I yelled at a commuter today...

[Iris616]

and I'm glad it did.

A few weeks ago we had beautiful weather and I found myself with an unexpected free hour. I was so excited to get to ride that I hopped on my bike and forgot my helmet (although it was right on the table next to my bike). I got about 2 miles from home, and was feeling positively giddy about my ride. All of a sudden, a red minivan drove by, a kid (pre-teen) stuck his head out of the window and yelled, "put your helmet on...." The rest of the sentence was lost in the wind.

Oh MY!! How did I forget my helmet!?!? I turned back home to get it. In my driveway sat the red mini van, with the yelling culprit playing with my dog in the yard. It was my SIL and my nephew who had driven by. The funny part is that I am always chiding him for getting on his scooter with out a helmet

The conclusion I came to is that I grew up riding with out a helmet, so when I am in a "little kid" sort of space about biking I don't think about my helmet. Forgetfulness happens sometimes.

[Triskeliongirl]

I agree with the posters that said that as a bike commuter I would not like to be distracted by trying to hear what someone is shouting out of a car window. There is just too much else to think about while cycle commuting on busy roads.

However, I think your motives were good. I often pass cyclists out there while commuting, either without helmets, or riding on the wrong side of the road, and I do always say something to them about both of these issues. In fact, once I was stopped together with a guy at an intersection, and he responded by asking me where to buy a helmet for a good price, what to look for, etc. He worried it would be too hot, so I was able to explain about air vents, fit, etc.

[Geonz]

I am disturbed by the obsession with helmets, and I definitely wouldn't have yelled. (Yes, I wear one, with a light and mirror on it.)

Just one very typical example: Aunt says to child: "You're a safe rider, right? You ****always**** wear your helmet?"

Wearing a helmet has NOTHING to do with riding safely.

It is there to protect against head injury in case of a crash.

Yet, to this lady and countless others, "riding safely" stops there. Too many injuries and deaths happen because of unsafe riding and driving... with undue attention focused on the helmet.

(Again. I wear one. I advocate wearing them. I fit kids with helmets at our "Safe Kids" day. I just don't make it the first thing I talk about when cycling is the issue.)

Here's another angle: as long as helmets are considered absolutely mandatory, it strongly reinforces the idea that cycling is a reckless, dangerous activity - and not because of the infrastructure or the uneducated, careless drivers. Otherwise, we'd focus on that instead of prophylactics.

Saw an ad for a really cute bicycle for little kids. It included a scene wehre the little kid was poking along, figuring out how to ride (but very steadily), and his friend was running wildly on the sidewalk beside him, bare-headed. It was vividly clear she could easily have sustained the more serious head injury - she was going much faster and had further to fall. So, should she have been wearing a helmet?

We choose our risks.

I'm not sure yelling has been an effective persuader, either; I suspect that for everyone it sways, it hardens the resolve of another.

However, just as I think people should feel free to choose their risks... people should also be free to choose what they feel is important to promote. And I very well might have commented to this guy - who had his helmet with him, for cryin' out loud, that "it doesn't work very well back there, dude!"