bicycle Coalition is opposing a proposed mandatory
bicycle helmet (and reflective night clothing) law. They say it
will make California´s streets less safe.
They argue:
Bicycling with or without a helmet savesas many as 77 livesfor
every life lost in a crash. Per hour of participation, bicycling
isthree times safer than swimming, and twice as safe as riding in
a car. And it´s getting safer. Since 2000, by rate,the risk of
bicycling injury in California has dropped 45%.
http
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