Comment 81401

By moylek (registered) - website | Posted October 03, 2012 at 19:29:50 in reply to Comment 81399

We should both promote helmets and promote infrastructure, and once the infrastructure is in place, ditch the helmets.

I'll go ahead and be the one to say it: when you wear a helmet, you make cycling more dangerous for me. For everyone.

After all, when does one wear a helmet? When one is doing something dangerous: rock climbing, white-water kayaking, mountain biking, driving a race car.

So if you wear a helmet, you are announcing to anyone who sees you that you are doing a dangerous thing: riding your bike. I cannot believe that that isn't discouraging.

And that goes double for those who wear safety vests, too: "don't hit me! I know I don't really belong here on the road, but please don't hit me!"

There are certainly circumstances in which a helmet will save you from damaging your noggin, but that's no more true when you're on your bike as when you are in your car or taking a shower or walking on snowy sidewalks.

If you don't feel safe riding a bike without a helmet, well, then I guess you should wear a helmet rather than give up riding your bike. But realize that you are not just protecting your head - you are telling the world that cycling is dangerous.

Comment edited by moylek on 2012-10-03 19:59:15

-- Kenneth Moyle Hamilton, Ontario

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