Dallas has a bicycle hemet law

[Tangomike]

I bought a helmet before I knew about the bike law. To me it's a good idea if you are sharing the road with motorists. The question of whether or not you need one on a trail where cars are not present is a different issue. In absence of a law, I would be inclined to agree with you. I would wear one wherever I go, but that's a personal choice. I only take issue with the tone and the adversarial communication style of the people who made the earlier posts. If you choose to disregard a law in the presence of a law enforcement officer, you can't blame them for enforcing it. It puts them in a difficult position. The legal system exists for a reason, and there are bound to be laws that we don't agree with. That doesn't make it okay to break them. We may choose to do so, but we shouldn't get angry when we face the consequences, especially if we were aware that they existed before we committed the transgression. You can't blame an individual police officer for doing their job. They may be the one who protects you when you need them most, and let's not forget that their job is a lot riskier than yours or mine. Some of them make the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.

[Exciter71]

Using your reasoning, every officer enforces every law all the time,right? That is not the case. You be hard pressed to find an officer to write a DUI when the city is hopping. They would rather be out making a difference instead of enforcing stupid laws. Before you ask; DUI has become a stupid law since the federal regulations that was forced upon the states. It is now about making money instead of saving lives.

Don't forget to buckle up!

[Tangomike]

Exciter71 wrote:

Using your reasoning, every officer enforces every law all the time,right? That is not the case. You be hard pressed to find an officer to write a DUI when the city is hopping. They would rather be out making a difference instead of enforcing stupid laws. Before you ask; DUI has become a stupid law since the federal regulations that was forced upon the states. It is now about making money instead of saving lives.
Don't forget to buckle up!

Like I said, no society is perfect. Nor are people perfect. Police officers may be empowered to use some discretion as to when to give a warning and when to give a citation. That's fine. However, if you get the citation instead of the warning, you have only yourself to blame. That is called accountability. It means not blaming others and instead looking at how your actions got you into a fix in the first place. I've never had a run-in with the law with the exception of a couple of speeding tickets. Furthermore, I don't feel the least bit hampered by it. When you learn to accept life on life's terms instead of trying to rewrite the script yourself, something amazing happens--you become happy and content.

I'm not sure I understand your point about the laws pertaining to drinking and driving. Are you of the opinion that trying to stop drunk drivers is a good thing? It would be an understatement for me to say that the police make a big difference whenever they remove a drunk from behind the wheel of a car. Not sure what you're trying to say about that one.

[Tangomike]

EricDallas wrote:

Playing God! Seems like a helmet would cause more accidents. I have heard that some motorcyclist have been killed because the neck doesn't support the extra weight in an accident. Snap! Would be the same for a bike.
Kids can't have fun anymore. You can't even ride in the back of a pickup truck.
Nature is cruel sometimes: this explains why so many stupid people grow up that should have been killed in a bicycle accident as a kid.

Have you ever held a bicycle helmet? Mine is CPSC compliant, and it weighs 9 ounces (I had to use a food scale to weigh it because stepping on a digital scale while holding it wasn't even enough to register a difference from my body weight when I wasn't holding it). God help me if that additional 9 ounces is enough to cause my neck to snap when I get into an accident. A broken neck from wearing the helmet isn't the worry. It's the possible brain damage that is caused by head trauma that convinces me to put it on. Think about what can happen when your unprotected head hits an immovable piece of concrete at speeds that can approach 30 mph. The results of that kind of collision aren't up for debate. You can find the empirical evidence if you care to consult some reliable sources.

[Bill]

This law has now been found to be unconstitutional in the courts. It is now, as of 7/1/09, no longer enforced by the City of Dallas.

[Rep]

Bill - I've looked on the Dallas City Code website and there is not an update on this. I called the city code office and they didn't know about the mandatory helmet code (go figure). Where did you get your info? A 10 dollar fine that costs the city at least a 100 to write seems more ridiculous than unconstitutional.

[Rep]

http://bikefriendlyoc.wordpress.com/2009/10/0...

This is great, now how do we get the law stricken from the books?
It was setup to catch drug dealers? How many people that received tickets feel just a little insulted?

[biker fan]

As i post this comment i was literally just pulled over by a cop

i was riding all day in the area near northpark mall off of greenville with no problems.

then randomly a officer cut me off by taco cabana like i was criminal!!!

when he asked me for mY ID yet didn't explain why, i immediately assumed it was for some kind of helmet law.

i wasnt about to get any ticket!!!

I RODE!!! and they called backup!!!!
this city is getting ridiculous!

i cant feel my legs LOL