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New Law Proposed: Kid Wears a Helmet or Parents Get Fined

http://www.chicagotalks.org/2010/03/11/child-bike-helmet-proposals-...

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Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on March 14, 2010 at 10:36pm
Liz W. Durham said:
Are Hamos and Silverstein riders? Or connected to the biking community in any way other than political?

I seriously doubt it on both counts. People who tend to want to save people from themselves are very seldom actually familiar with the reality of what they're trying to control.
Permalink Reply by Spencer "Thunderball" Thayer! on March 14, 2010 at 10:48pm
It seems to me that legislators are really missing the boat when they think they need to make such laws. I don't know what it takes to get folks to understand that slapping down a silly law does not create change or safety or necessarily even compliance.

"I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail."
Permalink Reply by Vilda on March 14, 2010 at 10:53pm
This is a great idea. Habits are formed when young and if the kid is going to grow up to be any kind of real cyclist then they should learn to ride with a helmet as early as possible. I know there are those that don't like laws for the sake of making them but this could save some kids lives and some adults lives later.
Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on March 14, 2010 at 10:59pm
Gabe,

Why not leave this to the parents to enforce? After all, the parents are the ones responsible for the kid.

Gabe said:
This is a great idea. Habits are formed when young and if the kid is going to grow up to be any kind of real cyclist then they should learn to ride with a helmet as early as possible. I know there are those that don't like laws for the sake of making them but this could save some kids lives and some adults lives later.
Permalink Reply by Liz W. Durham on March 15, 2010 at 12:31am
Gabe...I agree that habits are formed when young and that learning to wear a helmet early in life makes sense.
The problem with making it a law is that most laws fails to educate and inform. Knowledge is much more powerful a motivator/tool for behavior than a law which most nobody will read or learn of and which will, in all likelihood, rarely be enforced. So if the goal is to create positive habits for safety and conscientiousness legislators ought to push for education...not just to add another law to the books due to lobbyists who have agendas without full knowledge themselves. Sure, doctors may well have stats on head injuries from bike accidents but they usually do not have the stats on what increases and promotes safe riding. Hamos, Silverstein, and others in their camp seem to be responding only to one side of the issue...I call that irresponsible at best.

Gabe said:
This is a great idea. Habits are formed when young and if the kid is going to grow up to be any kind of real cyclist then they should learn to ride with a helmet as early as possible. I know there are those that don't like laws for the sake of making them but this could save some kids lives and some adults lives later.
Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on March 15, 2010 at 12:44am
Don't know nothing about Silverstein, but Julie Hamos is the head of the mass transit committee and the failure to come up with a long-term solution to our transit funding woes rests to a large degree on her shoulders. I don't know what her relationship to bicycling is but she's from the land of near north suburbs where bicycles are weekend toys, not transportation choices, and I'm guessing her motivation is that 1) such a law is low-hanging fruit, and 2) In her estimate it will elevate her in the eyes of potential voters.
Permalink Reply by Michael Perz on March 15, 2010 at 11:18am
Gabe said:
This is a great idea. Habits are formed when young and if the kid is going to grow up to be any kind of real cyclist then they should learn to ride with a helmet as early as possible. I know there are those that don't like laws for the sake of making them but this could save some kids lives and some adults lives later.

Ummm...
Permalink Reply by Vilda on March 15, 2010 at 12:09pm
As a former teacher i can whole heartedly say leaving anything to parents is futile. Most parents are complete idiots. This isn't religious this is life or death. A kid wearing a helmet has a better chance at living when hit by some asshole behind the wheel and that kid will likely grow up to continue wearing a helmet and if he or she gets hit again will hopefully continue living.

Who cares if the kid doesn't know why he's wearing a helmet at first. Get it on the kids head!
Permalink Reply by Michael Perz on March 15, 2010 at 12:17pm
Gabe said:
Most parents are complete idiots


Errr....
Permalink Reply by mike w. on March 15, 2010 at 12:45pm
Well, when i got my then teenaged daughter a bike and a helmet, and told her no riding without a helmet, she NEVER RODE AGAIN.

Anyone who has had kids will understand how contrarian they can be, especially from about ages 12 to 35.

i don't ride without a helmet, my younger daughter gets that and uses hers, her older sister wouldn't wear hers because she thought it looked dorky in the eyes of her pals.

And another thing, how many times a day do you see a younger (middle-school aged) kid tooling along with his helmet dangling from the handlebar? i'm willing to bet that they wear it until out of sight of the house and put it back on just before coming in.

So, just WTF would a law penalising a parent accomplish? Look around...

i don't agree with Gabe's dire assesment of parents. Yes, i know some are clueless ( i see helicopter parents every day at the university level,) But PLEASE, do we really need another damned UNENFORCABLE law on the books? Let the parents decide what's best. Educate, not punish.

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