> Mandatory helmet laws do not prevent people from riding bikes. Just like mandatory seat belt laws did not prevent anyone from driving cars!
That's a straw man. Nowhere in the article does it use the word "prevent". What the article cites are studies indicating that the behavioural effect of the laws was a reduction in bike riding.
> "Lastly, we know these “quality of life” laws are disproportionately enforced in communities of color and in lower income communities." - what the hell?! Yes, helmet and safety laws are the reason why police officers disproportionately enforce various laws against communities of color.
Again, that's a straw man argument. The laws aren't the reason why police officers disproportionately enforce said laws against communities of colour, but an observable effect of said laws is that they are disproportionately enforced on communities of colour. Sure, you can work on police enforcement reform, but until you get that problem fixed, the disproportionate enforcement is an observable effect.
> To deal with bike safety, we need to make everyone wear bike helmets until we reach critical mass in cycling adoption. /Some/ protection is better than nothing at all.
That contains the kind of poor logic you're critical of. There's a presumption that to reach critical mass in cycling adoption we need to "make everyone wear bike helmets", despite evidence cited in the article that the blunt instrument of legal mandates appears to reduce cycling adoption.
The article agrees with you (as does most everyone else) that "some protection is better than nothing at all". It's not a question of whether wearing a bicycle helmet is a good idea or not. Just because something is a good idea doesn't mean that a legal mandate for it is also a good idea.
> In the meantime, we need to implement better traffic calming and separation of automobile and cycling/pedestrian traffic. Kids die every year because in many areas, they have no choice but to bike on the side of a road that has cars whizzing past 60+ mph with less than 12 inches of separation in between.
Again, the article agrees with you on this point: "Right now, with nearly 40,000 people killed on American roads every year, that means we need to keep our leaders’ attention focused on structural reforms like complete street redesigns, which are proven to make our public spaces safe for everybody, whether they are walking, biking, taking transit, and yes, driving too."
That's a straw man. Nowhere in the article does it use the word "prevent". What the article cites are studies indicating that the behavioural effect of the laws was a reduction in bike riding.
> "Lastly, we know these “quality of life” laws are disproportionately enforced in communities of color and in lower income communities." - what the hell?! Yes, helmet and safety laws are the reason why police officers disproportionately enforce various laws against communities of color.
Again, that's a straw man argument. The laws aren't the reason why police officers disproportionately enforce said laws against communities of colour, but an observable effect of said laws is that they are disproportionately enforced on communities of colour. Sure, you can work on police enforcement reform, but until you get that problem fixed, the disproportionate enforcement is an observable effect.
> To deal with bike safety, we need to make everyone wear bike helmets until we reach critical mass in cycling adoption. /Some/ protection is better than nothing at all.
That contains the kind of poor logic you're critical of. There's a presumption that to reach critical mass in cycling adoption we need to "make everyone wear bike helmets", despite evidence cited in the article that the blunt instrument of legal mandates appears to reduce cycling adoption.
The article agrees with you (as does most everyone else) that "some protection is better than nothing at all". It's not a question of whether wearing a bicycle helmet is a good idea or not. Just because something is a good idea doesn't mean that a legal mandate for it is also a good idea.
> In the meantime, we need to implement better traffic calming and separation of automobile and cycling/pedestrian traffic. Kids die every year because in many areas, they have no choice but to bike on the side of a road that has cars whizzing past 60+ mph with less than 12 inches of separation in between.
Again, the article agrees with you on this point: "Right now, with nearly 40,000 people killed on American roads every year, that means we need to keep our leaders’ attention focused on structural reforms like complete street redesigns, which are proven to make our public spaces safe for everybody, whether they are walking, biking, taking transit, and yes, driving too."