Aton Vancouver city bylaws for cyclists— adhere or pay! By Natalie Nathanson ummer’s here and it’s an exciting S time for those who love the outdoors. But bicyclists beware! If you love riding without that awful helmet, you might wind up with a ticket! As if the police didn’t have anything better to do with the drug gang killings and crime spree going on, some officers have been delegated the task of handing out tickets for none other than not wearing your helmet while riding your bike and the fine can be up to $100. One thing that has always bothered me is the fact that wearing a helmet should be our own decision, and not be a rule enforced by the government. My mom used to always make me wear a helmet, and it would always slide forward making it difficult to see. I know all I had to do to remedy this was to just get a smaller or better helmet, but we were kind of poor and buying the bike alone was a lot of money. I only rode it in my cul-de-sac anyway, so why worry? Because the law’s the law, that’s why. But maybe it shouldn’t be. Some studies have shown that since 1991, even though bike ridership has slowly declined, the amount of head injuries from cycling has risen by 10%. Although wearing your helmet has been proven to reduce the risk of brain injury, there’s something else at play that’s we’ve forgotten about. There is an odd statistic is that wearing a helmet can give people a false sense of security, which lead people to take more risks when it comes to biking. Several cases of people who have received brain and spinal injuries while bike riding with helmets have confessed that they most likely could have avoided incidents if they hadn’t been peddling as fast or gone down a more difficult and challenging route when cycling. Many claim that because they were wearing a helmet, they felt safer, and felt they could take more risks. Wearing a helmet can not only can give you a false sense of security, but in a few cases it can also be more dangerous than not wearing one. A friend of mine was hit by a cab while bike riding without a helmet in New York. She asserts that had she been wearing a helmet, her injuries would have been far more severe. As a girl who wears glasses, the fall— which landed her on the side of her face— would have left her glasses or pieces of it left embedded in her face, or even her eyes, as the bike helmet straps would have held her glasses in place throughout the ordeal and most likely shattered in her face when she hit the ground. Without the helmet however, her glasses fell right off the moment she was hit, leaving her face with minor scratches and bruises when she hit the ground. I’m not advocating against helmet use. I think it is a safety precaution and has most definitely been proven to reduce brain injury. But I think given the facts we should be able to make this decision on our own. Not wearing a helmet never hurt anyone but the individual cyclist, so why force it? Next thing you know, we’ll need licenses to ride a bike on the road. There are a few other bylaws you may not know about and might do you good to know. Did you know you’re also not allowed to listen to your iPod while cycling? There’s a bylaw against wearing headphones too! You’ re also not allowed to ride your bike on the sidewalk unless there’s a sign that specifically says you can. And you need a little bell to ring in order to warn people you’re approaching if you want to ride your bike on the street. Apparently our yelling “Coming through,” or “Get out of the way” is not enough. If you want to avoid any hassles with police and have a complete cycling- ticket free summer, check out the list of bylaws at http://vancouver.ca/ and look up “cycling.” Fuming? Nodding? Sound off and let us hear about it. Email your comments about this or any other story to opinions @theotherpress.ca DJ HOTT WAX droppin the bears just for you! Every Friday and Saturday RO Ae Cne lite) Mc\10r) a0 7. MenVO.e| Ganucks PP and UFO coverage Sin (soWA\ClIAl 1A) OM @e|al0 01 CsI oie). 210\)(0 Vinh a COLO 181601 Oe (0 |B a\>) Hone a fundraiser ai &7 Below Raise up to 2000.00 in one night Poker Sundays - Join ihe IN@ No tim IA KeCe Olek~any eee Monthly Sponsorship into CPT events late aaa tor al! Douc!las OlAGe@ Ie re(aaits tudent ID card Coyote Ugly on ihe bar Sey nights 1g on the bar 57 BLACKIE STREET NEW WESTMINSTER BC P:604.522.001 | F; 604.522.0544