Further on this.. on top of the Bicycle Network announcement our local mayor in Brisbane is a very strong proponent of relaxing the helmet laws. He quite rightly see's this as an opportunity to help our city cycle really get use. Unfortunately he's a politician.. and he can't change the helmet law but he can yell at the opposition state transport minister. He could get on an build our CBD cycle grid but that's all a bit hard for him... but I digress.Thoglette wrote:I've given the ABC coverage it's own thread (and asked for MHL discusssion to come here. Wait for the mergeComedian wrote:Survey is in..
https://www.bicyclenetwork.com.au/newsr ... y-results/
Every single bit of research I've seen on the topic (there's not much) has shown that this is the case. Interestingly, I've seen at least one researcher drop this topic from later published research. Which was co-authored with health&safety professionalsComedian wrote:If you don't like wearing a helmet you probably don't ride now because you don't have a choice about it.
ABC in Brisbane did a story on the BN announcement and the local guys call for the repeal and the comments are pretty interesting. As we've agreed the people who ride now are largely happy with MHL because if they didn't.. they wouldn't ride now. So it's all when I was mountain biking I feel off a 200ft embankment and a helmet saved my life etc etc.
But the other group and probably the majority are motorists. Their take on it is "absolutely" and "if you don't wear one and you get a brain injury don't bother the health system". While there are obvious issues with that the underlying thing is that motorists are quite happy with cyclists wearing helmets. It's no problem to them - and I think they feel as though if they do hit one while texting (Ooopsie!) they might not be as badly hurt so they will see less consequences.
So - what groups have we really got to fight for repeal? A few libertarians and a tiny group of people who know what cycling used to be like here - or what it's like in the rest of the world. I can't see it ever happening.