Editor:
Quite a few years back I was biking north on 52nd Street in Tsawwassen when a lady pulled out of Saratoga Drive to turn right, ignoring the stop sign. To avoid hitting her vehicle, I unsuccessfully mounted a curb and took a spectacular over-the-handlebars header (as told to me by a witness).
The long-term result was shoulder and neck injuries that are still not resolved today. The short-term result was that my helmet was cracked. I don't know this to be fact but, I believe the helmet might have saved my life or, at least saved me from serious head or brain injury.
For Peter Ladner to argue that making helmets mandatory lowers the health of the population as a whole because people might bike less might be statistically true.
However, the banality of the position is astounding! It is tantamount to suggesting that we sacrifice a few bikers' lives to head injuries in order to make the general population somewhat healthier.
I really do think that mandatory use of cyclist helmets is sound thinking, as is auto insurance, house insurance and use of seat belts, as well as personally making the decision to look both left and right before crossing the street.
Harold White
