Discussion
Ok you can fucking bet I am replying to this!
Mandatory cycle helmet laws just mean less cycling and an overall decline in health for the population.
This idea is by someone who is an idiot or hates cyclists.
Also what next, shall we mandate wearing walking helmets for people walking and running in the winter because statistically I think they are far more likely to be falling and hurting themselves.
P.S. I included a translation to English in the Alt Text
@ruari I would love to see a world in which people are more educated about risks and risk mitigation, and empowered to make their own informed choices. Emergency Room doctors will almost all tell you to always wear a helmet while cycling because of the traumatic brain injuries they see in their work. Practiced cyclists who commute will advocate for no helmets because they feel very safe and agile. I usually wear one but not always, not for safety, for risk mitigation. Mandatory helmet laws seem to discourage cycling and do nothing to educate or empower.
@Victorsigmoid FWIW, I am not disagreeing with you. If you read the whole thread and my replies to others that will likely become obvious. 😉
I'll ask you to have a look at my profile picture. That's the mark my helmet left on my head. I suspect a direct impact on the road would have left a bigger one. The helmet didn't stop the five fractures however. This was a pedestrian teenager too busy having the banter with his mates than paying attention.
What I think I've read is that walking and cycling have similar risks by distance so a short walk or a short bike will have little risk. A longer bike ride is more risky.
@ruari I see the same arguments deployed as used against seatbelts and motorcycle helmets.
I'll also note that helmets are now worn rock climbing. They weren't before but they are not compulsory but are ubiquitous.
Grabbing a city bike to do a short trip I wouldn't sweat not having a helmet. On a longer trip I would. Popping down to the shops from the house I'd bring it with me.
Also not that difficult to carry one around or leave it on the desk if I cycled into town.
@janwwbosch I see the same arguments deployed as used against people wearing helmets walking on ice in the winter.
Anyway, have a nice day.
RE: https://snabelen.no/@sandberg/117246620449241394
@janwwbosch You likely missed it in the thread so I will quote post this again for you.
P.S. I do sometimes wear a helmet myself. Do not fall into the trap and missunderstand me.
@ruari since injuries to car drivers are often greater, are they going to mandate all car drivers wearing helmets? What about mandating that people using ordinary machines HAVE to wear armour and steel-toed boots at all times? What about safety barriers on stairs - actually, no we should just ban stairs, as people fall down them all the time - no building above ground level, no steps anywhere...
@ruari When I got into an accident in a roundabout here, I am damned glad I wore my helmet. Car pulled out in front of me, I slammed on the anchors and cycled into the driver's door ... granted it wasn't at high speed but enough to throw me off and if I hadn't had my helmet on, I might not still be here.
We're vulnerable road users and drivers seem to hate all cyclists and drive aggressively around them. It's one of the reasons I stopped cycling on the road. It's just too dangerous here.
Also, drivers who hit and sometimes kill cyclists aren't properly prosecuted here in the U.K.
@pertho I am not against you or anyone else wearing a helmet. As stated in the thread a couple of times. I sometimes wear them myself.
I am however against mandatory helmet laws for cyclists.
RE: https://snabelen.no/@sandberg/117246620449241394
@pertho I think @sandberg perhaps summed up my thoughts on this more eloquently than I could myself.
@pertho Also (and to be fair you couldn't have known this) but I am from the UK and commuted in London for more than a decade and that was before most of the recent imroprovements there.
I know what the UK is like for cyclists and I do feel lucky to live in Oslo but I also do not want to see us go backwards here.
@ruari And the additional established matter that drivers give less space to cyclists wearing helmets.
@ruari
Glas to See, that this question can burn the Internet not only in Germany. At least you have better infrastructure for cycling. Here it feels like 'mandatory helmet' discussions are started to avoid 'safe infrastructure' discussions or discussions about how to make car drivers follow the rules to protect weaker people.
I am with you: Helmet: Yes. For me and all those I am responsible for. But mandatory: NO!
(And in summer protection against heat is kore inportant to me, than a helmet...
@ruari Do you have a link to share?
@ruari Helmets make a lot of sense on an individual level, but is stupid on a policy level. I use a helmet when it's easy to do so, but I don't think twice before biking without when I don't have one available.
@sandberg If they want to make shared helmets easily available for people using city bikes I am not against that. Go for it. Indeed it might even help some more nervous people to consider cycling when they would not otherwise.
But mandating use of a helmet is where I draw the line.
In case anyone wondered I cycle my penny farthing and tallbikes with a helmet. I also use a helmet for offroad unicycling. In the winter I sometimes wear a helmet when unicycling but as much as anything, that is to give me somehwhere to mount lights in the dark winter evenings.
Day to day commuting via uncycle in non winter months I basically never wear a helmet.
Also, if a helmet law was passed I would not wear one on principle and they can fine me or fuck off.
The problem here is the risk profile of cycling in a city for every day travel is nowhere near the risk profile of the activities cycling is typically being compared with.
And hence once you apply the same logic consistently, you end up with stupid conclusions like mandatory helmets for walking in the winter, running, or even showering because statistically these cause more head injuries than cycling.
Mandatory cycle helmet laws are good at one thing. Making people cycle less.
@ruari make anyone who drives wear one
@humanhorseshoes I mean, that sounds logical to me!
I am certainly not against people using helmets if they want to. I aslo think it is a good idea if you cycle in a risky way: high speed, off road or on a fucking penny farthing, etc.
But mandatory cycle helmet laws will cause less cycling and have a net negative effect on the populations health.
In case anyone wondered why I don't bother with a helmet most days when unicycle commuting. Why would I? My average speed is probably about the 15-16km/h mark, when commuting. This is the kind of speed you could probably run at. Perhaps not for long unless you are very fit and/or a regular runner but for a short section most healthy adults could.
If I hit a bump I did not see at worst the uni falls behind me and I just run it off. It is much less dramatic than you might expect.
I am certainly not "hitting the deck". In fact I do not think I have ever hit my head unicycling or come close and I am also counting when I do it in more risky ways (at speed or off road).
I do not believe I am really taking any more risk than most runners. indeed in the winter (when I do sometimes use a helmet) I would argue less risk. I have a studded tyre and often wear studded shoes. Many of the winter runners… not so much.
@ruari i have 2 lifetime bonks on a unicycle, and they are both doing muni
@ruari both were pretty mild, but it’s evidence that wearing a helmet for muni is a good idea. on my commute i wear a helmet because the road infrastructure in america is extremely bad
@timmy I do wear helmets when doing muni, not least because I am terrible at muni. I might also wear one if I was in the US for exactly the reasons you state.
But again, I am still anti mandatory helmet laws for cyclists and think they do more harm than good.
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![A cyclist wearing a helmet, jacket, shorts, and a backpack rides a blue Foodora‑branded rental bike along a sidewalk bordered by green hedges and trees. The image includes a notification-style graphic from Oslo Bysykkel (Oslo city bikes) about a potential new helmet law in Norway, with a button labelled "Start now" (in relation to a survey)
The translated [to English] text reads as follows:
Helmet requirement
Sep 10, 2026
The Norwegian Public Roads Administration is considering introducing a legally mandated helmet requirement for cycling in Norway.
Oslo City Bike will be affected by any change in the law, so we would like to ask you some questions regarding your use of the service.
The original text in Norwegian
Hjelmpåbud
Sep 10, 2026
Statens Vegvesen vurderer å innføre lovpålagt hjelmpåbud for bruk av sykkel i Norge.
Oslo Bysykkel påvirkes av eventuell lovendring, derfor ønsker vi å stille deg noen spørsmål vedrørende din bruk av tjenesten.](https://cdn.masto.host/velocipederidercom/media_attachments/files/117/246/546/794/448/756/original/5ffdd928532799b2.png)
@ruari I'm old enough to remember the same discussion about seat belts. AFAICS: it didn't slow down cars. I'm all for personal freedom and responsabilty. But then, maybe, also pay your medical bills yourself if you hit the curbside.