Against Helmet Law

Dear Editor,
    I sincerely hope that the Austin City Council has no intention of passing a law requiring adults on bicycles to wear crash helmets. There is no law requiring adults on motorcycles to wear helmets. Motorcycle helmets are much more effective than bicycle helmets, and motorcycling, even with a helmet, is much, much more dangerous than bicycling without a helmet. An absurd set of laws like this creates disrespect for the law. It can also lead the more reckless and helmet-loathing bicyclists to quit bicycling and start motorcycling. This makes the streets less safe and the air more polluted.
    There has not been a rash of deaths or severe injuries among adult unhelmeted bicyclists lately. In fact, most adult bicyclists in Austin wear helmets. The bicyclists killed by cars this year were wearing helmets. Many people, both cyclists and noncyclists, vastly overestimate the efficacy of bicycle helmets. This can cause trouble.
    The youth helmet law in Austin is no longer enforced, because almost all the tickets issued were to teenaged African-American males riding after dark. This is a very small subset of child cyclists. Helmet laws, when enforced, make laughingstocks of the police.
    It's legal for cars to park in bike lanes. It's legal for motorists to talk on cell phones while driving 2-ton cars. It's legal to ride a motorcycle without a helmet. To require all adult bicyclists to wear helmets seems very absurd in this context. I hope that Austin's City Council is intelligent enough to reject this ill-conceived idea.