Yesterday I talked briefly with Senator Prozanski. He also indicated to me what the Oregonian reports, that he will back off of the helmet law. However you must understand, that as an avid cyclist and dear friend of the late Jane Higdon and her family, the Senator truly wants to push roadway and bicycle safety. Prozanski won a BTA Alice Award in 2008 for his work to increase bicycle safety; he stated that he would continue to push bicycle safety and focus on helmet use.
To date the BTA has supported the youth helmet law but opposes mandatory helmet laws for adults. This week, the BTA Board of Directors reopened the issue. The BTA retains our position and will convene an ad-hoc committee to discuss it further.
I am pleased that on August 13 the BTA is launching our Eye to Eye campaign. We will focus on promoting respect on the roadways and traffic safety more generally. We look forward to working with Senator Prozanski, GEARs members in Eugene, the City of Eugene, and others on promoting helmet use locally and will hopefully add this element to our statewide campaign.
Personally I wear a helmet and my daughter does too – but this isn’t about anyone’s personal safety choices, it’s about broader policy implications. Let’s not forget that a helmet is but one piece of safety equipment for bicycling; others that are equally if not more important are lights, good roadway designs, and the knowledge and skills in our heads. So be safe out there, with everything you’ve got!
I wear a helmet when I ride…mostly. I’ve broken my share of helmets…one two years ago and one eight years ago, both times riding or racing my mountain bike. I’m sure I would have been a lot worse off without my helmet in either case. However, for the majority of riders, I see the greatest threat to safety coming from inattentive drivers. I’ve been hit by drivers more than five times; twice in the same location (I-5 exit at Weidler). Luckily, I have not been injured by a car yet.
We have a classic case of trying to reassign the blame for cyclists’ injuries. Akin to blaming the woman for getting raped after she “dressed like she wanted it,” we are missing the underlying issue: Our laws regarding the rights and safety of non-motorized road users are out of date and poorly enforced (if at all), and our society has been socialized to marginalize all such users from an early age. It certainly doesn’t hurt that the mainstream media appears to share the auto-centric attitude of most drivers. Yes, that guy you hit might have fared better if he was wearing a helmet. But he’d be doing even better if you had not hit him at all. My primary motivation for wearing a helmet should not be my fear of getting hit by a driver who will probably not even be cited.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I’m just a guy trying to get somewhere. For most of my trips, a bicycle is simply the most efficient choice. Some of the time, I just use my feet. Should I be treated as a second-class citizen just because I’m not behind the wheel?
Focusing on the threat of drivers as the “real” problem in an argument that takes the focus off of a helmet law is missing the point. Of course, inattentive drivers are a major issue. But crash statistics also point to inattentive cyclists as a big issue too – running stop signs, running lights, and swerving into traffic. We’ve all seen it, and perhaps even been guilty of it ourselves as cyclists.
The dangers in cycling come from a variety of sources, both in and outside our control. It seems flawed to argue against a mandatory helmet law because, well, if automobile drivers were just more attentive, then wearing a helmet would be less important. Even more so, to suggest that pushing for a helmet law is like “blaming the rape victim” for inviting the crime, is really mixing things up. No one would suggest that a woman shouldn’t consider a personal safely course to help defend herself if and when an unsafe situation does occur!
Closer to the point, I’ve never heard anyone argue against the seat belt law based on the premise that if the “other guy” just wouldn’t cause the accident in the first place, then I wouldn’t need a seatbelt –so let’s focus on driver safety INSTEAD of seat belt laws.
The point I am making is simply this; driver error as well as cyclist error will ALWAYS be a part of the equation. As more cyclists are sharing the road than ever before, our community is making good strides to reducing the rate of accidents. We absolutely need more education and enforcement for drivers as they represent the single largest risk to cyclists. Still, too many of us cyclists ride without reflective clothing, without bells, without lights, with fixed gear bikes without breaks, without training, and yes, without helmets.
When compared to our cars, there is very little enforcement of basic safety equipment and behavioral for bicyclists. Some cyclists complain about being treated as a second class citizen, but remember that thus far you have far less expected of you when on a bike than when you are behind the wheel of a car.
We as a community of cyclists have been a power voice for equality in the roadways. The “bikability” of our city is a testament to this community. But we can know for an absolute fact that wearing a helmet reduces the severity of injuries among cyclists when compared to not wearing a helmet. Now, rather than a mandatory helmet law being seen as an “infringement of the rights” of “second-class citizens,” consider an alternative possibility; a mandatory helmet law could be a step in demonstrating the cycling community’s willingness to truly “share the road” -and ALL of its responsibilities. Embracing a mandatory helmet law may help us take this argument to the next level of credibility –Drivers must wear their seatbelts and we cyclists must wear our helmets. Sounds like equality to me.
Phil Evans
Eh, I think helmets should remain optional. I always wear mine, and if someone doesn’t have anything to protect up there, well, it’s their prerogative.
Laws should focus on cyclist visibility- lights, bells, reflective clothing, as Evan mentioned.
Also, we need consequences (or more widespread enforcement) for cyclists who break the road laws- Running red lights, stop signs, not yielding to buses and such. Seeing cyclists recklessly break the law is what pisses me off when I’m behind the wheel, because if they get injured it’ll be the motorist who takes the blame. We need to level the playing field before we can be rid of animosities between drivers and cyclists, and a silly helmet law will not bring us closer to that.
Unfortunately not wearing a helmet is fashionable these days. It’s part of the bike messenger mystique. Not wearing a helmet does for your image what smoking used to do or still does. It says, “I’m reckless, risky, and dangerous. I’m much more complicated than simple health risks.” It also goes further than the cigarette, it also adds, “I’m not worried -I have skills”. If you are a cyclist and think that people should wear helmets, but don’t want to make this another law – I agree with you. But you should fight the fashion trends, at least – because let’s admit it, fashion isn’t really worth dying for. BTA and others who are looked to as exemplars of the community should step up. You don’t have to alienate the bike messengers and bike messenger look-a-likes. Just keep advocating for people to wear helmets.
When I’m driving a car I often spot the helmet of a bicyclist first, especially when the visibility is poor. The profile of a cyclist is just very thin and fast, and it is difficult for any driver to see and calculate the speed of a cyclist who isn’t wearing a shiny, preferably white helmet.
In addition to helmets, I suggest we institute a universal bicycle front light of a particular color — some color other than the ubiquitous white light. After all, small white lights could also be some holiday lights on a tree branch. When driving I’d rather know asap that the light in the distance in the nighttime drizzle MUST be a cyclist. And likewise when I’m cycling, I’d prefer to let all drivers know I’m on the road asap. Let’s all use something that clearly indicates BICYCLE COMING THIS WAY.