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From Austin Bicycle Helmet Law
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Some Argue More Effective Alternatives to Helmet Laws
- Actively enforce existing laws relating to motor vehicle DWI/DUI - "Texas has the nations worst problem with drunk driving in terms of total deaths and injuries. Texas had the highest rate of alcohol involvement in traffic deaths of any populous state, with 50 percent of traffic fatalities involving alcohol, compared to 37 percent in California and 40 percent in Florida. Only Alaska and Rhode Island have higher rates of fatalities involving alcohol than Texas." (Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, Research and Development, Traffic Safety Facts 2000 Alcohol, p. 7.)
- Actively enforce existing laws relating to required bicycle front lights - "Over 50% of adult cycling deaths were avoidable; they involved bicycling at night without lights." (Source: Cooperative Cycling: An Introduction To Bicycling Safely with Traffic, Lauren Cooper 2002)
- Addition of rear red light requirement to TX Transportation Code Sec. 551.104
- Improved Driver Education - Fix disparity between TX Transportation Code and TX Drivers Manual - "Cyclists Have Use of Full Lane" signs vs. "Share the Road" signs - Inclusion of bicycle law in traffic school classes - Ban on cell phone use when operating any vehicle on the roadway.
- Improved Cyclist Education - (city/state/federally funded) Urban bicycling classes - Traffic school for bicycle tickets - Safe bike routes - Funding or grants for local bicycle programs
- Fixed penalties by degree for negligent driving that results in death or injury to other road users (motor vehicles, cyclists or pedestrians)
- Fully adopt the 1996 (revised 1998) Bicycle Master Plan
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Local Doctors, Politicians, APD, Bicycle Groups, Advocates, Bike Shop Owners and their Position on the Helmet Law
Online Petition (?)
From sco-b "I work in the surgical/trauma ICU @ brackenridge and just had a brief discussion with a rather distinguished austin ICU physician regarding helmets. we talked about todd's injury and if a helmet may have 'saved his life'. his remark was "that's impossible to know"... we also discussed motorcycle helmets and he said that there has never been proven evidence that they work either (i didn't search to confirm), but that there is evidence showing MC helmets have simply shifted the cause of death from a head injury to a neck breakage... interesting discussion coming from someone with 30+ years critical care experience. i hope he'll sign the petition."
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Local Statistical Information Requested
- Cyclist admissions to Brackenridge since Jan. 1993, by month
- Number of those that were for head injuries
- Number of those that were helmeted/unhelmeted
- Austin cycling fatalities by month, since Jan. 1993
- Which of those cyclists were wearing helmets and which weren't.
- Determined cause of fatality
- Percentage of those where alcohol was involved (driver / cyclist)
- Austin motorcycle fatalities by year since 2000
- Percentage of those helmeted / unhelmeted
- Percentage of those where alcohol was involved
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Further Reading / Links
- Head Injuries Rising Despite Helmets New York Times Article
- NHTSA Austin Study
- Cyclehelmets.org
- Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute
- Austin American-Statesman Helmet Law Comment Thread
- Shall We Bike? Austin Chronicle, May 2006
- Links to the studies which have shown no benefit to large populations during periods of increased helmet use
- In Australia, for example, follow-up studies showed that reductions in head injuries after mandatory helmets laws were established could be entirely explained either by the reductions in the number of bicyclists and/or other safety measures *ahem* such as stricter enforcement of drunk driving laws and speed limit reductions that were implemented at the same time. Link 1 - Link 2 - Link 3 - Link 4
- Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center's pedestrian and bicycle crash analysis tool (PBCAT) - For gathering motor vehicle crash data that could contrast bicycle and pedestrian accident statistics. They have an example of PBCAT using data compiled for NC that covers the entire state from 1997 - 2004. Its not Austin nor even Texas, but NC has a state wide child helmet law and only a few communities in the state have a more restrictive all riders ordinance. It's an on-line tool and allows comparisons of all the various crash related scenarios (helmet use, time of day, road conditions, type of injuries, etc). It can be queried by region or county in case there was interest in contrasting communities that have an all rider law against one where helmets are mandated for children only.
- National Center for Injury Prevention and Control- The CDC Injury Center's interactive mapping system is mainly a mapping tool that can show various categories of deaths to include motor vehicle related and head trauma related. The level of detail appears to be down to the county level and includes all states. Averages are accidents/year with data samples that do cover periods that NHTSA studies cover for bicycle related injuries.
- Car-Accidents.com - The site reports mostly national data with breakdowns for type of motor vehicle with contrasts for restraints or alcohol use.
- Daily Texan editorial
- Online petition
