>>>>>The study in your link does not answer (that I saw) the question I had: how common are bicycle accidents that cause head injuries in the first place? My guess / assumption is not very. No question that if it should happen you would be better off wearing a helmet. I just don't think the chances of it happening are enough to worry about.
>>>>
>>>>Here's some more data: http://www.helmets.org/stats.htm
>>>>
>>>>Seems to me that helmets are an easy, inexpensive way to save lives and prevent injuries. (Kind of like seat belts.) Pardon the expression, but it's a no-brainer to me.
>>>>
>>>>Tamar
>>>
>>>Yes, to you. Why do you feel the need to force your point of view on everybody else?
>>
>>I actually don't think we should legislate bike helmets for adults, but I think it's quite reasonable to do so for kids (or at least when kids are riding on the roads, as opposed to in their own driveways or on sidewalks or at playgrounds/parks). Children deserve to be protected whether their parents are willing to do so or not.
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>>Tamar
>
>Again, there's the rub. The idea of protection is relative to who's talking. To you and others a bicycle helmet is a protection that should exist. Others feel the same way about organic food, beef consumption, breast feeding vs. formula, chicken pox exposure, spanking, etc... In a free society, the implications of incremental encroachment must be taken into account when discussing "reasonable" restrictions on anything as what's "reasonable" today is minimal compared to what's reasonable tomorrow.

Will you at least agree that society has a stronger role in protecting children than adults?

Tamar