[parker_mountain]

> sanctimonious helmet wearing crowd

First of all: What an absolutely ridiculous statement.

> Did anyone notice that __no one__ is wearing a helmet in any of those pictures?

Yes, because they all have separate roads and pathways for bicycles. Helmets save lives and reduce injury significantly, but the biggest way to avoid accidents on bicycles is to separate them from cars.

By the way, the lack of helmets is almost exclusively a Dutch thing. In France, another country with a love for bicycles, the attitude is quite different.

[jessaustin]

Gosh, where could we search to find sanctimony from helmet authoritarians? I would say, in this very thread!

Helmet use varies a great deal among all the different situations in which humans ride bikes. As in every other facet of human life, humans are well-equipped to judge the risks they face on a regular basis. The one invariant, everywhere, is that helmet laws reduce cycling rates. Which is actually the point, as these laws are pushed by automobile lobbyists.

The people who have been most concerned about whether I've worn a helmet have been auto drivers immediately after, or more frequently while, driving very poorly.

[parker_mountain]

Sanctimony implies moral superiority, something that I didn't present. That is your own projection :)

People should be free to make their own decisions, and I am against mandatory helmet laws - but, that decision should be done with all of the facts. Your post is not aligned with reality.

> these laws are pushed by automobile lobbyists

Please do not devolve into conspiracy in a factually-based discussion. Thank you.