I found some interesting articles on the helmet debate after I wrote the last post, I won’t list any to protect them. Although, I did see unnecessary bashing and name calling, I believe “helmet haters” was a title? There was one that said “wearing a helmet is the responsible adult thing to do, shmh!” I even saw some debates being held on twitter, crazy. I wont mention any names but I wish we all could just sit down in the park, throw back some beers and talk about our problems with the helmet debate and hug-it-out.
I consider myself to be aware of these experiences and I encourage you to inform yourself of your rights as a cyclist and get involved with your community or bike coalition. Many countries have a long way to go towards bike friendliness and it doesn’t start at a helmet.
Wow. Some intense emoting there. Thanks for posting this. That doesn't mean I endorse everything citygirlrides wrote. But I know what she's trying to say, and I concur. So yes, while it is tempting and even a bit addictive, arguing about helmet attitudes probably does those of us interested in making cycling the core of an alternative transportation and city planning concept should probably resist, and let the slings and arrows of those who haven't got that memo pass us by.
I totally understand whats going on, and the problem with the helmet debate over social media is that it lacks the physicality of having a table, chair and coffee or beer in front of a real face while having a discussion.
context gets all messed up in virtual land, and assumptions are easily made via email and 140 characters.
if we all had the chance to sit down over coffee and discuss helmets we'd realize that regardless of what side of the debate you ride on that we all have good intentions towards each other.
I appreciate your post!
Cheers..
until the law in australia made it compulsory for bike riding people to wear a helmet, i never really heard much on the topic. but now that we are made to wear a helmet, there is endless talk about having our right to choose taken away. put simply these days, whether you like it or not here, caught without a helmet you are fined. it happened to me. in fact the police woman chased me down. she left her random breath testing duties and wrote out that fine with sheer delight. i enjoyed your post. is it not compulsory to… Read more »
There are several points on this debate. First off I have no problem with people who choose not to wear helmets. I'm not going to judge those who don't either. I didn't start wearing a helmet until a few yrs ago anyway. Being that Mikael/Copenhagenize is the unofficial 'face' of the anti-helmet campaign according to another blog, he makes convincing arguments against the compulsory-helmet LAWS.And that is where I totally agree. No one should be forced to wear helmets, or anything else for that matter, by cash-strapped governments for the sake of revenue disguised as 'caring.' It's not only a… Read more »
@veronica, in california we are not required by law to wear one but if a cyclist is hit and killed they get blamed for not wearing a helmet. it's completely ridiculous.
@karmapic, i agree with you on how america needs a good lesson. in your last sentence on peds and bicyclist having the right of way, i had an experience watching a sea of parisians walk into red lights and cars stopping for them all to pass through, it was a shocking sight but i fell in love with it.
In Amsterdam, there are basically no stop signs, and quite few traffic signals in general. They will have just a zebra crosswalk painted across a 4 lane road with a tram going down the middle (so a quite large road), and cyclists riding in the cycle path at the right of the road or pedestrians walking on the sidewalk will just cut left across the crosswalk, and everyone stops for them like they were expecting it (because they were). Here, it's like any time someone not in a car is in the street, it's a shock – OMG, there's a… Read more »
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