Fab Foodie said:
Compulsion would be a disaster.
While some people's compulsions indeed can lead to disaster, mandatory helmet use for cyclists is not one of them.
A disaster is when someone loses or ruins their life for the want of something as simple as a styrofoam hat.
Helmet use has been compulsory here for some years now and the sky has not fallen. Most people are happy to comply. A very small number defy the law and it is not widely enforced. However, if a cop decides to pull you over, there is a fine to pay. To me, that's not the big chance they're taking.
A-too-hip-for-helmet friend of my nephew's recently took a header off his "fixie" and ended up in hospital without a memory. Luckily it came back after a few days and (it appears) he has made a full recovery. I'm happy to say the result of this near-disaster was that he and my nephew went out and bought helmets -- to the general derision of their hipster peers.
Last year, a very experienced randonneur crashed behind me, after hitting a pothole. When I reached him, he was picking himself up, rather dazed. When he went down fast, his shoulder hit the road, then the side of his head. Without a helmet, we would have been making a visit to the hospital. As it was, he finished the ride. The long-term injury was to his shoulder ... not his brain.
Unfortunately, sans helmet, not all such incidents result in actionable lessons for the victims. If any good comes out of them however, maybe it's a lesson for others.
Kudos to the recent posts here, sharing close calls made more survivable by the judicious use of safety equipment.
It's obvious you can't appeal to those who have insulated themselves, not with styrofoam, but bulletproof rationalizations. However, your cautionary tales might save others from harm.
Speedy recovery.
)
