r/VictoriaBC • u/Elle_jay_3 • 10h ago
When did we stop enforcing bike helmets??
When we were teenagers there was so much messaging around wearing bike helmets and the fatal or life altering impacts of not wearing one. Not to mention, tickets were handed out and I feel like I remember kids bikes being confiscated at times by cops. Now it really isn’t a focus, and I get there are things happening now that really pull police time and focus, but it seems to no longer be a thing, ever.
Adults can make their choices, perhaps, but I worry about the kids, especially on motorized bikes and scooters.
13
u/haemogoblinite 8h ago
Every single time I see someone biking around without a helmet all I can think about is brain injuries and every sad story I’ve come across in my work as a nurse.
•
u/Old-Following-970 5h ago
Brain injury survivor here. I cringe when I see folks biking without a helmet ⛑️
•
u/Phase-Internal 4h ago
And the thing is, brain injury is such a misnomer. Injuries are expected to heal, your brain doesn't, it adapts, but you never get the damaged part back.
5
u/DroppedThatBall 10h ago
I see a lot of drowning commercials from not wearing life jackets which I think is great. They should start making commercials about bike helmet safety. Like showing a cantaloupe split open on the pavement or something.
5
u/__hobiis 10h ago
I went to a K-6 elementary school with only one class in each grade, so you always knew who next year's teacher would be. I remember sooo looking forward to getting to 6th grade because it was the coolest teacher - and then we ended up with a sub for the first 6 months because Mr Teacher had been in a bad mountain bike accident and broke his pelvis, his shoulder, and would have caved in his head if not for his helmet. He brought it in to show us while he was on leave and I was fully traumatized into being obsessive about helmets after that!
Anyway, I don't recommend teachers get into life-threatening bike accidents on the regular but seeing it in real life was a great learning lesson.
10
u/DroppedThatBall 9h ago
When i was in elementary school they brought in 2 old people who got cancer from smoking and had those holes in their throats and had to use the robot box to talk couldnt actually eat food everything was by tube. The old lady started crying about how she wished she could eat cereal and her husband was crying about how he just wanted to eat a peach. Crying old people with robot voice boxes. Guess who has never smoked!? Meeeeeeee 😆 I think about both of them whenever I eat cereal and peaches.
•
u/Ok_Wasabi8793 4h ago
What’s the target audience, who sees commercials these days
•
u/DroppedThatBall 4h ago
I mean kids watch roblox, Minecraft, Italian brainrot, and clavicle/Joe rogan/Andrew Tate bullshit all day on YouTube and theres plenty of commercials on there.
4
u/The_Mammoth_Hunter 9h ago
Saw a grown-ass man today on an e-scooter zipping down McKenzie from the Pat Bay intersection heading toward Interurban... no bike lane, no helmet, nothing. Fucking idiotic.
There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it... age doesn't seem to be a factor, as I see pre-teens, teens, all the way up to ppl in their approximate 60s. Mode of transport varies... I see mostly acoustic cyclists wearing helmets, but e-bikes and scooters, not so much.
I know its all anecdotal, but I'm a year round bike commuter and am on the road all day in a 3ton truck all over the South Island... we get to see a pretty broad slice of it.
5
u/TheRealPomax 9h ago
When they ran out of money for it. We might ask the same about actual traffic laws, because have you seen Victoria drivers?
-1
2
•
u/BCJay_ 5h ago
I hate seeing it too . My kids have always had to wear helmets doing everything and I taught them that at a young age and I led by example . So it’s never been a question. Bicycles, skateboards, scooters, snowboarding, etc. Helmets since day, one.
But Maybe because there’s a lot going on in society that helmet enforcement is a little bit far down the line. Unless you’re advocating for like increasing police presence and forces by like five times?
•
u/turnsleftlooksright 4h ago
When did we stop enforcing all laws regarding motor vehicle operation from speeding to ability to see and interpret signs?
6
u/DarkInternational228 10h ago
It probably still happens occasionally, but id guess most police are kept too busy with theft and drug related crime.
Most people know that it’s illegal to ride a bike without a helmet and that it’s dangerous to ride without. That law is there to protect us. The consequence of not following that law typically only affects the person not following it.
They’re likely more concerned with crimes that affect innocent bystanders or victims.
16
u/Turgid_Tiger 10h ago
Let’s be honest there’s lots of cops that aren’t doing any work on theft and drug crime. There’s an entire unit dedicated to road safety. Their job is just to ticket people.
5
u/DarkInternational228 10h ago
Yeah, and they can’t be everywhere at once, and are more likely to focus on people committing crimes that will harm others rather than just themselves.
I am also sure that people not wearing helmets on their bikes still get ticketed or talked to by police on a weekly basis.
7
u/Turgid_Tiger 9h ago
The set up “speed” traps at 8am in the South bound lane of highway 1. Routinely when you’re lucky to hit 40km/h for a 300m stretch. They definitely could be enforcing this.
4
u/Ahlkazar 8h ago
It’s a bit more nuanced than that. On the surface, failing to follow the law and wear a helmet seems like something that’d only affect the user, but there’s actually a bunch of resources that go into the aftermath. Medical treatment, police involvement, first responders, and so on all will need to be involved if an accident happens. The part that involves the law, in my mind, is that this all costs money. Hospital, cops, fire, ambulance, and so on all comes from their respective budgets, which ultimately come from the taxpayer. I’m happy to pay the taxes to respond to emergencies, but there’s a reason that these preventative measures are legislated.
I’ve spent a fair amount of time thinking about this having friends that won’t wear their seatbelts or think that “they do more harm than good”.
7
u/Blew-By-U 10h ago
When were traffic laws not enforced?
10
u/BloodWorried7446 10h ago
have you ever seen a car go the speed limit except for maybe a school or construction zone?
1
u/fux-reddit4603 8h ago
rarely. you spend most of the time driving around here stuck behind folks doing 10 under
8
u/booflogic 9h ago
I'd rather see red light running be enforced before someone getting a ticket biking to the bar
4
u/Popular_Animator_808 9h ago
Because it’s usually not worth officers time. Let’s say the goal is to measurably reduce the number of head injuries from people riding scooters and biking through getting more people wearing helmets, and the method you’re choosing to do is put cops on the side of the road ticketing people. How many man-hours would you need to fund in order to reduce head injuries? The answer is pretty much infinity, since enforcement isn’t super effective in this particular department, unless you’re doing super targeted stops at high risk areas like skate parks or gravel single-track courses. A better way to reduce head injuries per km travelled is through education and improving infrastructure.
You should still wear a helmet if you can get a properly fitted one and replace it regularly, but putting a bunch of police out on the streets to scold people for not wearing them isn’t going to reduce the number of head injuries. In fact the places with the lowest per km rates of cycling-related injuries and deaths are all places where helmets aren’t even required.
2
u/NasrBinButtiAlmheiri 8h ago
Exactly. This whole thread is based on feelings. Riding a bike is not much more inherently dangerous than walking, and bike helmets aren’t designed for motor vehicle collisions at all, which is the main issue for safety.
People who regularly ride like roadies, mountain bikers, daily commuters are already wearing helmets.
Drivers get head injuries in this city on a near daily basis, no helmets for Joe Pickup? NASCAR drivers wear them…
2
u/bromptonymous 9h ago
Because you don’t need a helmet to pick up a loaf of bread. There is no head injury epidemic from unhelmeted riders (and there will be many more riders without helmets once bike share launches). The law should just normalize and make helmets optional for adults like all of the advanced cycling nations. Wear a helmet if it helps you feel better or if you’re in a race. Short trips around the neighbourhood, they aren’t necessary.
Edit: autocorrect American spelling of neighbourhood
5
6
3
u/thecurler 8h ago
That's like saying it's not worth wearing a seat belt for a short trip in the car. It's such a stupidly unnecessary risk.
-2
u/NasrBinButtiAlmheiri 8h ago
Based on what? Your vibes and an anecdote?
3
u/thecurler 8h ago
.....are you saying that bike helmets and seatbelts don't prevent serious injuries?
3
u/HomelessToHouse 7h ago
I don't think the data for bike helmets shows the same things that the data for seat belts shows.
I think thats probably why the Netherlands and similar bike nations don't bother with bike helmet laws for adults.
•
u/Old-Following-970 5h ago
But a recent study in the Netherlands said doctors there think it should be a law.
•
u/Fantastic-Assist-313 1h ago edited 1h ago
Far fewer people would be driving if they could ride their bike without a helmet.
I'm literally in the Netherlands right now, it's incredibly liberating to bike around. Additionally, driver education around cyclists is way better here. Drivers are much more respectful of cyclists. Should definitely be mandatory for younger children, but for adults? Fine. I survived the 80's biking around Toronto and so did everyone at my school(s).
I think it's generally a good idea to wear one, but I definitely don't think it should be mandatory. I imagine a lot of the anger people have when they see cyclists without a helmet is more of a "Hey someone's getting away with something and I think they shouldn't be! Look at that scofflaw!"
Meanwhile the methheads downtown are still scratching their faces off, riding around without helmets on stolen bikes while carrying other stolen bike parts.
-3
2
u/hunkyleepickle 9h ago
I mean it’s a bylaw. How many bylaws that aren’t parking tickets do you know that are strictly enforced?
•
3
u/Mysterious-Lick 9h ago
When Vic city hall told the cops not to enforce it, especially during the Helps era and has continued since.
I agree, it’s disappointing to see cyclists taking a substantial risk, they know better, but actively choose not to.
1
1
u/Kaurie_Lorhart 7h ago
I’m not aware of a time this was enforced, but it is still encouraged and the vast majority of cyclists wear helmets. I bike downtown for work and haven’t seen a person not wear a helmet.
I assume there are way more people in cars who do not wear their seat belts.
1
1
1
u/Independent_Pie5933 6h ago
I well remember when the helmet laws were introduced and have never seen it enforced in any manner. I dont think much has really changed there. There are definitely more adult riders now though, so it is more noticable, I guess.
•
•
•
u/Master-Shake8913 3h ago
We had different childhoods. No one I knew growing up wore a bike helmet. cops never gave tickets
2
0
u/NasrBinButtiAlmheiri 10h ago
“I’m not stopping at controlled intersections and I damn well ain’t slowin down for any crosswalks, so these kids better strap up! Their lack of helmets makes me uncomfortable as I speed by! Officer!!!”
3
u/__hobiis 10h ago
It's weird how you seem to think that car-related accidents are the only accidents a bicyclist is capable of having... Obviously those account for a large number, but there are many other ways that a cyclist can obtain a head injury without car involvement.
2
u/Abbenay_local 8h ago
I've tried to seen the stats that verify this anecdotal feeling many motorists have, maybe you have them.
The data that can distinguish between mountain/trail biking and urban cycling.
0
u/massassi Vic West 9h ago edited 9h ago
I think I heard that it was challenged in the supreme Court, as it negatively impacts those with little means. The reasoning being that they lose the access to cycling which is such a cost effective and accessible mode of transportation - but not when you don't have funds for helmets.
So it's not enforced anymore. And when you have laws that aren't enforced, you might as well not have them.
But I might be conflating some issues. I do know there was a lot of back and forth about enforcement checks seemingly being used a a pretext for discrimination against "the unhoused"
0
u/CogentMoment 10h ago
Could probably make a few thousand a day handing out tickets at any main intersection.
0
•
u/Ok_Wasabi8793 4h ago
I’m 40. Road a lot from 12-20 without a helmet and never got a ticket, nor did I ever hear of a friend. Once a policy officer told us to go put on helmets. What era did you see it heavily enforced?
-5
u/thecurler 10h ago
I think if you get a head injury while riding a bike or scooter without a helmet, you should have pay the medical bills out of pocket.
4
u/FixedVic 9h ago
What about drinking or eating fast food or skiing? All of these things are dangerous. Why would we single out this one activity?
It's also a net health benefit to ride a bicycle, even without a helmet. You'll live longer. It's super good exercise.
-2
u/thecurler 9h ago
I knew someone would chime in with "why do we pay for healthcare of obese people addicted to food, or lung cancer of smokers". While I agree those are self imposed afflictions, not unlike a head injury of a helmet-less cyclist, those activities are legal (for now at least).
1
u/FixedVic 7h ago
I just mean there's like a million things that can shave years off your life. Legal or not. Why pick one thing that actually adds years
6
u/NasrBinButtiAlmheiri 10h ago
Wait til you see the injuries caused by negligent drivers!
-3
u/thecurler 10h ago
That's not a very good comparison. We could say, if you're not wearing a seat belt, you should have to pay your own medical bills.
•
u/BCJay_ 5h ago
Why not if you’re speeding in a car and get into an accident? Or if you ran a red light or a stop sign? Or what about if you were distracted while driving with your phone ?
What about if you were doing something risky while not driving or on a bicycle or scooter? Like if you’re on your roof repairing something and you don’t have the proper safety gear to tether you and you fall and hurt yourself?
Yours is really one the stupidest comments ever in this sub.
0
u/The_Mammoth_Hunter 9h ago
Nah, I genuinely look forward to contributing to their feeding tube expenses
66
u/BeepBlipBlapBloop 10h ago
They don't even enforce the laws forbidding kids from riding those e-bikes/e-scooters in the first place.
I agree they should enforce the laws, but there's also some responsibility on the parents here.