THE CASE FOR A MANDATORY CYCLE HELMET LAW
(IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
THE CASE FOR A MANDATORY CYCLE HELMET LAW
(IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA) by Andre Jute It is a risible myth that your average American is a tall-walking free individual untrammeled by government: he is in fact just as much constricted as a European soft-socialist consumerist or Japanese collective citizen, though it is true that the American is controlled in different areas of his activity than the European or the Japanese. To some the uncontrolled areas of American life, for instance the ability to own and use firearms, smacks of barbarism rather than liberty. In this article I examine whether the lack of a mandatory bicycle helmet law in the USA is barbaric or an emanation of that rugged liberty more evident in rhetoric than reality. Any case for intervention by the state must be made on moral and statistical grounds. Examples are driving licences, crush zones on cars, seatbelts, age restrictions on alcohol sales, and a million other interventions, all now accepted unremarked in the States as part of the regulatory landscape, but all virulently opposed in their day. HOW DANGEROUS IS CYCLING? Surprisingly, cycling can be argued to be "safe enough", given only that one is willing to count the intangible benefits of health through exercise, generally acknowledged as substantial. Here I shall make no effort to quantify those health benefits because the argument I'm putting forward is conclusively made by harder statistics and unexceptional general morality. In the representative year of 2008, the last for which comprehesive data is available, 716 cyclists died on US roads, and 52,000 were injured. Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The most convenient way to grasp the meaning of these statistics is to compare cycling with motoring, the latter ipso facto by motorists' average mileage accepted by most Americans as safe enough. Compared to a motorist a cyclist is: 11 times MORE likely to die PER MILE travelled 2.9 times MORE likely to die PER TRIP taken By adding information about the relative frequency/length/duration of journeys of cyclists and motorists, we can further conclude that in the US: Compared to a motorist, a cyclist is: 3 to 4 times MORE likely to die PER HOUR riding 3 to 4 times LESS likely to die IN A YEAR's riding Source: http://www.google.com/url?sa=D&q=htt...ite/Banco/7man... It is the last number, that the average cyclist is 3 to 4 times less likely to die in a year's riding than a motorist, and enjoys all the benefits of healthy exercise, that permits us to ignore the greater per mile/per trip/per hour danger. This gives us the overall perspective but says nothing about wearing a cycling helmet. HELMET WEAR AT THE EXTREME END OF CYCLING RISK What we really want to know is: what chance of the helmet saving your life? The authorities in New York made a compilation covering the years 1996 to 2003 of all the deaths (225) and serious injuries (3,462) in cycling accidents in all New York City. The purpose of the study was an overview usable for city development planning, not helmet advocacy, so helmet usage was only noted for part of the period among the seriously injured, amounting to 333 cases. Here are some conclusions: • Most fatal crashes (74%) involved a head injury. fatal crashes, but 13% in non-fatal crashes Source: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/download...ike-report.pdf This concatenation of facts suggests very strongly that not wearing a helmet may be particularly dangerous. • It looks like wearing a helmet saved roundabout 33 cyclists or so (of the 333 seriously injured for whom helmet use is known) from dying. • If those who died wore helmets at the same rate of 13% as those in the study who survived, a further 22 or so could have lived. • If all the fatalities had been wearing a helmet (100%), somewhere between 10% and 57% of them would have lived. This number is less firm to allow for impacts so heavy that no helmet would have saved the cyclist. Still, between 22 and 128 *additional* (to the 33 noted above) New Yorkers alive rather than dead for wearing a thirty buck helmet is a serious statistical, moral and political consideration difficult to overlook. SO HOW MANY CYCLISTS CAN HELMETS SAVE ACROSS THE NATION? New York is not the United States but we're not seeking certainly, only investigating whether a moral imperative for action appears. First off, the 52,000 cyclists hurt cannot be directly related to the very serious injuries which were the only ones counted in the New York compilation. But a fatality is a fatality anywhere and the fraction of head injuries in the fatalities is pretty constant. So, with a caution, we can say that of 716 cycling fatalities nationwide, helmet use could have saved at least 70 and very likely more towards a possible upper limit of around 400. Again the statistical extension must be tempered by the knowledge that some impacts are so heavy that no helmet can save the cyclist. Still, if even half the impacts resulting in fatal head trauma is too heavy for a helmet to mitigate, possibly around 235 cyclists might live rather than die on the roads for simply wearing a helmet. Every year. That's an instant reduction in cyclist road fatalities of one third. Once more we have arrived at a statistical, moral and political fact that is hard to igno Helmet wear could save many lives. THE CASE AGAINST MANDATORY HELMET LAWS • Compulsion is anti-Constitutional, an assault on the freedom of the citizen to choose his own manner of living and dying • Many other actitivities cause fatal head injuries. So why not insist they should all be put in helmets? • 37% of bicycle fatalities involve alcohol, and 23% were legally drunk, and you'll never get these drunks in helmets anyway • We should leave the drunks to their fate; they're not real cyclists anyway • Helmets are not perfect anyway • Helmets cause cyclists to stop cycling, which is a cost to society in health losses • Many more motorists die on the roads than cyclists. Why not insist that motorists wear helmets inside their cars? • Helmets don't save lives -- that's a myth put forward by commercial helmet makers • Helmets are too heavily promoted • Helmet makers overstate the benefits of helmets • A helmet makes me look like a dork • Too few cyclists will be saved to make the cost worthwhile THE CASE FOR A MANDATORY HELMET LAW IN THE STATES • 235 or more additional cyclists' lives saved • 716 deaths of cyclists on the road when a third or more of those deaths can easily be avoided is a national disgrace • Education has clearly failed • Anti-helmet zealots in the face of the evidence from New York are still advising cyclists not to wear helmets • An example to the next generation of cyclists • A visible sign of a commitment to cycling safety, which may attract more people to cycling © Copyright Andre Jute 2010. Free for reproduction in non-profit journals and sites as long as the entire article is reproduced in full including this copyright and permission notice. |
THE CASE FOR A MANDATORY CYCLE HELMET LAW
(IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
On Wednesday, September 5, 2018 at 10:42:44 AM UTC-4, Andre Jute wrote:
THE CASE FOR A MANDATORY CYCLE HELMET LAW (IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA) by Andre Jute Snipped Where I am there's virtually no talk about MANDATORY helmet laws. However many motorists and BICYCLISTS would like to see bicyclists licensed so t hat they can fined or charged whenever they hit someone or do something stupid and illegal that causes or nearly causes a vehicular accident involving a motor vehicle or other bicyclist. The ONLY accident I ever had that resulted in the bicycle frame having to be scrapped, occurred when I hit a bicyclist who exited a one way street with a blind corner whilst the bicyclist was riding contrary to the direction of traffic on that street. That bicyclist never slowed down before zooming out onto the busy main street I was riding along. Had I been driving a motor vehicle then he probably would have been killed by the impact. Also, many here want to see electric scooters/pedal bikes licensed too since so many people using them totally disregard rules of the road and city bylawas as to where such things can be ridden. Cheers |
THE CASE FOR A MANDATORY CYCLE HELMET LAW
(IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
On Wednesday, September 5, 2018 at 8:41:31 PM UTC+1, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Wednesday, September 5, 2018 at 10:42:44 AM UTC-4, Andre Jute wrote: THE CASE FOR A MANDATORY CYCLE HELMET LAW (IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA) by Andre Jute Snipped Where I am there's virtually no talk about MANDATORY helmet laws. However many motorists and BICYCLISTS would like to see bicyclists licensed so t hat they can fined or charged whenever they hit someone or do something stupid and illegal that causes or nearly causes a vehicular accident involving a motor vehicle or other bicyclist. The ONLY accident I ever had that resulted in the bicycle frame having to be scrapped, occurred when I hit a bicyclist who exited a one way street with a blind corner whilst the bicyclist was riding contrary to the direction of traffic on that street. That bicyclist never slowed down before zooming out onto the busy main street I was riding along. Had I been driving a motor vehicle then he probably would have been killed by the impact. Also, many here want to see electric scooters/pedal bikes licensed too since so many people using them totally disregard rules of the road and city bylawas as to where such things can be ridden. Cheers Chalo Colina, who used to post on RBT, made the very good point that bicyclists have a better right to the road than motorists, precisely because motorists must be licensed both with regards to their vehicles and to their driving skills, while cyclists just ride, without licensing. That is such a valuable freedom, I would be very loath to endanger it because busybodies want it. In addition, I don't see that licensing is required to hold cyclists responsible for breaking the law, or for damage or injury they cause by either breaking the law or being negligent. Why shouldn't enforcement of existing road traffic laws do whatever is necessary? As a related matter underlying all this, I find it regrettable that so many cyclists appear to be think more government and more regulation and control is the answer to every question, including rogue cyclists. Andre Jute Rational cyclist |
THE CASE FOR A MANDATORY CYCLE HELMET LAW ?(IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
On Wed, 5 Sep 2018 12:41:29 -0700 (PDT), Sir Ridesalot
wrote: On Wednesday, September 5, 2018 at 10:42:44 AM UTC-4, Andre Jute wrote: THE CASE FOR A MANDATORY CYCLE HELMET LAW ?(IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA) ?by Andre Jute Snipped Where I am there's virtually no talk about MANDATORY helmet laws. However many motorists and BICYCLISTS would like to see bicyclists licensed so t hat they can fined or charged whenever they hit someone or do something stupid and illegal that causes or nearly causes a vehicular accident involving a motor vehicle or other bicyclist. The ONLY accident I ever had that resulted in the bicycle frame having to be scrapped, occurred when I hit a bicyclist who exited a one way street with a blind corner whilst the bicyclist was riding contrary to the direction of traffic on that street. That bicyclist never slowed down before zooming out onto the busy main street I was riding along. Had I been driving a motor vehicle then he probably would have been killed by the impact. Also, many here want to see electric scooters/pedal bikes licensed too since so many people using them totally disregard rules of the road and city bylawas as to where such things can be ridden. Cheers Singapore enforces laws concerning bicycles, power assisted bicycles and electric scooters and each one has specific places where they can and cannot be used. A bicycle, for instance can ridden on "shared paths", "foot paths", and the highway. An electric assisted bicycle on shared paths and the highway, but not on a foot path. There are a range of penalties that can be imposed for disobeying the law, the maximum is a $5,000 fine and/or 6 months in jail. I doubt that the U.S. would be receptive to Singapore type laws that are generally formulated to protect society rather then the individual - a $1,000 fine for spitting on the sidewalk - but I would note that Singapore has far less crime then practically any other country (and clean sidewalks) :-) |
THE CASE FOR A MANDATORY CYCLE HELMET LAW
(IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
On 9/5/2018 6:00 PM, Andre Jute wrote:
On Wednesday, September 5, 2018 at 8:41:31 PM UTC+1, Sir Ridesalot wrote: On Wednesday, September 5, 2018 at 10:42:44 AM UTC-4, Andre Jute wrote: THE CASE FOR A MANDATORY CYCLE HELMET LAW 
(IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA) 
by Andre Jute Snipped Where I am there's virtually no talk about MANDATORY helmet laws. However many motorists and BICYCLISTS would like to see bicyclists licensed so t hat they can fined or charged whenever they hit someone or do something stupid and illegal that causes or nearly causes a vehicular accident involving a motor vehicle or other bicyclist. The ONLY accident I ever had that resulted in the bicycle frame having to be scrapped, occurred when I hit a bicyclist who exited a one way street with a blind corner whilst the bicyclist was riding contrary to the direction of traffic on that street. That bicyclist never slowed down before zooming out onto the busy main street I was riding along. Had I been driving a motor vehicle then he probably would have been killed by the impact. Also, many here want to see electric scooters/pedal bikes licensed too since so many people using them totally disregard rules of the road and city bylawas as to where such things can be ridden. Cheers Chalo Colina, who used to post on RBT, made the very good point that bicyclists have a better right to the road than motorists, precisely because motorists must be licensed both with regards to their vehicles and to their driving skills, while cyclists just ride, without licensing. That is such a valuable freedom, I would be very loath to endanger it because busybodies want it. In addition, I don't see that licensing is required to hold cyclists responsible for breaking the law, or for damage or injury they cause by either breaking the law or being negligent. Why shouldn't enforcement of existing road traffic laws do whatever is necessary? As a related matter underlying all this, I find it regrettable that so many cyclists appear to be think more government and more regulation and control is the answer to every question, including rogue cyclists. Andre Jute Rational cyclist Perplexing, isn't it? Many of the same people who demand control by the State for every niggling foible decry 'fascism' while yet denying that fascism is, in essence, no different from any other totalitarian system. Who could define it better than Mussolini, the creator, himself? "All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state." Sounds very much like the modern totalitarians. -- Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org/ Open every day since 1 April, 1971 |
THE CASE FOR A MANDATORY CYCLE HELMET LAW
(IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
On Wednesday, September 5, 2018 at 5:24:32 PM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
On 9/5/2018 6:00 PM, Andre Jute wrote: On Wednesday, September 5, 2018 at 8:41:31 PM UTC+1, Sir Ridesalot wrote: On Wednesday, September 5, 2018 at 10:42:44 AM UTC-4, Andre Jute wrote: THE CASE FOR A MANDATORY CYCLE HELMET LAW 
(IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA) 
by Andre Jute Snipped Where I am there's virtually no talk about MANDATORY helmet laws. However many motorists and BICYCLISTS would like to see bicyclists licensed so t hat they can fined or charged whenever they hit someone or do something stupid and illegal that causes or nearly causes a vehicular accident involving a motor vehicle or other bicyclist. The ONLY accident I ever had that resulted in the bicycle frame having to be scrapped, occurred when I hit a bicyclist who exited a one way street with a blind corner whilst the bicyclist was riding contrary to the direction of traffic on that street. That bicyclist never slowed down before zooming out onto the busy main street I was riding along. Had I been driving a motor vehicle then he probably would have been killed by the impact. Also, many here want to see electric scooters/pedal bikes licensed too since so many people using them totally disregard rules of the road and city bylawas as to where such things can be ridden. Cheers Chalo Colina, who used to post on RBT, made the very good point that bicyclists have a better right to the road than motorists, precisely because motorists must be licensed both with regards to their vehicles and to their driving skills, while cyclists just ride, without licensing. That is such a valuable freedom, I would be very loath to endanger it because busybodies want it. In addition, I don't see that licensing is required to hold cyclists responsible for breaking the law, or for damage or injury they cause by either breaking the law or being negligent. Why shouldn't enforcement of existing road traffic laws do whatever is necessary? As a related matter underlying all this, I find it regrettable that so many cyclists appear to be think more government and more regulation and control is the answer to every question, including rogue cyclists. Andre Jute Rational cyclist Perplexing, isn't it? Many of the same people who demand control by the State for every niggling foible decry 'fascism' while yet denying that fascism is, in essence, no different from any other totalitarian system. Who could define it better than Mussolini, the creator, himself? "All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state." Sounds very much like the modern totalitarians. Then, of course, you must move to any state in the Ninth Circuit. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...904-story.html http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastor...4/15-35845.pdf Sleep free or die! -- Jay Beattie. |
THE CASE FOR A MANDATORY CYCLE HELMET LAW
(IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
On 9/5/2018 7:57 PM, jbeattie wrote:
On Wednesday, September 5, 2018 at 5:24:32 PM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote: On 9/5/2018 6:00 PM, Andre Jute wrote: On Wednesday, September 5, 2018 at 8:41:31 PM UTC+1, Sir Ridesalot wrote: On Wednesday, September 5, 2018 at 10:42:44 AM UTC-4, Andre Jute wrote: THE CASE FOR A MANDATORY CYCLE HELMET LAW 
(IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA) 
by Andre Jute Snipped Where I am there's virtually no talk about MANDATORY helmet laws. However many motorists and BICYCLISTS would like to see bicyclists licensed so t hat they can fined or charged whenever they hit someone or do something stupid and illegal that causes or nearly causes a vehicular accident involving a motor vehicle or other bicyclist. The ONLY accident I ever had that resulted in the bicycle frame having to be scrapped, occurred when I hit a bicyclist who exited a one way street with a blind corner whilst the bicyclist was riding contrary to the direction of traffic on that street. That bicyclist never slowed down before zooming out onto the busy main street I was riding along. Had I been driving a motor vehicle then he probably would have been killed by the impact. Also, many here want to see electric scooters/pedal bikes licensed too since so many people using them totally disregard rules of the road and city bylawas as to where such things can be ridden. Cheers Chalo Colina, who used to post on RBT, made the very good point that bicyclists have a better right to the road than motorists, precisely because motorists must be licensed both with regards to their vehicles and to their driving skills, while cyclists just ride, without licensing. That is such a valuable freedom, I would be very loath to endanger it because busybodies want it. In addition, I don't see that licensing is required to hold cyclists responsible for breaking the law, or for damage or injury they cause by either breaking the law or being negligent. Why shouldn't enforcement of existing road traffic laws do whatever is necessary? As a related matter underlying all this, I find it regrettable that so many cyclists appear to be think more government and more regulation and control is the answer to every question, including rogue cyclists. Andre Jute Rational cyclist Perplexing, isn't it? Many of the same people who demand control by the State for every niggling foible decry 'fascism' while yet denying that fascism is, in essence, no different from any other totalitarian system. Who could define it better than Mussolini, the creator, himself? "All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state." Sounds very much like the modern totalitarians. Then, of course, you must move to any state in the Ninth Circuit. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...904-story.html http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastor...4/15-35845.pdf Sleep free or die! Yep, saw that. Depressing. Criminals have rights. Illegals have rights. Bums have rights. Taxpayers have no rights. -- Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org/ Open every day since 1 April, 1971 |
THE CASE FOR A MANDATORY CYCLE HELMET LAW ?(IN THE UNITED STATESOF AMERICA)
On Thursday, September 6, 2018 at 12:42:56 AM UTC+1, John B. Slocomb wrote:
On Wed, 5 Sep 2018 12:41:29 -0700 (PDT), Sir Ridesalot wrote: On Wednesday, September 5, 2018 at 10:42:44 AM UTC-4, Andre Jute wrote: THE CASE FOR A MANDATORY CYCLE HELMET LAW ?(IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA) ?by Andre Jute Snipped Where I am there's virtually no talk about MANDATORY helmet laws. However many motorists and BICYCLISTS would like to see bicyclists licensed so t hat they can fined or charged whenever they hit someone or do something stupid and illegal that causes or nearly causes a vehicular accident involving a motor vehicle or other bicyclist. The ONLY accident I ever had that resulted in the bicycle frame having to be scrapped, occurred when I hit a bicyclist who exited a one way street with a blind corner whilst the bicyclist was riding contrary to the direction of traffic on that street. That bicyclist never slowed down before zooming out onto the busy main street I was riding along. Had I been driving a motor vehicle then he probably would have been killed by the impact. Also, many here want to see electric scooters/pedal bikes licensed too since so many people using them totally disregard rules of the road and city bylawas as to where such things can be ridden. Cheers Singapore enforces laws concerning bicycles, power assisted bicycles and electric scooters and each one has specific places where they can and cannot be used. A bicycle, for instance can ridden on "shared paths", "foot paths", and the highway. An electric assisted bicycle on shared paths and the highway, but not on a foot path. There are a range of penalties that can be imposed for disobeying the law, the maximum is a $5,000 fine and/or 6 months in jail. I doubt that the U.S. would be receptive to Singapore type laws that are generally formulated to protect society rather then the individual - a $1,000 fine for spitting on the sidewalk - but I would note that Singapore has far less crime then practically any other country (and clean sidewalks) :-) Singapore is one of my favorite places on earth, not least for its order. I don't see that Mr Lee was a fascist for demanding the same order in public that his constituents practiced in their homes. His regime has worked very well for Singapore, as evidenced by it still being in place years after he left office (another sign that he isn't a fascist but a democrat). We have a 150 euro spot fine for letting your dog poop in the grass beside the footpath, or maybe it is 500 euro by now (I would know if I had a dog!*) and I consider that mindless, because the people who have dogs but don't have gardens for them to run free in are typically pensioners, for whom that could be two weeks' income. * Nothing against dogs, but my wife keeps cats, and dogs would harass my pet fox and my pet hedgehogs. Andre Jute Inhabitant of a multiple "Tidy Towns" champion |
THE CASE FOR A MANDATORY CYCLE HELMET LAW
(IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
On Thursday, September 6, 2018 at 1:24:32 AM UTC+1, AMuzi wrote:
On 9/5/2018 6:00 PM, Andre Jute wrote: As a related matter underlying all this, I find it regrettable that so many cyclists appear to be think more government and more regulation and control is the answer to every question, including rogue cyclists. Andre Jute Rational cyclist Perplexing, isn't it? Many of the same people who demand control by the State for every niggling foible decry 'fascism' while yet denying that fascism is, in essence, no different from any other totalitarian system. Who could define it better than Mussolini, the creator, himself? "All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state." Very nice, that, especially if you define yourself as "the state". Sounds very much like the modern totalitarians. But, by the same token, it could equally be the motto of an absolute monarchy: "L'état, c'est moi." -- Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org/ Open every day since 1 April, 1971 Andre Jute Today a fascist is anyone who doesn't agree with you |
THE CASE FOR A MANDATORY CYCLE HELMET LAW
(IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)
On Wed, 5 Sep 2018 12:41:29 -0700 (PDT), Sir Ridesalot
wrote: Where I am there's virtually no talk about MANDATORY helmet laws. However many motorists and BICYCLISTS would like to see bicyclists licensed so t hat they can fined or charged whenever they hit someone or do something stupid and illegal that causes or nearly causes a vehicular accident involving a motor vehicle or other bicyclist. The Bicyclists can already be charged for violating the law in all 50 states in the US. No licensing necessary. Bicyclists (and others) may not be charged for stupidity, on the other hand, because being stupid is not against the law- unless said stupidity leads to breaking the law. Also, many here want to see electric scooters/pedal bikes licensed too since so many people using them totally disregard rules of the road and city bylawas as to where such things can be ridden. And yet a plurality if not majority of motor vehicle operators that I see every day violate some law or other while I am watching- speeding, changing lanes without signaling, driving while distracted, driving out of the designated lane, speeding, failing to stop for stop signs and traffic signals, speeding, nonfunctioning head/taillights, speeding, etc., etc., etc. Licensing clearly does not result in compliance with the law and, at least in my state, no actual competence to operate a motor vehicle in traffic is required to get a license. All licensing seems to do is create a false notion of accountability. Take people's licenses away and they just drive without one. |
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