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