Imagine a helmet strapped on a human skull— forever (3 Viewers)

[pman]

Most saftey gear is regarded as uncool because we seem tougher by not wearing it......peer presure is probably the number one reason for the not wearing of helmets!

 

[brunx]

Sure. But life is fraught with risks. If we always took the course of action that minimizes risk of injury or death would never do any of the things that make life worth living.

Where to draw the line, and to balance the trade off between risk and pleasure is a choice that every individual should be free to make for themselves.

yeh yeh. but we're talking about wearing helmets. as others have said, its hardly an intrusive law. wearing a helmet largely reduces the risks associated with cycling, and hardly affects the pleasure of riding.

judging from your last sentence there, your probably one of those people who believe we can do whatever we want like taking hard drugs because wah wah wah its there own choice and if they want they can put themselves at risk because it doesnt affect anyone else.
young people of australia: stop thinking its so cool to support extreme and fundamentally flawed political systems. accept that your current quality of life would be adversely affected by the introduction of a radical libertarian system.

 

[SnowFox]

Most saftey gear is regarded as uncool because we seem tougher by not wearing it......peer presure is probably the number one reason for the not wearing of helmets!

I bought shin guards and a FFhelmet when i went DH racing in school and everyone high fived me.

 

[pman]

I bought shin guards and a FFhelmet when i went DH racing in school and everyone high fived me.

Downhilling is a bit different, because of the inherent risks, most downhillers wear HANS (Head And Neck Support) and body armour even though it is not compulsery, the sheer numbers of bad injuries stemming rom downhilling make most competative downhillers wish to wear the safety gear.....Thing is, downhilling is much more dangerous than rding to school on the road

 

[SnowFox]

Downhilling is a bit different, because of the inherent risks, most downhillers wear HANS (Head And Neck Support) and body armour even though it is not compulsery, the sheer numbers of bad injuries stemming rom downhilling make most competative downhillers wish to wear the safety gear.....Thing is, downhilling is much more dangerous than rding to school on the road

Last i checked trees dont move at ~60KM/h, but you are right.

 

[loquasagacious]

Downhilling is a bit different, because of the inherent risks, most downhillers wear HANS (Head And Neck Support) and body armour even though it is not compulsery, the sheer numbers of bad injuries stemming rom downhilling make most competative downhillers wish to wear the safety gear.....Thing is, downhilling is much more dangerous than rding to school on the road

So what you're saying is that individuals can and do exercise their judgement to analyse risks and take the safety precautions which they feel are adequate?

 

[yoddle]

Mandatory helmet laws act as a disincentive to potential cyclists.

Why? I don't agree with the laws, but what makes you think that it puts off potential cyclists? Most cyclists wear helmets by there own volition, and the ones that don't have demonstrated that they are ready to take a health risk, so wouldn't they also disregard the risk of being fined?

The figures that show decreased incidences of accidents involving bikes in countries with larger numbers of cyclists would also be related to the major cycling culture prevalent in some, especially European, countries, which is not present in Australia, and probably wouldn't be improved by a slightly higher number of cyclists without helmets on.

 

[BlackDragon]

Most cyclists wear helmets by there own volition, and the ones that don't have demonstrated that they are ready to take a health risk, so wouldn't they also disregard the risk of being fined?

It's silly to think that people aren't deterred from riding without helmets because it is against the law. It is a big deterant.
But yes sensible people would wear helmets when they need to.

 

[yoddle]

OK it may be for some people. I was speaking from their already demonstrated disregard for risk and out of personal experience, where in all the cases that I've been involved with people deciding not to wear helmets (different groups of people, for different reasons, at various times) the possibility that they may be caught by the police has played almost no part in their decision making.

Actually roflmaolol i just remembered that on a visit to Sydney I rode through the whole of Enmore/Newtown, inexperienced, unconfident, tipsy, along busy streets and during a thunderstorm without a helmet on. And then back again, very intoxicated. Was super fun though.

 

[Slidey]

Doing drugs should, at worst, be like not wearing a bike helmet - potential fines.

 

[Enteebee]

Cyclists shouldn't be using the roads anyway, in my opinion... Other than perhaps newer/revamped communities where the roads have been designed with cycling/motoring co-existing in mind.

 

[Graney]

Cyclists shouldn't be using the roads anyway, in my opinion... Other than perhaps newer/revamped communities where the roads have been designed with cycling/motoring co-existing in mind.

Ideally, cars shouldn't be using the roads.

 

[Enteebee]

Ideally, we should all get floated around from destination to destination by magical unicorns.

 

[BlackDragon]

Ideally, we should all get floated around from destination to destination by magical unicorns.

Ideally, these magic unicorns will take us to candy mountain.

 

[Graney]

Or, you know, take a bus.

 

[SnowFox]

 

[philphie]

imagine a helmet strapped on a goat- for an agreeable amount of time

 

[Enteebee]

Or, you know, take a bus.

LMFAO... You obviously live in a pretty lush neighborhood.

 

[jennyfromdabloc]

LMFAO... You obviously live in a pretty lush neighborhood.

What came first, the automobile dependence or the socialized roads?

 

[Enteebee]

What came first, the automobile dependence or the socialized roads?

If only we didn't have roads... then we wouldn't be so dependent on our cars!