Appreciate any information you can provide.

Thanks,
Maud

I wear a helmet, because I value my brains more than I value my hipster hair style. Is that what we are actually debating here? Because I can’t think of any other reason NOT to wear a helmet – they are affordable, they have ventilation, they don’t slow you down or change your riding experience in any other way APART from ruining your hair. So why not wear them?

I understand that the bike scheme in Melbourne is not working, and that has a lot to do with the helmet laws. Don’t get me wrong, this is a MASSIVE oversight by the government and is truly laughable, but perhaps there are other reasons that are preventing the use of the bikes? Has there been a thorough study? Who are the bikes intended for?

I’m not sure how much riding you have done in Melbourne, but let me tell you, it is often terrifying. It is not uncommon to have a near-miss every second ride, and I have copped countless amounts of abuse, as well as having a van once purposefully try to run me off St.Kilda Rd. As well as this, this year I was riding down Canning st, which as you may know has as much traffic calming as one street could possibly bare, and I got mowed down by a car. She simply didn’t stop at an intersection and I went flying through the air thinking “I hope I don’t die or get brain damage.”
I was saved by my $50 helmet. My hair was flat when i arrived at the emergency department but you know what, I didn’t mind.
I beg you to think really carefully about what you are advocating for when suggesting that the helmet laws should be changed. Melbourne roads and Melbourne drivers are not like those of European cities and until they are made safer for riders, helmets are essential. I would ask you to take a wander through the emergency department of a few Melbourne hospitals and ask the doctors how they feel about your idea? Then i would ask you to talk to victims of road accidents who DIDN’T wear a helmet and now have brain damage, and ask what they think about your idea?

You want to risk so many lives just to make a tourist bike scheme work better? REALLY?
REALLY?!
Why not just have helmets for hire at the same docking stations, that also run on your credit card?

My advise is vote for the LDP – Libertarian policy is that victim-less crimes should not be punished and the LDP website specifically lists removing bicycle helmet laws on their website at ldp.org.au. check the Policy section under Victimless Crimes.

I have met with them at their open monthly meeting here in SA , they are interested to help, and they need more members so if anyone is interested in the libertarian ideals it’s free and is online at ldp.org.au
I don’t agree with every policy they have but this is an opportunity to get some political representation which no other party seems prepared to offer me – i have asked many.

If Cyclists vote for and Support the LDP even if just for this one reason hopefully the majors will take notice and we will see a change to the helmet laws sooner rather then later.

Regards Steve.

They want to model these thnigs on europe, well look at why they are a sucess and we are not, I can tell you they wouldn’t be if everyone in town had to carry a stackhat around with them.

1.How long has your scheme been going?
2. Can you get some stats to compare time periods? Ours began at the end of May.
3. So how many riders at the end of the first two months.,

4. Also, can you get any accident stats. involving these bikes specifically. lastly, I’d like to know…
5. What % of dublinbike users are wearing helmets, and
6. How does this compare with general helmet use for people who own their on bikes. All key questions. Cheers Mike

Bravo! Well done with your protest. I wish I could have been there in Melbourne. Melbourne’s in danger of becoming an international laughing stock, an eigth wonder of the underworld.
By contrast you might be interested in perusing Dublin’s bikeshare set-up. The scheme is modest, about 440 bikes spread over some 45 stations in central Dublin. But to the city’s complete astonishment dublin bikeshare was immediately
swamped with users and the scheme is, in effect, over-subscribed.

Ever thought that geography is destiny? Australia and Ireland are ‘opposite’ kinds of islands; Australia’s big, rich, sunny and faraway. Ireland’s small, poor and often wet, but mercy of mercies, it is not far from the heart of Europe where they really understand city-cycling.

Please keep up your work with all our friends in cyber space. Change will come, but there is no more formidable obstacle than a politician’s sincerity. They sincerely almost buried cycling in 1990; they sincerely cannot see the harm they’ve done (I fear they are not especially interested in a cycling resurrrection either, since city-cycling’s become almost unthinkable – indeed un-Australia).
dublinbikeshare.ie

Milo.

I have been heartened by the levels of support received by normal people who would cycle more if helmet wearing was voluntary. This would equate to many more hours riding and the obvious benefits in terms of health and environment savings. With more comments and support from these people we should be able to get pressure on our politicians to re-think their views on MHL.

Along with the scientific evidence that is out there (Bill Curnow and Colin Clarke have been super in gathering this) this should be getting far more media coverage. Even support from columnists such as Andrew Bolt are raising awareness – I guess the next steps are organising ourselves to gain more media attention especially now the elections seasons are open in Victoria (State election due in Nov)

Cheers and keep on fighting the nanny state

The police can technically take the bicycle from you as it is the tool which allows you to continue to break the law. My solicitor pointed out that this would probably be viewed as an excessive use of police powers but it won’t help if you’ve had your bicycle confiscated.

None of us fancied having the hire bikes taken from us (and the resultant loss of a hefty deposit – $300) so we chose to walk it instead. Pity. It was a great day.

But was it not a possibility to keep riding after being awarded the ticket for not wearing a helmet? I’m pretty sure traffic offences such as not wearing a helmet are not arrestable offences, but a lawyer would know better and maybe was asked this question?

Just rode from Vienna to Prague without a helmet. One less thing to carry around, for sure.

Maurice

Many countries have considered the comp. helmet idea and rejected it. Now, these schemes are going to lock that rejection in even more solidly because they cant work with helmets, and this means Aust will become more and more isolated in terms of world practice.

On the other hand, I can’t see why they cant’ provide a vandal proof mirror with these bikes. I note an English commentator, writing about the London scheme which is just starting, in our paper yesterday, zeroed in on the same lack of mirrors.

I find it interesting that you “regard a rear view mirror as essential safety equipment” for new riders, but not a helmet.

Would you accept the government supplying helmets with the bikes as a solution rather than your proposed exemption?

I am now back in Ottawa, my home town, where many cyclists don’t wear helmets even though the traffic is much worse and the drivers much more rude. Why are Canadians in Victoria so afraid when their counterparts in the Nation’s Capital show so little fear?