Wear a helmet to save your life
Re: “Time to forgo bike helmets? Not just yet,” Jeremy Klaszus, Opinion, June 11.
I often commute by bicycle, and it perturbs me to see cyclists riding without a helmet. As Jeremy Klaszus noted, some believe they need to eschew a helmet to be a chic, stylish rider. There is little merit to being the most stylish corpse in the funeral home, or the most stylish patient at the brain injury clinic.
For many years, I made the usual excuses for not wearing a helmet. I thought it would be too hot (it is not). I thought it would be uncomfortable (no more than a baseball cap which many riders wear). I cavalierly asserted that I did not know anyone who had suffered a head injury while cycling. That, sadly, is no longer true.
When I was a child, most of us rode simple bicycles with one gear or, if we were really privileged, three gears. Today, the norm seems to be between 10 and 15 gears. The cyclists are moving much faster than we ever did as children. Also, we are riding on far busier streets.
As Klaszus noted, cities such as Copenhagen and Amsterdam have bike lanes separated from motor traffic by proper barriers. In Calgary, the most separation you are likely to see is a white line painted on the road. You are delusional if you think that offers you any protection.
Pick up a good helmet and wear it on all rides. Your loved ones do not want a visit from a police officer explaining how your head split open like a ripe pumpkin as it bounced off the pavement following your collision with a car.
Philip E. Carr, Calgary