[ndaiger]

The law requiring wearing a helmet makes no sense to me. I think Bird is great.

The helmet law seems to have something much closer to a Vespa in mind. And while a Bird can move along at a good pace, it's slower than a bicycle at speed. I believe they lowered the max speed after launching.

You aren't required to wear a helmet on a bicycle if you're over 18, and I think bikes are much harder to control in low-speed contexts.

The law should change.

However people should definitely not ride Birds on sidewalks (although a majority of people do).

[code_sloth]

> However people should definitely not ride Birds on sidewalks (although a majority of people do).

This, is why we can't have good things. Because assholes ruin it for everyone.

Most electronic scooters I've encountered are on sidewalks and pavements, travelling at speeds that can injure pedestrains pretty badly.

It does seem (to me at least) that alot of these idiots take pride in their turning skills, weaving left and right, avoiding people at the last moment possible. Most people just have to stop moving and wait for the bikes to pass because their speed these things are travelling at, coupled with the distance they are away from them, leaves pretty much zero margin for their (the rider's) error. Theres literally nothing much you can do, except to hope they don't hit you.

Furthermore, these bike are pretty silent. When they come from behind, it's quite a shock to the pedestrain.

Its a nice innovation, but I'm inclined to towards heavy handed regulation towards these things because of assholes.

[clon]

I agree with you, the way people will inevitably use them makes them unsafe to be used in the vast majority of the US urban scene.

In Europe, for example Amsterdam or Berlin, it would be a different story, however. They fit very well to the existing comprehensive system of bike lanes. They have a similar speed and manoeuvrability and also both the pedestrians and cyclist are already well conditioned for avoiding each other. Try stepping onto a bike lane in Berlin - you will be feeling really stupid in a hurry.

[mc32]

I've seen what happens to adults when they don't wear helmets while biking. It's not a good idea. Be it your fault or someone else's fault, in the end your head is at risk.

[mung]

Interesting position to take on those two things, since wearing a helmet makes an awful lot of sense since flying off a scooter onto a pavement at 20km will cause massive head injuries...

...and a scooter hitting a pedestrian is not as traumatic as a car hitting a scooter. ..given the relative speed differences of people/scooters/cars and humans ability to process objects at speed remaining the same.

[xapata]

A scooter hitting a pedestrian can easily kill the ped. And yes, I suppose I only have an anecdote, but it feels like evidence to me.

[askvictor]

A walking adult, if they trip, fall and hit their head will suffer massive head injuries. A ~2m fall for a human head is enough to kill you. Ergo, all pedestrians should wear helmets.

Furthermore, head injuries to car occupants would be reduced if they wore helmets (why else do race car drivers wear them?)

[Noos]

When poor people do things that increase risk of injury, we hector them. When rich people do so, it's obviously that the laws are at fault.

[mtmail]

Reduced from 22mph to 15mph.

In my opinion the law should change in that bicycle riders should wear helmets, too. It's not how much you can control your bike/scooter/segway but what happens if something unexpected happens. Blown type, hitting a curb or large stone, or a car.

[b4lancesh33t]

Motorists should probably be required to wear a helmet too, by this standard.

[HumanDrivenDev]

The nanny states of Australia and New Zealand are the only two places on earth where that's the case, IMO. Australia even censored a tourism advertisement because it showed someone riding a bicycle without a helmet.

You'd fit right in.

[zhoujianfu]

There’s even an argument bike helmets make bike riding less safe (or at least don’t help at all): https://bicyclesafe.com/helmets.html

[analog31]

Ah, the University of Bath study again. That study was barely scientific. The researcher was his own test subject, and nobody has ever replicated the result.

Yet it is now a "fact" that helmets make car drivers pass closer to you, because of this study.

[clon]

Reminds me of this: https://www.ecohelmet.com/

Essentially an origami helmet. Does anyone have some data points as to the efficacy of such a thing?

[erkkie]

You are totally right, helmets should be mandatory for bikes too :)