Thursday, March 31, 2011

Letter writer says, "Make it mandatory for cyclists to wear helmets," - what do you think?

"Make it mandatory for cyclists to wear helmets," The Straits Times Forum page, 31 Mar 2011.
AS SOMEONE who has often cycled on Pulau Ubin, I was horrified to read yesterday's report ('Danger spots for cyclists on Pulau Ubin'), which said that three cyclists had died in accidents on the island since 2006.

I am appalled that many cyclists place a higher priority on their comfort than their safety. While those on the roads do not hesitate to wear helmets as they know the head gear can save their lives, cyclists on Pulau Ubin have tuned out the dangers of head injuries.

Cyclists should be educated on the importance of wearing helmets. It should also be made mandatory for those renting bicycles to wear them.

Cyclists should be told in no uncertain terms that a sweaty head is better than a broken head.

Joanna Chan (Ms)


What do you think?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Natural selection.

Back2Nature said...

In general I do not support mandatory for cyclists to wear helmets on normal roads as I doubt the effectiveness of helmets in accidents on roads involving cars and worry about the false sense of security it gave.

However, on off roads places such as Pulau Ubin, it does make sense to make it mandatory. Just as it is mandatory to put on life jacket when doing many types of water sports such as canoeing.

Yang said...

why is it always laws that makes people behave. Why isnt our education, respect and common sense helping? Anyways, http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2011/08/vibing-hard-keeping-it-positive.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVM99OOo86A

Back2Nature said...

Actually, most laws are not meant to make people behave. They are to protect potential victims from others' behaviors. That's may be why so little laws that make one to behave to protect themselves.

Here, I would see such laws as an endorsement and support for education to be conducted on the issue.