Helmet laws are tricky. They discourage people (especially low income) from riding bikes at all, and disproportionately give that same group extra legal or financial trouble.
The only good argument I saw against seat belt laws was this, that it gives cops more excuses to stop folks “driving while black” and blame it on something else.
There was a study in Australia where they found helmet laws didn’t increase rider safety. What they found was visually appearing safer (I’ve experienced this personally with helmet and hivis vest) drivers would get closer to riders. Some kind of perceived safety margin effect.
Helmet laws are tricky. They discourage people (especially low income) from riding bikes at all, and disproportionately give that same group extra legal or financial trouble.
The only good argument I saw against seat belt laws was this, that it gives cops more excuses to stop folks “driving while black” and blame it on something else.
There was a study in Australia where they found helmet laws didn’t increase rider safety. What they found was visually appearing safer (I’ve experienced this personally with helmet and hivis vest) drivers would get closer to riders. Some kind of perceived safety margin effect.