My silly little arguement about bicycles

[Radio Talk Show Host]

More crime is caused when children and young adults are walking that would have never happened had they been on a bike.

I have never heard of anyone stopping a bicyclist and then dragging them into their car. 

Everyone thinks I am being silly but no one ever disputes what I am saying enough to convince me I'm wrong

end the helmet law, it does more harm than good.

[gatorback]

You've never been convinced of anything because you suffer from "Not invited here syndrome" which means if it doesn't come from you it's wrong.  Irrespective of your mental challenges:

Helmets save lives.  Helment are designed to slow down the rate at which the brain slams into the skill.  Period.

    * There are 85 million bicycle riders in the US.

    * 773 bicyclists died on US roads in 2006, down just 11 from the year before. 92% of them died in crashes with motor vehicles (720).

    * About 540,000 bicyclists visit emergency rooms with injuries every year. Of those, about 67,000 have head injuries, and 27,000 have injuries serious enough to be hospitalized.

    * Bicycle crashes and injuries are under-reported, since the majority are not serious enough for emergency room visits. 44,000 cyclists were reported injured in traffic crashes in 2006.

    * 1 in 8 of the cyclists with reported injuries has a brain injury.

    * Two-thirds of the deaths here are from traumatic brain injury.

    * A very high percentage of cyclists' brain injuries can be prevented by a helmet, estimated at anywhere from 45 to 88 per cent.

    * Many years of potential life are lost because about half of the deaths are children under 15 years old.

    * Direct costs of cyclists' injuries due to not using helmets are estimated at $81 million each year.

    * Indirect costs of cyclists' injuries due to not using helmets are estimated at $2.3 billion each year.

    * Helmet use in the US varies by orders of magnitude in different areas and different sectors of our society. White collar commuters probably reach 80 per cent, while inner city kids and rural kids would be 10 per cent or less. Overall, our best wild guess is probably no more than 25 per cent. Sommers Point, NJ, where a state helmet law is in effect, found that only 24 of the 359 students who rode to school in one week of the Winter of 2002 wore helmets (6 per cent) until the School District adopted a helmet rule. North Carolina observed 17 per cent statewide before their law went into effect in 2001.

    * Helmets are cheap. The typical discount store price has risen from under $10 to about $20, but there are still models available for under $10 at major retailers.


Let me say I like having the option of not riding with a helmet sometimes...like up to the store to get a beer, or around the block; however, during high traffic hours you'd be crazy not to wear a helmet.

[jbm32206]

This is from the Florida Bicycle Law. Only those under the age of 16 must wear helmets.
http://www.massbike.org/resources/florida.htm

316.2065  Bicycle regulations:
A bicycle rider or passenger who is under 16 years of age must wear a bicycle helmet that is properly fitted and is fastened securely upon the passenger's head by a strap, and that meets the standards of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI Z 90.4 Bicycle Helmet Standards), the standards of the Snell Memorial Foundation (1984 Standard for Protective Headgear for Use in Bicycling), or any other nationally recognized standards for bicycle helmets adopted by the department. As used in this subsection, the term "passenger" includes a child who is riding in a trailer or semitrailer attached to a bicycle.

[ProblemChild]

I ride all the time, my wife rides my kids ride, and unless I am riding at 5 mph or less I never ride without my helmet.  I am a competitive cyclist and have had many crashes in my days and fully understand the benefit of keeping my melon safe.  It is always easier to wear the helmet than to re-learn your A-B-C's.

[Radio Talk Show Host]

I JUST DON'T HAVE TIME NOW, PLEASE FOR NOW LETS JUST SEPARATE KIDS INTO FOUR OR FIVE GROUPS.

one) TO YOUNG TO CARE ABOUT HOW SILLY THEY LOOK.
two) OLD ENOUGH TO CARE ABOUT HOW SILLY THEY LOOK AND NOT RIDING BIKES BECAUSE OF IT.
three)OLD ENOUGH TO CARE ABOUT HOW SILLY THEY LOOK AND RIDING BIKES WITHOUT A HELMET IN SPITE OF IT.
four) COULD ALSO BE MEMBER OF two or three BUT HAVE PARENTS WHO DISAGREE WITH THE LAW AS WELL.
five)any group you wish

GROUP TWO EASILY ACCOUNTS FOR THE LOWERING OF BICYCLE RELATED DEATHS

All these  groups don't need the government to step outside of its roll of pursuit of happiness just to screw with them one out of a million  times a kid rides a bicycle without a helmet. (because its another law that no one really pays attention to)

[gatorback]

If you care about this country, and your childs future role in it then you'd care about  protecting them, including buying a helmet making sure they wear it, foster an understanding of obeing laws, and instill in them the value of an education. However, if their brain is incapable of learning because of a childhood trauma to their noddle your' child will not benefire from what this great conuntry has to offer one with better skills and education.

This goes far beyond just riding a bike with a helmet it goes more into caring about this socieity.

[Radio Talk Show Host]

ok Rush Limbough wanttobe I CONCEDE seeing as trying to get in a simple discusion with you leads to a "I DON'T CARE ABOUT MY COUNTRY" realization, but you haven't convinced me of anything, except that you could never convince me of anything. (neither does Rush)

flip the dial to1460 and learn how educated people try to talk

If you care about this country, and your childs future role in it then you'd care about  protecting them, including buying a helmet and help them as much as you can to get them educated.  If their brain is incapable of learning because of a childhood trauma to their noddle your' child will not beneftire from what this great conuntry has to offer people with better skills and education.

[gatorback]

Have fun visiting your child in the mental hospital, taking care of him/or her for the rest of their live  because mommy was too dumb to insisit the kid puts on a helmet; or worse going to their futural when a helmet could have prevented the death of your child all along. 

[jbm32206]

Who said that it's mommy....that's too dumb?

[gatorback]

my bad.  you are right...what was I thinking.  Mom's are awesome and certainly nurturing to the point where they want their baby to be safe.  I wont go there again for all the awesome moms out there forgive me.

[jbm32206]

See...a mom just gave you...you know what...(just messing with you)

Anyway, I agree, that children should wear their helmets...us adults are old enough to make those decisions, children aren't.

[gatorback]

ok Rush Limbough wanttobe I CONCEDE seeing as trying to get in a simple discusion with you leads to a "I DON'T CARE ABOUT MY COUNTRY" realization, but you haven't convinced me of anything, except that you could never convince me of anything.

You're right...I'd never convince you of anthing.  Since I don't work for the JSO I couldn't; however,  If you could get tickets for riding w/out helmets, and I was a JSO agent, I'd issue them.  It's the law.  Perhaps, a couple of 100 tickets issued to you would change your mind.  I see that's how you work now.

PS  I've not heard that old Rush Cliché since the days of Sandra Day O'Connor.

[second_pancake]

GB and JBM are absolutely on the mark.  These laws are in place to protect children that otherwise wouldn't be protected.  The same reason there are laws in place saying you can't abuse your children.  Incidently, the safety belt law, which impacts adults, was also created for this reason.  If you're lifeless body is rolling around in a vehicle at 60+ mph with a child strapped in back, the odds that you're going to kill that child are pretty damned good.

I am 100% for the helmet law.  I don't think there are kids choosing not to ride their bikes because they "look silly."  Those kids are riding around without helmets or they're in front of the tv and don't give a damn about bikes anyway.  I have a 12 year old and 8 year old, both ride their bikes with my husband and I.  The oldest has been out on the road riding with my husband on the tandem as well as independently and he understands the reasons helmets are worn.  If it's not enough to him to be told, he learned plenty about it watching his dad go down at 25 mph head first into the pavement and live to spend another day with him.  We kept the helmet and gave it to him to remember how lucky his dad was to walk away. The helmet is cracked completely in half.

Doing away with the law in no way is going to encourage kids to ride, nor is it going to do anything positive for the biking community.  We already have to deal with our own police force not ticketing drivers when they cut-off, hit, or otherwise harrass cyclists and break the law, we shouldn't have to deal with a bunch of uneducated kids and their parents too.  Talk about 2 steps backward for the cycling community.  It's apparant you don't ride, Radio Host.

[Radio Talk Show Host]

I have yellow recumbent. I ride constantly. I would be willing to bet I will go all of February without seeing a teenager on a bicycle with a helmet.
some things government shouldn't control
Ask a  middle school principle if any student wears a helmet, probably not.
ALL THE HELMET LAW DOES IS STOP KIDS FROM RIDING BICYCLES LEGALLY.   

[gatorback]

RTSH A very high percentage of cyclists' brain injuries can be prevented by a helmet.  What the hemlet does it protect the brain from injury.  We feel the law incourages helment use.

Ask a middle school principle if they educate students on helmets.

Help educate the bicycle riding public on helmet saftey.

Or, you could just bla about the law.