When did mandatory helmet laws enter this discussion? I didn't read the
article all that closely, but the gist of it as I recall it is that the
wearing of helmets was in fact effective in the cases cited. That
itself has been called in question in the past, and it is worthwhile
attempting to answer it. And within that context, the introduction of
mandatory helmet laws/helmet wars is an irrelevant distraction. One can
be for the wearing of helmets but against mandatory helmet laws; I am
and I know many others who feel the same way. In fact, although I know
many, many helmet users I don't know anyone who favors criminalizing the
not wearing of them.
On 11/23/2015 12:19 AM, Doug Williams wrote:
Hey, I wear my helmet all the time, but…The article fails to mention
several OTHER important facts. Because of this, the study simply can’t
be taken seriously. You simply can’t pick only the facts that support
your desired conclusion; you must weigh all the facts. Those
advocating helmet laws can't ignore other inconvenient facts that
don’t support their conclusion. That’s not how science works, and
anyone who ignores established and pertinent facts when making their
conclusion shouldn’t be taken seriously. Let’s start by granting their
single fact that helmets may reduce injuries in the event of a crash.
This single fact has to be weighed against the other proven facts
before we can arrive at a conclusion that mandatory helmet laws save
lives.
Fact 1: Mandatory Helmet Laws reduced ridership. This has been proven
over and over again in study after study.
Fact 2: Bicycling in general is safer with more bicycles on the road.
Drivers get used to seeing bicycles and become accustomed to them. The
drivers then act more safely around bicycles. This is also well
documented.
Fact 3: Bicycling is much safer than they represent when the risk of
bicycle injury is weighed against other known risks. Many, many, more
people would be saved by mandatory helmet laws for pedestrians and
motorists. Around 4,500 pedestrians and 45,000 motorists are killed in
accidents each year in the U.S. The percentage of these people who
would have reduced injuries with a helmet is similar to that for
bicyclists. Why not save these people as well? I’ll take these people
seriously when they propose a UNIVERSAL helmet law for everyone
instead of just for bicyclists.
Fact 4: Around 600 bicyclists die each year in the U.S. but well over
300,000 die of obesity and lack of exercise related diseases. The
reduced ridership caused by mandatory helmet laws would cause more
deaths from reduced health status than would be saved by helmets.
All “studies” that argue for mandatory helmet laws ignore the above
facts. Find me a study that doesn’t and then we can reopen the helmet
wars. In the meantime…yawn.
On Sunday, November 22, 2015 at 7:02:05 PM UTC-8, Eric Norris wrote:
Not that this is going to change a single mind on the subject, but
it is perhaps of interest to some:
https://www.facs.org/media/press-releases/2015/haider
<https://www.facs.org/media/press-releases/2015/haider>
And yes, I realize that the helmet and non-helmet camps have
firmly established their entrenched positions, which have been
expressed many times on this forum.
--Eric Norris
campyo...@me.com <javascript:>
www.campyonly.com <http://www.campyonly.com>
campyonlyguy.blogspot.com <http://campyonlyguy.blogspot.com>
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