Helmet

[Carcosa view]

tell me why you don't wear one.
I was out recently and a couple on Aventons passed me. The "dad" was pulling what appeared to be a 3 or 4 year old in one of those cute trailer things. She had no helmet on, the dad had no helmet, the mom had no helmet. Spent probably $4K on bikes but no helmets. They were riding near where I live which has very heavy, very rude and very unsafe drivers. I did a Phil from Groundhog Day and caught up with the mom who was trailing behind. Explained that is was none of my business but that kid needed a helmet and so did she. I told her you are riding a motorized vehicle and bad things can happen very quickly. Explained how I knew because both of my sons were hit by cars and the helmets probably saved their brains. She kept going I know, I know. If that kid had been on the back of a motorcycle the law here would have made in mandatory that she wear a helmet. What's the difference? The ER docs call it job security.

[Tree]

curious as to where you live - many cities require kids to wear helmets on bikes, even if they don't require adults to do the same.

[John Rose]

tell me why you don't wear one.

I cannot, because I do.

When I first got our (which now is "hers") RadMini ST2, I wiped out (a second time) in the middle of a very slow U-turn on wet uneven sod. Somehow, I ended up on my back and my head hit a nice soft lump of grass. I was wearing a helmet at the time.
There were also many rocks in the area, so it could have turned out a lot worse.

And, it is required by the New Brunswick Motor Vehicle Act Chapter M-17 when riding on a highway:

177(3)No person shall ride on or operate a bicycle on a highway unless the person is wearing a bicycle helmet in accordance with the regulations and the chin strap of the helmet is securely fastened under the person?s chin.
177(4)No parent or guardian of a person who is under sixteen years of age shall authorize or knowingly permit that person to ride on or operate a bicycle on a highway unless the person is wearing a helmet in accordance with subsection (3).

Earlier, in the definitions section:

?highway? means the entire width between the boundary lines of every street, road, lane, alley, park, parking lot, drive-in theatre, school yard, picnic site, beach, winter road across ice or place when any part thereof is used by the general public for the passage or parking of vehicles, and includes the bridges thereon and, unless the context indicates otherwise or unless the reference is contained in a provision that is in conflict with a provision of the New Brunswick Highway Corporation Act, a highway under the administration and control of the New Brunswick Highway Corporation or a project company; (route)

Wait . . . what? School yards, picnic sites, and beaches are "highways"?

Something I'm not sure of is whether a "rail-to-trail" is deemed to be a "park". It probably is.

[mrgold35]

Bike riding seems to be on the rise since the start of the pandemic in 2020?  My local bike paths are more crowded now compared to 2014-2019 when I got back into biking (pedal bike first, ebike after 2016).  We always wore helmets for safety. It doesn't matter if it is mine or someone else's fault, the bike rider is the one that is going to get injured.

I don't think new riders take that into consideration until it happens?

[Carcosa view]

curious as to where you live - many cities require kids to wear helmets on bikes, even if they don't require adults to do the same.

Alpharetta Georgia.

[Tree]

curious as to where you live - many cities require kids to wear helmets on bikes, even if they don't require adults to do the same.

Alpharetta Georgia.

state law in GA mandates that "no person under the age of 16 years shall operate or be a passenger on a bicycle on a highway, bicycle path, bicycle lane, or sidewalk under the jurisdiction or control of this state or any local political subdivision thereof without wearing a bicycle helmet."

So yea, y'all do have laws in place for this. there's no test to become a parent, and there are a lot of dumb ones out there.

[Bigboom338]

In South Dakota kids have to wear helmets on motorcycles, but not bikes. We also have to wear seatbelts in motor vehicles but don't have to wear helmets on motorcycles. Does that make any sense?
My wife and I bought Sena M1 Evo helmets and absolutely love them. The Bluetooth communication is awesome. They aren't cheap but in my opinion worth the money.

[Naranja_CT5+]

When it comes to helmet laws, it doesn?t have to make sense. It?s politics.

I have no experience with it but you can download a walkie-talkie apps on your smartphones. It uses wifi or Bluetooth no need for internet.