I was gratified to see many Virginia Tech students biking to campus this morning. Any hope of making this a bike-friendly town depends on having lots of student bikers.
But I was also dismayed at how few students were wearing helmets. Please, please get a helmet at your nearest friendly bike shop and wear it every time you bike. Your fellow students are often driving while distracted and they won't see you until it's too late. Your head is your most valuable asset -- it's worth protecting.
-Kimberley Homer, Tech alumna and staff member
A version of this article appeared in the Aug 24 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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I would be interested in knowing whether it would be feasible to implement a campus-wide "law" to make the use of helmets while biking (or riding a skateboard) on campus a requirement. A dear friend of mine passed away close to 2 years ago during a skateboarding accident on campus, a tragedy which could have been avoided if he had been wearing a helmet. I know of at least another recent case where a VT student sustained fatal head injuries due to a fall while skateboarding without a helmet. In the same way that seatbelts are required by law for operating a vehicle, can VT, or even Blacksburg, do anything to enforce helmet use?
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Blacksburg and Mont. County do have the right by VA state law to mandate only ages 15 and under to wear helmets. Wouldn't it be nice if the state recognized how much a person's head in an accident could be protected if only they had one?
However it isn't just helmets... Students please stop texting while biking, it is against the law to have headphones in both ears while biking and don't think you are invincible! I saw a young man run a read light at full speed across 4 lanes of traffic all with green lights. there is a reason so many kids have been hurt and killed here in the last 10 years by cars, and guys it isn't all the drivers' faults.
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Sorry for the poor sentence structure and bad spelling...
"Wouldn't it be nice for the state to recognize how much a person's head could be protected in an accident if only they had one (a helmet)?" Should be the sentence...
And it should the RED not READ light...sorry. Certainly can't make a point well if it is not written well, now can you?
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It is only illegal to have headphones in on roads that are over 35 miles per hour.
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A helmet law (especially on campus) would be a terrible idea. I commute to campus every day wearing a helmet by choice, and if other people don't want to that should their decision to make. Studies have shown that cyclists who wear helmets will ride more dangerously and will be passed more closely by overtaking cars. There's also people out there who simply won't wear a helmet because they think it makes them look silly or will mess up their hair. Instead of trying to implement a helmet law, police should spend their time and resources enforcing existing traffic laws on cars and bikes to prevent accidents in the first place.
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I respect your effort to "research" about the subject. As an avid investigator, then, I suppose you're well aware that for one study supporting the idea of more careless biking impulsed by helmet use, you will also find numerous studies evidencing more safe conscious biking brought about by helmet use. It's your call what studies you want to look at and what evidence you deem significant. However, if you'd rather not protect your noggin, as Anonymous proposed enforcing on VT campus, then you are putting your safety in the hands of irresponsible drivers who are unattentive while driving on campus. It's easier for you to take preemptive action and protect yourself from drivers. Furthermore, it is easier for VT police to enforce helmet use among bikers than scope out people in cars texting and driving, or even just driving carelessly. One such driver colliding with you (and your unprotected head) and it's over for you.
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I agree with you that it's very smart to ride without a helmet, which is why I wear one when I ride to work - I just don't think it should be against the law to ride from class to the library without one. I would argue that drivers on campus are more aware of their surroundings than on the rest of the roads in town because they expect to see cyclists and pedestrians everywhere. And as far as enforcement goes, police should start pulling over cyclists who run red lights, speed, and ride the wrong way around the drillfield before they start worrying about who's wearing a helmet.
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"And as far as enforcement goes, police should start pulling over cyclists who run red lights, speed, and ride the wrong way around the drillfield before they start worrying about who's wearing a helmet."<----Can't argue with that. A lot of the problem with biking on campus resides in careless biking, weaving through traffic, inappropriate use of the road/sidewalk.
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"And as far as enforcement goes, police should start pulling over cyclists who run red lights, speed, and ride the wrong way around the drillfield before they start worrying about who's wearing a helmet."
Unfortunately the state laws in Virginia apply to "motor vehicles" only for the most part. A cyclist can be cited for other things when they endanger the public, but they cannot be given a ticket for simply running a stop sign or red light as long as their actions are not putting others in danger (which they are in most cases).
Citation: Va Code § 46.2-833. Section C: "The driver of any motor vehicle..."
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Dan, I believe you're mistaken. What about § 46.2-800, which states:
"Every person riding a bicycle... on a highway shall ... have all of the rights and duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle...
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The cops do stop people that go on the drillfield in the wrong direction. According to virginia tech's bike policy the bikes are allowed to use the road, sidewalk, and grass as a viable path... so they can just go on the crosswalk instead of stopping at a stop sign.
http://www.policies.vt.edu/5005.pdf
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This is ridiculous, helmets are optional and I will not wear one while biking regardless if there is a law requiring one.
The calls for requiring people to wear a helmets are disturbing. What has this country come to? A law for this law for that? Is that our country's answer to everything? Make a law banning every little thing that may bother some people?
Why don't you let those choose for themselves if they want to text and drive, text and bike or bike without a helmet?
If they cause an accident and they are at fault, it doesn't matter what they were doing to cause that accident they have to accept responsibility regardless. These calls are just another opportunity for politicians and the police to find new revenues at the expense of the people.
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No politics here. The acceptance of responsibility over an accident seems trivial compared to the loss of life that can be incurred. If enforcing responsibility while driving/biking/walking seems wrong, then such views are a danger to society. Society needs order, a structure of sorts. A free-for-all/lawless attitude seems ignorant and naive.
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I don't like more laws/control either. But as long as my tax dollars and health insurance dollars don't have to keep you alive on life support after cracking your head against the concrete, then I'd say it's your right to feel the breeze in your precious hair. But that's not the way this country works. When you collide with a car, you will cost your health insurance money, and if it's the same company that I have, I will end up paying more. Or my employer will pay more, and have less money to give me a raise.
So your right to ride without a helmet ends where my wallet begins...
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So don't get health insurance. Alternatively, lobby your HI provider to mandate helmet use. Your choice of insurance companies shouldn't affect those of us without the same.
I feel that laws should be implemented to protect one citizen from another. Laws "protecting" a citizen from him or herself are intrusive and unnecessary.
Take care of yourself, allow others to do the same.
Robert
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Robert, you want me to NOT get health insurance because people are too lazy to wear bike helmets?? Yeah, that makes sense. Although... maybe that's a good idea. Because if *I* don't have health insurance, guess who pays when I need medical care - YOU!! Thanks!
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If you want to mandate people to wear helmets because of the cost to society then we should...
Mandate overweight and obese people to go on a diet
Make smokers quit...right now
Ban use of power tools without kevlar gloves and goggles
Better yet...kill everyone thats stupid or unhealthy!
I doubt anyone would even consider those steps to save you money so why worry about helmets?
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People are afraid that drivers will hit them on their bikes, therefore they should be more careful. People in cars are afraid of hitting people on bikes, so they should be more careful. why not educate people instead of making laws...why not try to get people to wear helmets instead of telling them they have to? I still think that if people were educated instead of forced we would have a better society.
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"Why don't you let those choose for themselves if they want to text and drive, text and bike or bike without a helmet?"
The reason we don't has to do with public safety. The first two examples, regarding texting, are individual actions that put others at risk. Personally, I support laws that protect the public from harm due to gross negligence on the part of individuals. The third option, regarding helmet use, only involves risk to the individual cyclist. Hopefully you can see the difference, and accept that the first two do not fall into the category of "every little thing that may bother some people."
Regarding revenue, the administrative cost of enforcing helmet laws would probably be prohibitive; but that is a separate issue than the safety concern.
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Forgot to emphasize that I agree a cyclist should have the right to ride without a helmet. It is a personal safety issue, and should be left up to the individual.
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On a side note I would also like to see law for helmets on people who text and walk.
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I see people making two arguments against a helment law: (a) Helmets don't work, and (b) Such laws are intrusive and unjustified. I won't address (b) here -- my argument is aimed at those who already agree with seatbelt laws (as I do).
But I don't support helmet laws, though I once did. Surprised by claims that helmets don't work, I looked into it to find the flaws. A summary is here: http://sarbayes.org/ctwardy/blog/01217938368. The upshot is that in some large and well-designed studies, there was no reduction in head injuries. It's not clear why. Possibilities include: current helmets are too weak to help, helmets convert concussion injuries to rotation injuries, moral hazard (cyclists or drivers being more aggressive), and ensemble effects (helmets reduce #cyclists, and more cyclists makes drivers better at avoiding them).
So I still wear a helmet, but I wouldn't compel other adults to do so, not without stronger evidence.
@stu "it's your call what studies you want to look at": No, this is not the way science is done. Nor is it a matter of counting the number of "for" and "against", though too often this is done. Studies reaching opposite conclusions are all evidence.
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Helmets don't work!?! Surely you are not serious, Charles? Without a doubt, wearing a PROPERLY FITTED helmet will reduce your odds of suffering traumatic brain injury. What's more, you don't need to spend an arm and a leg. A simple $20 helmet can save your life. http://www.bhsi.org/testbycost.htm
I'm not certain, but I think the link you provided indicated that the helmet law did not reduce pedestrian fatalities. I think a more accurate study, in terms of helmet effectiveness, would be a comparison of injuries sustained in accidents while wearing a helmet vs. similar accidents w/o a helmet. If you're curious enough, dig around the BHSI site and you'll probably find some.
As for seatbelts, that is a similar, but separate issue, especially since driving requires a government issued license. I'm not keen on helmet laws, but I'm all for seatbelt laws. I've been in more car accidents than I care to admit, and can personally say that seatbelts are effective. The most glaring example would be when I drove into a tree, head on, going 40mph. I walked away without injury simply because I was wearing my seatbelt.
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I'd like to think helmets work, but if so, the effect should show up clearly in large studies. The link I gave was confusing, sorry. Here is the original article (from BHSI, doing the kind of controls you suggest):
http://www.helmets.org/veloaust.htm
That paper compared head injuries as a proportion of other bicycle injuries for Australian hospital admission data, both before and after helmet legislation. Proportion of helmet use went up after the legislation, so if helmets are effective overall, then proportion of head injuries should have gone down.
They could not discern an effect of the legislation. There was a general trend towards lower proportion of head injuries, but it paralleled the same trend among pedestrians (who do not wear helmets). (The helmet legislation was part of other road safety legislation.)
Ken Kiefer elaborates on this and other studies here:
http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/advocacy/mhls.htm
He also offers the most plausible explanation I have found for finding no effect in the data: helmet standards are too weak -- by the time a collision is severe enough to cause serious brain injury, it's serious enough to go right through the helmet too. But this is just a guess. I'd love to look into the data some more.
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