Helmets - Greater Greater Washington

And...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 08:44:00 EDT

A bike helmet flashes a cyclist's level of stress. (Wired) ... VDOT wants feedback on its bike map. (FABB) ... The 4th annual "Potholepalooza" is on. (Post)

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Maryland considering mandatory helmets for drivers

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 11:04:00 EDT

by Anita Park

This article was posted as an April Fool's joke.

Following a rash of pedestrian-car collisions across the state, Maryland legislators have proposed requiring all drivers to wear helmets. While driving activists are split on the issue, area pedestrians say it's about time drivers took responsibility for themselves.

A driver behaving safely. Photo by joelogon on Flickr.

Yesterday, state delegate Arundela Mills (D-MCDOT) announced that she plans to amend House Bill 339 to require all drivers to wear helmets. The original version of the bill, which has languished in committee, would require adult cyclists to wear helmets.

Delegate Mills notes that the number of cars hit by pedestrians in recent weeks has skyrocketed. In the past month alone, pedestrians walked into cars in Columbia, White Marsh, and Bowie, causing indecipherable damage to vehicles and making their drivers slightly late for work.

And Friday morning, three pedestrians walked into a car driven by Richard Phillips, 38, who was passing through a crosswalk in Germantown on his way to work. Phillips was unhurt, but according to a police report the car's recently-polished grille sustained minor smudges from one pedestrian's bag. The pedestrians all walked away from the scene and have not been charged.

In an interview, Delegate Mills credited the Washington Area Drivers Association (WADA) for the idea. "Helmets will protect drivers from collisions, making it safe to allow drivers on all roads throughout the state," she said. She quoted a study from the Maryland Department of Transportation that found that helmets are the "single best way to avoid head and face injuries."

Driving activists are unsure about the bill's merits. Rental-car agencies note that travelers from out of state rarely pack a helmet, while even members of WADA have distanced themselves from the legislation.

"Studies in Australia show that when helmets are required, driving declines by 35%," said WADA president Penny Farthing. "MDOT is quoting junk science."

In Prince George's County, officials welcomed the proposed legislation. Bai To Hitachi, director of the Department of Public Works & Transportation, noted that cars clearly do not belong on roads meant for pedestrians. "DPW&T cares about public safety and is concerned when members of the community ... knowingly commit acts of high-risk behavior as a mechanism to achieve a public action," Hitachi said.

Hitachi called for additional legislation to require helmets for drivers in parking buildings, where heavy pedestrian traffic puts them in danger. "I'd feel safer walking on the Capital Beltway than driving in the parking building at the New Carrollton Metro Station," he added.

Community leaders look forward to the institution of more helmet laws for any and every situation. "Fifteen years ago I wound up in the intensive care unit of the Georgetown University Hospital neurology department," said Montgomery County Councilmember Flora Noreen. "I don't really know what happened, but I do know that I was not wearing a helmet."

The bill remains in committee and with one week to go before the General Assembly adjourns, opponents of the bill are optimistic that the session will end without action.

In the meantime, police advised drivers in a recent press release to stay alert while crossing sidewalks; to drive cars in bright visible colors or even in reflective paint; to always use controlled intersections; and, before driving, to look left, then right, then left again to check for any pedestrians.

"Parents are the most important models of proper driver behavior for children," said the press release. "Remember, be an engaged driver. It may save damage to your car."

36 comments

Door freely, wear a helmet

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 08:46:00 EDT

by David Alpert

Bike advocates testified against the Maryland helmet bill, while Nancy Floreen argued for it. Meanwhile, Chap Petersen's anti-dooring bill failed on a tie vote in a Virginia house committee. (Baltimore Sun, WashCycle)

Comment

Small steps can help bicycling in Virginia (Jan 4, 2013)
McDonnell trying again to take WMATA seat from NoVA (Mar 31, 2011)
Maryland helmet law would make cyclists less safe (Feb 11, 2013)
What killed the Prince George's County bag bill? (Mar 27, 2012)
COG climate change report briefing tomorrow (Aug 25, 2008)

Maryland helmet law would make cyclists less safe

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 10:01:00 EDT

by Shane Farthing

On Tuesday morning, the Environmental Matters Committee of the Maryland House of Delegates will hold a hearing on House Bill 339, to require that every person operating a bicycle in Maryland wear a helmet. This bill is bad policy.

Photo by Richard Masoner / Cyclelicious on Flickr.

Mandatory helmet laws cause fewer people to bicycle, and when fewer people bicycle, cycling becomes less safe. So much less safe, in fact, that decreased ridership increases the individual cyclist's risk of injury more than wearing a helmet decreases risk of injury.

This does not mean that bicyclists should not wear helmets. We encourage bicyclists to wear helmets. However, there are several reasons why people who are deeply committed to bicyclist safety oppose mandatory helmet laws.

Mandatory helmet laws decrease ridership.

Numerous studies of places that have enacted helmet laws have shown this to be true. The most commonly-cited study—Dorothy Robinson's "No Clear Evidence from Countries that have Enforced the Wearing of Helmets"—examined data from New Zealand, from Nova Scotia, Canada, and from several states in Australia. In each place, the mandatory helmet law significantly decreased ridership, from 20% to 44% with an average of 37.5%.

(One can debate whether Maryland can expect a decrease of this magnitude. There is no local data available, so this analysis uses the average of 37.5%. But even if the decrease is only 20%, the lowest Robinson observed, even half of that, the result is the same.)

Lower ridership makes bicycling less safe.

We are defining "safety" as the likelihood of a bike-auto crash. By saying that decreased ridership makes bicycling less safe, we mean that a decreased rate of bicycling within a population is correlated with increased crash rates, and vice versa.

The leading article on this topic—Peter Jacobsen's "Safety in Numbers: More Walkers and Bicyclists, Safer Walking and Bicycling"—reviews data on biking, walking, and injury rates in 68 California cities, 47 Danish towns, 14 European countries, and the United Kingdom.

Across the independent sets of data from these many jurisdictions, Jacobsen finds a consistent, inverse, curvilinear relationship between bicycling and injury rates, determining that "the total number of pedestrians or bicyclists struck by motorists varies with the 0.4 power of the amount of walking or bicycling respectively." Expressed simply, more people biking leads to fewer per capita crashes while fewer people biking leads to more per capita crashes.

Jacobsen also derives a formula for how this affects the individual cyclist: "Taking into account the amount of walking and bicycling, the probability that a motorist will strike an individual person walking or bicycling declines with roughly -0.6 power of the number of persons walking or bicycling." In other words, as more people bicycle, the per capita risk to each bicyclist of a crash decreases; if fewer people bicycle, the per capita risk to each bicyclist increases.

Helmets do not make cyclists as much safer as commonly thought.

For the individual, of course, the story is different. Wearing a helmet is likely safer than not wearing one. This is true for bicyclists; it is also true for people who are skydiving, rock climbing, sitting under an oak tree, or taking a bath. Individually, we make our decisions based on our own risk tolerances and values, and many of us choose to wear helmets and encourage our loved ones to do so.

But at the broader level, where we ought to analyze legislation and public policy, how much safer will a helmet make a person in a bike crash that leads to a head impact? This is a topic of debate and uncertainty, but as research methods improve we move further from some of the magical thinking that took hold due to early estimates—derived from emergency room data rather than population data—that suggested helmet effectiveness rates of 85% and above.

Generally, those estimates came from retrospective studies that looked at people with head injuries in emergency rooms and compared the numbers who lived and died, and whether they were wearing helmets when they were hit. When more recent studies have attempted to compile these data into meta-analyses with more informative sample sizes, their results do not approach the long-accepted 85% level. Some show a smaller effect; others, none at all. In fact, in population-level studies focusing on hospitalization rather than emergency room visits, helmets have no discernible, statistically significant effect on hospitalization rates. (Jacobsen 2012)

Recent studies that have focused on overall health, rather than simply crash mortality rates, have shown that the individual and public health benefits grossly outweigh the costs, by a factor of 20:1. (De Jong 2012)

The mandatory helmet law in Maryland will increase danger for Maryland cyclists.

Assuming that the helmet law will decrease cycling by the 37.5% average in Maryland, the total Maryland cycling population, post helmet law, would shrink to only 62.5% of the current cycling population. Assuming also that Jacobsen's safety-in-numbers effect holds true in Maryland—as it has consistently throughout California and across Europe—the number of motorists colliding with people bicycling will increase by roughly 17.1% per capita (1-0.625^0.4=0.171)

For the individual, these assumptions mean that the likelihood of injury from a crash with a motor vehicle would increase by roughly 33% (0.625^-0.6=1.326)—regardless of whether the individual wears a helmet. The increased risk comes solely because mandatory helmet laws take people off bicycles, and fewer people on bicycles makes the remaining bicyclists less safe. Substantially.

Maryland does not keep much data on bicycling, but one piece of data that we do have is that in 2010, there were 734 reported bicycle crashes in Maryland. Looking only at this data—and assuming ridership decreases by 37.5% from the helmet law in Maryland—we might expect only 459 crashes instead of 734.

However, this expectation is wrong. Due to the decreasing "safety in numbers," we would instead expect to see 537 crashes, or 78 additional crashes directly attributable to the mandatory helmet law. So even though the total number of crashes might decrease, that is not because the law has made cyclists safer; it is because substantially fewer people are riding bikes, and those that still ride are measurably less safe, because of the law.

Discouraging cycling runs counter to other Maryland priorities.

The state of Maryland has launched, or is poised to launch, two programs dedicated to encouraging cycling. The mandatory helmet law would undermine the success and safety of both.

First, knowing the overall benefits of biking to public health and well-being, transportation, economic development, and other public priorities, the state of Maryland initiated a campaign to get more people riding bikes. Maryland's Department of Transportation introduces the campaign on their website with:

Governor O'Malley's Cycle Maryland initiative is an effort to encourage more Marylanders to get out and ride, and to make bicycling a true transportation alternative. Cycling is a great way to connect to your community, support a cleaner environment, encourage a healthier lifestyle, reduce household transportation costs and enjoy Maryland's magnificent landscape.

With the mandatory helmet law reducing ridership, Maryland will be left with more people to figure out how to move, and will have to treat more people for health problems associated with sedentary lifestyles.

Second, Maryland has contributed funds to expand the popular and successful Capital Bikeshare program to Montgomery County. Due to the nature of bikesharing, users are less likely to wear helmets, more likely to be casual rather than experienced users, and more likely to be operating in urban environments with motor vehicles. So perhaps the legislators proposing this mandatory helmet bill mean to ensure the safety of those riders, before bikesharing arrives in the state?

However, again, consider the data: Capital Bikeshare users have logged over 3.4 million trips, with an approximately 38% lower helmet usage rate than the general population. (Kraemer 2012) There have been zero fatalities and only one head injury. That is roughly one crash for every 88,000 miles ridden! Yet by driving potential cyclists away, a mandatory helmet policy would undermine the likelihood of success of the program in Montgomery County, Baltimore, and other areas statewide.

That safety record speaks for itself and shows that biking is not an inherently dangerous activity. Mandatory bicycle helmet laws falsely portray it as such, and in doing so create a false sense of danger that limits ridership and undermines the many positive impacts of mass cycling for Maryland.

"Contributory negligence" makes the law extra harmful.

And finally, some believe that this law is acceptable and benevolent and will not have these impacts because there is no fine for violation. But this law has other, even more dire consequences for violators.

Maryland, like the District and Virginia, is a "contributory negligence" jurisdiction. That means if the victim of a crash contributed in any way to her own injury, she can claim no civil recovery for her damages. In Maryland, violation of a law is negligence per se.

Thus, it is possible that a cyclist who rides the bus to work on a rainy morning but chooses to take a bikeshare bike home when the weather clears, and suffers permanent brain injury when a drunk driver veers into a bike lane and strikes her, could be denied any civil recovery as a result of not wearing a helmet.

Is this the transportation future we want in Maryland? Is this the sort of public policy we hope to encourage?

Conclusion

In Maryland, we can anticipate a mandatory helmet law to reduce bicycle ridership by 37.5% (along with its accompanying public health, environmental, and economic benefits), per capita crashes to increase by 17%, and the per capita risk of a crash to increase by 33% for every person riding a bike in the state of Maryland, regardless of whether he or she wears a helmet.

In a broader sense, these laws are a form of victim blaming—telling bicyclists that it is our responsibility to avoid the risk of injury by padding ourselves, rather than the state's to design a transportation network capable of moving non-motorists with a decent level of safety and efficiency.

WABA opposes a mandatory helmet law in Maryland because it is bad policy based on accepted, tested, and peer-reviewed data—not just some libertarian philosophy or desire of cyclists to "feel the wind in our hair."

Fundamentally, we do believe that the legislators proposing this mandatory helmet law hope to do what is best for bicyclist safety, but they have significantly erred in determining what will, in fact, be best. They have the power to impose new risks on each of us who rides a bike, even when we wear helmets. We hope they will consider this information seriously and decide that a mandatory helmet law is a bad policy for the state of Maryland.

References:

De Jong, Piet. 2012. The Health Impact of Mandatory Bicycle Helmet Laws. Risk Analysis. 5 (32): 782-790.

Jacobsen, Peter L. 2003. Safety in Numbers: More Walkers and Bicyclists, Safer Walking and Bicycling. Injury Prevention 9 (3): 205-209.

Jacobsen, Peter L. and Harry Rutter. "Cycling Safety" City Cycling. Ed. John Pucher, Ed. Ralph Buehler. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2012. 141-156.

Kraemer, John D., Jason S. Roffenbender, and Laura Anderko. 2012. Helmet Wearing Among Users of a Public Bicycle-Sharing Program in the District of Columbia and Comparable Riders on Personal Bicycles. American Journal of Public Health 102 (8): e23-e25.

Robinson, Dorothy L. 1996. No Clear Evidence from Countries that Have Enforced the Wearing of Helmets. British Medical Journal 332 (7543): 722-725.

177 comments

And...

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 08:35:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

Car2go breaks the 10,000 member mark in DC. (UrbanTurf) ... How effective are bike helmets? (WashCycle) ... Should DC bring HOV rules to local roads? (RPUS)

Comment

Innovative, flexible car sharing coming to DC with car2go (Jul 20, 2011)

Helmets good, mandatory bad

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 08:47:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

WABA outlines why they oppose Maryland's proposed mandatory bike helmet law: where it's been passed, bike ridership dropped, and it distracts from the real needs. But individuals should still wear helmets on their own.

Comment

Ask GGW: How do you prevent helmet hair? (Jul 23, 2012)
"Bike Rack Raising" 11 am at DC USA (Mar 13, 2008)
"Rack Attack" hits Near Southeast with new bike parking (Oct 1, 2011)

No mandatory helmets in Maryland

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 08:21:00 EDT

by David Alpert

The Maryland House is considering a bill to make helmets mandatory. It's a good idea to wear one, but mandates just deter people from cycling, and more cyclists make cycling safer. (WABA, TheWashCycle)

Comment

Prince George's bag fee wins key vote in Maryland House (Mar 2, 2012)
Study says bike lanes really work (Oct 20, 2008)
Maryland leads, but counties hesitate on new bike signs (Aug 6, 2012)
Ask GGW: How do you prevent helmet hair? (Jul 23, 2012)
New Maryland signs emphasize cyclists' right to the road (Aug 1, 2012)

More are biking

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 08:31:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

DC bicycle counts show that peak ridership is up 175% since 2004. Cyclists are about 77% male, 75% wear helmets, and CaBi makes up 1-12% of bikes depending on location. (d.ish)

Comment

Biking on sidewalks is legal in DC (May 29, 2008)
Do DC's cycletracks work well? DDOT has some conclusions (Apr 19, 2012)
NH Ave bike sting continues (Aug 21, 2008)
DDOT tweaks L Street bike lane plan (May 7, 2012)
Help Arlington bike/ped planners gather data (Feb 4, 2010)

Britain doesn't want helmet laws

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 09:10:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

Cyclist Bradley Wiggins, Britain's most decorated Olympian, made a statement supporting mandatory helmet laws but was roundly criticized from both sides of the political spectrum in his country for doing so. (NPR)

Comment

Ask GGW: How do you prevent helmet hair? (Jul 23, 2012)
Enforce bicycle laws, but the right laws (Jan 16, 2009)
In 2 letters, road behaviors contrast (Jun 17, 2011)
Chicago trains officers on cycling laws (Sep 12, 2009)

Ask GGW: How do you prevent helmet hair?

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:00:00 EDT

by Letters to the Editor

Do you have long hair and bicycle, especially to work? Do you have any tricks for keeping your hair looking good while wearing a helmet? Reader Jon asks:

Photo by Mandajuice on Flickr.

My wife has recently started biking to work, but I've noticed that on hot days or when she has a meeting in the morning, she is very reluctant to wear her helmet because of the effect it has on her hair (and how uncomfortable it can be with long hair when it's 100 degrees).
I know helmets aren't a panacea for all bike-related safety risks, but it could save her life and I want to help find a way for her to be comfortable while she rides.

Do you have any suggestions for Jon and his wife?

43 comments

Women: How comfortable do you feel biking? (Mar 30, 2011)
What's the best bike for CaBi lovers? (Jun 15, 2011)
It takes a village to become a bicycle commuter (Dec 27, 2011)
Ask GGW: Graduate programs? (Sep 4, 2009)
More people walking, biking, riding the bus to Metro stations (Jun 5, 2009)

And...

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 08:34:00 EDT

by David Alpert

An illuminated helmet can operate as a brake light, turn signal, or just look cool. (Fashioning Tech, Bossi) ... DC looks to activate St. Elizabeths with temporary events. (City Paper) ... Like Prince of Petworth? (Or don't?) Then you'll love Titan of Trinidad!

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CaBi users not wearing helmets

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 10:21:00 EDT

by David Alpert

70% of Capital Bikeshare users don't wear helmets, but Capital Bikeshare is also really safe and some evidence shows having more cyclists around does more for safety. Still, it's always better to wear a helmet! (DCist, WashCycle)

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Put a lid on it

Thu, 31 May 2012 08:43:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

One bike shop publication worries that the subsidized helmets CaBi will offer will hurt bike shop business. But with the inconvenience of a small buying window and limited selection, they probably aren't missing out much. (TBD, WashCycle)

Comment

Few helmets on CaBi

Mon, 07 May 2012 08:34:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

Few Capital Bikeshare users wear helmets, but there were only 20 crashes in 1.9 million rides, and the positive health benefits of bike riding may also outweigh the danger of riding without a helmet. (NPR)

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The invisible helmet

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 10:45:00 EDT

by David Edmondson

Rather than go without a bicycle helmet, either to protect your carefully gelled hair or to feel the wind on your balding scalp, perhaps you should invest in an airbag collar that only appears when you're in a crash. (Bloomberg)

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Bike bits

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 12:30:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

Biking on Arlington trails doubled in some places from February to March. (CommuterPageBlog) ... NPS released draft pedicab rules for public comment. (TBD) ... CaBi will now sell helmets and offer a payment plan for annual memberships. (Post)

Comment

Cold weather, lack of plowing affects bike commuting (Jan 21, 2011)
Arlington, DC announce 1,100-bike regional bike sharing (May 21, 2010)
What's the best bike for CaBi lovers? (Jun 15, 2011)
Bike news (Jul 3, 2009)
Even bike owners will benefit from joining Capital Bikeshare (Sep 16, 2010)

Vending machine serves up safety

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 10:26:00 EDT

by Steven Yates

A prototype vending machine lets bike sharing riders rent or buy helmets, and return them later for a partial refund. (Boston Globe)

Comment

Mickey on the Bikeshare (May 6, 2011)
American bike sharing systems more than doubled in 2011 (Dec 30, 2011)

CaBi users to get helmets

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 08:23:00 EDT

by Jamie Scott

DDOT is providing 500 helmets to frequent Capital Bikeshare users, because most riders don't wear them and you can't rent one. The agency hopes to buy more in the future. (NBC Washington)

Comment

Capital Bikeshare introduces new 5-day pass (Mar 14, 2011)
White House has a "secret" CaBi station (Nov 26, 2010)
Is your CaBi station getting full or empty? (Mar 23, 2011)
DDOT posts CaBi under- and over-utilized station map (Jun 3, 2011)
CaBi goes corporate, should consider Eco Pass model (Oct 26, 2010)

Should bike helmets be mandatory?

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 08:17:00 EDT

by Jamie Scott

British doctors conclude that bike helmets should not be mandatory because they reduce cycling and don't adequate protect riders. Helmets are not mandatory in DC and could be a factor in CaBi's success. (Telegraph)

Comment

What's the best bike for CaBi lovers? (Jun 15, 2011)
Bike DC tomorrow (Sep 26, 2008)
Even bike owners will benefit from joining Capital Bikeshare (Sep 16, 2010)
For bicyclists, there is safety in numbers (May 6, 2010)
On the calendar: Bike to Work, Bike DC, Bikeshare expansion (May 13, 2011)

And...

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 09:32:00 EDT

by Erik Weber

Copenhagenize's Mikael Colville-Andersen talks about the folly of mandatory helmet laws and the importance of promoting cycling. (TheCityFix) ... Supreme Court Justice Elana Kagan is considering moving into the Logan Circle neighborhood. Does that make it officially gentrified? (14th & You) ... Montgomery County chose to spend $24 million on a new Metro parking garage instead of other developments that would promote transit use. (Transportation Nation)

Comment

Fund Ride-On, not subsidized parking, says Transit First (Mar 16, 2009)
Wheaton Costco would exacerbate poor walkability (Jan 20, 2010)
On the calendar: 17th, 18th, bike lanes and streetcars (Jul 29, 2009)
Montgomery considering Bethesda parking rate increase (Apr 20, 2009)
Floreen floats parking tax proposal (Sep 10, 2008)

We could have killed 29,000 fewer people

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 08:28:00 EDT

by David Alpert

A study estimates that the U.S. could have saved 29,000 lives if it had followed the same aggressive road safety measures as France, Great Britain, and Australia. That would require more extensive traffic cameras, tougher blood-alcohol maximums, sobriety checkpoints, and motorcycle helmet laws, all of which face political obstacles. (Post)

Comment

Outrage against enforcement is unsafe at any speed (Sep 22, 2009)
We are small, but we're not bugs (Sep 26, 2009)
Some cities reduce traffic camera safety for profit (Apr 13, 2008)
Distribute enforcement camera money to residents, Alaska-style (Dec 9, 2009)
Before DDOT got to improve safety, a pedestrian was killed at 15th & W (Jun 1, 2009)

Reckless driver sues victim's family

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 08:22:00 EDT

by Erik Weber

A Connecticut man who struck and killed a 14 year old boy on his bike has sued the family, claiming they are responsible for their son's death because they didn't make him wear a helmet. Never mind the driver was going 83 in a 45 zone. (Associated Press)

Comment

Halsey veers from bike tragedy to ethnic generalizations (May 24, 2010)
Most people don't speed. For some values of "speed." (Feb 19, 2009)
Summit security fails to protect (Apr 13, 2010)
14 year-old cyclist killed. Will safety improvements follow? (Feb 17, 2009)
Excessive passive voice, linguistic detachment observed in Culpeper road fatality (Mar 23, 2009)

And...

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 08:17:00 EDT

by Erik Weber

Over the weekend DDOT converted the 15th Street cycle track to two-way. (BeyondDC) ... A long abandoned building on H Street in downtown DC will remain empty for the foreseeable future because the Secret Service supposedly can't afford to renovate it. (DCmud) ... Since Vancouver only allows helmet-less cycling if wearing one interferes with religious practices, local activists founded the Church of Sit-up Cycling. (District Citizen Cycling)

Comment

Dresser on a bike

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 09:05:00 EDT

by David Alpert

After bicycling around town, Michael Dresser endorses the "Idaho stop", recommends cyclists going fast ride in the general lane to avoid dooring, and argues for mandatory helmets for bicyclists. (Baltimore Sun via RPUS)

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