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WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y. – The bicycling safety story that appeared on the 32 Daily Voice websites throughout Westchester County last week sparked a lively debate among readers, many of whom voiced their thoughts in the comments section under the story.
Which bicycling safety issue is most important/problematic to you?
View ResultsWhich bicycling safety issue is most important/problematic to you?
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Enforcement of helmet laws
14% -
Bicyclists riding in large, wide groups
74% -
Lack of lights/turn signals on bicycles
5% -
Bicycle registration/insurance
7%
Reader Hal Samis felt that helmets should not be the focal point of bicycling safety discussions.
“If helmet laws are truly intended to lessen injury, they should be limited to those wearing the biker gear and riding at high speed in packs on heavily trafficked road,” Samis wrote.
Samis also called the wearing of helmets “an annoyance, uncomfortable, unfashionable and an intrusion.”
Steve Morton wrote that rear blinking LED lights should be mandatory for cyclists and that bicycle lanes should be marked with a different color than the rest of the road. Morton also advocated the enforcement of helmet laws.
Reader lynda.n.fisher commented that she has “yet to see a bicyclist stop at a red light or stop sign” and recommended vehicle registration and insurance for cyclists.
Finally, reader GoJo73 recounted a story in which a large group of bicyclists blocked the road and banged on the side of his car as he drove past them.
Please take our poll on bicycle safety to the left and write in your comments below.
Comments (3)
I also wrote that there are some who use bicycles only as local transportation (low carbon footprint) and that carrying the helmet around, off bike, when on these short runs is often problematic. It might also be argued that wearing a helmet gives some riders the false impression of invulnerability.
There is a WORLD of difference between the picture (above) of riders in bike clubs and those who ride less than two miles a day perhaps but two or three times a week. Passing local helmet laws with the intent to enforce them against everyone is the aftermath of lazy lawmakers who took the path of least resistance because they were stymied being unable to figure out how to write a "fair" law recognizing exclusions.
One size does not fit all.
There is a legal definition of "reckless endangerment" which could have been written into the law but wasn't.
Such admittedly broad language, however, would remove the intimidation and mean spirited nurturing of a police state that local helmet laws foster. I suggest that leaving such broadness of interpretation up to the judgement of individual officers (who probably aren't thrilled about writing these tickets in the first place) would result in few Supreme Court challenges.
Finally, on Tarrytown Road (near Staples, White Plains) there is a memorial to the "Ghost Rider", a cyclist killed while riding. He was wearing a helmet at the time.
Hal Samis
I think it's great that more people are cycling for exercise and even as a primary means of transportation. With that in mind, it's time for bicycle laws to change.
Cyclists need to follow the same rules of the road as an automobile, just as they do in Europe.
They stop at red lights, stop signs, pedestrians, right of way etc. No special rules. They are a vehicle!
We will probably see more and more bikes in downtown areas in the future as well, so it's time for the laws in the US regarding bicycles and bike safety being applied as they are in countries where bicycles are a common mode of transportation in daily life.
Not getting hit by a car or truck is the most important thing. How we make that happen is more to the point.