Federal Panel Seeks Mandatory Helmet Laws
A federal safety board issued a surprise recommendation for mandatory bike helmet laws in all 50 states — unanimously approving a last-minute resolution that had not been recommended by the board’s own staff.
The National Transportation Safety Board voted 3-0 to recommend helmet laws even as staff members reminded panelists that such laws may reduce overall cycling, and lead to the “unintended consequence” of more road fatalities because fewer cyclists will mean less pressure on local officials to build the kind of protected infrastructure that is proven to improve cyclist safety.
He was also asked during his part of the presentation why the Netherlands has such a low rate of bike fatalities, especially given the country’s low rate of helmet use and lack of mandatory helmet law. Cheung made it clear — as did his report — that the real way to protect cyclists is to make roadways safer and to reduce speed limits on
drivers rather than worrying so much about cyclist behavior.
The entire article
https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2019/11/...y-helmet-laws/