Latest Comments

• Its about freedom of choice

  Rick and Max, you are welcome to think what you like about helmets. Its your heads and should be your choices. However I have read the research and came to the same conclusion the judge but the law prevents me exercising my choice just as it tried to prevent Sue Abbott exercising her's. I should no more be forced to wear one than you should be forced not to wear one.

  Posted by Antony October 23, 2010 00:55:27

• don't care

  i don't care about studies, i don't care about safety in numbers, i don't care about other kinds of head injuries...
  if i smash my knee in an accident they can probably fix it and if not then replace it. if i scramble my brain there ain't no fixing it and i'm relearning the alphabet. i know the alphabet pretty darn well and i'm not keen on relearning it.
  i wear a seatbelt when i drive and i wear a helmet when i ride (which averages twice as many miles a year than my driving). this has nothing to do with any guarantees that i won't need to relearn the alphabet, it's simply a sensible precaution.
  

  Posted by rick October 15, 2010 12:47:14

• Personal risk assessment

  This isn't a debate about helmets but about why it should be 'law.' I am tired of reading helmet testimonials and the like when this topic arises when this is really a social and philosophical debate about the pros and cons of mandatory helmet laws and the role of government in determining what we can and can't decide for ourselves in the name of the social greater good. Repealing the law does not equate banning or promoting helmets not be worn. Similarly it is not an attack on your choice to wear one.
  
  Each type of journey you take by bike is different and while an accident could happen on any of them - route, speed, traffic type of riding should be able to play a part in a personal risk assessment. We do this in almost every aspect of our lives when we make a decision. I don't see why I shouldn't be able to cycle somewhere I deem safe enough for my ability as a cyclist to go without a helmet as so many cyclists in other countries can. I am no more likely to have accident getting to the local market on my bike as I am getting there as a pedestrian.
  
  No other country (such as the UK - a fair comparison to Australia in terms of road conditions for cyclists) is crippled by the health costs of people cycling without helmets and a great many people do wear them in the UK but it's not law. The health cost angle is just not a valid argument for the laws. If it was we should outlaw alcohol, the biggest cost to our health systems, immediately.
  
  This is not about being anti-helmets or disputing that in certain circumstances they can prevent a more serious injury but about reinvigorating utility cycling in Australia and especially allowing us to enjoy the benefits of bike share schemes in our cities as other cities around the world have. Currently children are taught to wear helmets out of fear, a fear that cycling is inherently dangerous and will kill you. As a result helmets or not children and more importantly their fear-mongered parents are not encouraging or participating in cycling as an everyday activity and this is the most dangerous situation of all because the less cyclists on the roads the more riskier cycling does become.

  Posted by Naomi October 05, 2010 23:46:31

• Cracked

  I was thrown off my bike in a traffic accident. I was wearing a helmet.
  I was knocked unconscious. My helmet cracked.
  I'm damn glad I was wearing it. I'm pretty sure it would've been a cracked skull if not for the cracked helmet.

  Posted by Max Rockbin September 22, 2010 20:53:04