Should bike-share riders be required to wear helmets?

[StealthRabbit]

e-scooter and bikes should require helmets,

Walking can be dangerous too, especially if you trip on the sidewalk and fall and crack your head open.

In San Antonio for New Years. Hundred of scooters laying all over the public walkways. Share-bikes and e-scooters can be very bothersome and dangerous. (but fun and fast... at a cost to others)

[drshang]

Adult bike helmet laws are nanny state overreach, IMO. Very few cities have such a law - Seattle is an exception.

Race car drivers are required to wear helmets, regular car drivers are not. Requiring car drivers/passengers to wear helmets would also save lives, too. Again, such a law would also be nanny state overreach. Or pedestrians for that matter.

Ultimately a full on adult helmet law does not differentiate between riding around a cul-de-sac and racing at 30mph. It also significantly deters bike infrastructure from reaching critical mass. Critical mass of riders means fewer accidents (see: European cities with very low bike fatality rates and helmets are virtually unheard of).

Just because there isn't a helmet law does not mean one should not wear them; riders should be given the freedom and choice to determine if a helmet is necessary depending on how they choose to ride.

[Blindtom]

Go look at Amsterdam. Bikes everywhere. No helmets.

[Thom52]

Originally Posted by Blindtom

Go look at Amsterdam. Bikes everywhere. No helmets.

We talked to a local nurse when visiting Amsterdam and asked how they got away without lots of head injures without helmets. She stated they didn't. She said head trauma from bike crashes was extremely common in the hospital.


I worked in a bike shop before helmets were invented (not counting the racers leather "hairnets"). Yes I am that old. We had a lot of customers that ironically could only ride bicycles because previous head injuries from bicycle crashes caused brain damage/seizures and they were not allowed to get a driver's license. I was an early adopter of using helmets after seeing firsthand the damage that could be caused without wearing one.

The "burden on healthcare" is from all the people that get brain injuries from crashes instead of just dying.

My daughter attempted to bicycle commute her short commute in Seattle. After 2 crashes and a couple of broken helmets she went back to driving. Lots of injuries but at least her brain survived, thanks to the helmets.

[JonasW]

Europe is a bad example because it has an infrastructure built for cyclists, one that doesn't exist in Seattle/US. It's simply safer to ride there. Drivers are also more likely to ride a bike so are less hostile towards cyclists.



The law is in place and should be enforced. This is indeed a massive lawsuit waiting to happen.

[Chilkoot]

Originally Posted by JonasW

This is indeed a massive lawsuit waiting to happen.

Although King County’s helmet law requires helmets, the Seattle Dept of Transportation does not require the bike share companies to provide them. Would the lawsuit be against the bike share company who wasn’t required to provide helmets or King County for not requiring them to provide helmets? Or, does the responsibility for complying with the helmet law fall on the rider?

[travis t]

Originally Posted by Chilkoot

Although King County’s helmet law requires helmets, the Seattle Dept of Transportation does not require the bike share companies to provide them. Would the lawsuit be against the bike share company who wasn’t required to provide helmets or King County for not requiring them to provide helmets? Or, does the responsibility for complying with the helmet law fall on the rider?

The lawsuit would be against the deepest pockets--the city, which really means of course, the taxpayer.

[Flightoficarus87]

While I feel cyclists should be required to wear helmets, the feasibility of prioritizing enforcement of such laws is another issue altogether.

Seems like common sense to wear one in any US city - the infrastructure is much more car-friendly than bike friendly, and most motorists don't exactly like having to share the road with cyclists. Even with Seattle being as bike-friendly as it is (for a US city), it still pales globally IMO. Even Vancouver, BC feels way more bike friendly to me.

[leastprime]

A law stating accidents that involve victims wearing black, light absorbing coats and jackets unless with accompanied with a light or reflector visible at 50 meters, when a light of sufficient lumens to illuminate reflectors or material, will be charged with personal negligence and the other party be absolved of negligence or failure to control vehicle and yielding to pedestrians or slower vehicles or all types.

IOWs. I cant see you at night, if you are wearing black or brown, even under street lights.