| Author | Message | ||
     ffof Citizen Username: Ffof Post Number: 1261 Registered: 5-2001  |
java drinker- how do you take your coffee?  | ||
| #9Dream Citizen Username: 9dream Post Number: 410 Registered: 12-2002  |
I don't see the race angle here either. Either a kid is wearing a helmet or he/she isn't. | ||
| java_drinker Citizen Username: Java_drinker Post Number: 189 Registered: 8-2002  |
foff, I take it as big as they'll serve it, with milk and sugar. Not to mention as often as possible! | ||
| marie Citizen Username: Marie Post Number: 643 Registered: 6-2001 |
java drinker, Vic Deluca and then members of the TC felt that the majority of bikers stopped for riding without helmets would be children of color. Implementing the kind of law SO has on the books would accomplish two things 1) protect kids from serious head injuries and 2) cut down on bike thefts. It works in SO - We should try it here. | ||
| java_drinker Citizen Username: Java_drinker Post Number: 190 Registered: 8-2002 |
Marie, Aren't the majority of children in Maplewood of "color"? CHS is majority black. So how can we enforce any rule if we have to dance around the "color" issue every time the TC attempts to act in the best interest of the town? | ||
| ml1 Citizen Username: Ml1 Post Number: 1037 Registered: 5-2002  |
I think a strict law a generation ago would have benefited some of our more prominent MOLers, who seem as if they may have taken a few too many spills while not wearing a helmet. | ||
| marie Citizen Username: Marie Post Number: 644 Registered: 6-2001 |
java drinker, I believe the SO ordinance was actually enacted to primarily cut down on bike thefts - the majority of thefts occur by non-residents. The assumption is that they would be African American kids. Possibly, kids who were riding bikes to work at the local A&P or Kings was used as an example by Vic as to why it could be an unfair practice. A bike helmet saved my son's life and I've had two bikes stolen from my garage so I'm all for an ordinance that helps to prevent both occurances from happening. | ||
| tom Citizen Username: Tom Post Number: 991 Registered: 5-2001 |
helmet laws to combat theft and race don't have any clear relationship I can see. Bike theft is bad no matter who does it, and the basic idea is that someone prowling for a bike to steal is probably not the kind of kid who brings a helmet along. | ||
| rheims Citizen Username: Rheims Post Number: 518 Registered: 5-2001 |
here's how the helmet laws would intersect with race, i've been told: if you saw a black kid on a bike and he didn't have a helmet on, it's likely that he didn't have the bike either when he came to town. so grab him. presumably maplewood's kids, black and white, would all wear their helmets to make the plan work. | ||
| PROFESSOR STRAWBERRY Citizen Username: Strawberry Post Number: 852 Registered: 10-2001 |
This thread is a joke, right? The Mayor actually said the majority of bikers stopped for riding without helmets would be children of color? Holy ignorance. VOTE BUSH/CHENEY IN 2004 | ||
| michael Citizen Username: Michael Post Number: 337 Registered: 1-2002 |
Bicycle Facility Plan Public Meeting June 26th 7:30 - 9:00 pm Maplewood Community Center (Dehart Park) | ||
| Nohero Citizen Username: Nohero Post Number: 1749 Registered: 5-2001  |
My bicycle-riding (and helmet-wearing) son was reading over my shoulder just now, and asked me to pass this along: "Thanks for taking a thread about safety, and turning it into a race issue." I have no idea where he gets his sense of irony | ||
| ml1 Citizen Username: Ml1 Post Number: 1039 Registered: 5-2002 |
The bicycle race issue was another thread. | ||
| officerfriendly Citizen Username: Officerfriendly Post Number: 6 Registered: 6-2002 |
It's all true folks, Myself and other officers several years ago pushed for the bike helmet ordinance. It was denied. The response we got from Town Hall was that they felt that it would target minority youths from outside communities. In other words, the TC were more concerned about youths from another community than Maplewood youths. In South Orange, before the ordinance, they had over 200 bike thefts a year. After the ordinance took effect, they had less than 50 the next year. Go figure! | ||
| PROFESSOR STRAWBERRY Citizen Username: Strawberry Post Number: 854 Registered: 10-2001 |
Thank You Officer, Politics over the safety of our children. Very sad indeed. VOTE BUSH/CHENEY IN 2004 | ||
| marie Citizen Username: Marie Post Number: 645 Registered: 6-2001 |
Officerfriendly, I'd like to see a helmet program attached to the ordinance - pick up your bike at the Police Station and get a free helmet. I hope the TC will revisit the possibility of implementing a helmet ordinance again. | ||
| buzzsaw Citizen Username: Buzzsaw Post Number: 170 Registered: 5-2001 |
Do we have to wait for Vic and Jerry to leave before revisiting the issue? | ||
| ajc Citizen Username: Ajc Post Number: 1514 Registered: 9-2001 |
Too often it's been politics over common sense. Very, very sad indeed...  | ||
| pmart Citizen Username: Pmart Post Number: 80 Registered: 7-2001 |
marie - I'd be willing to donate a helmet if such a program were somehow implemented. Perhaps the Hilton Association or one of the local organizations could sponsor some type of program for collecting and distributing new or gently used/outgrown helmets to town kids. | ||
| Joan Citizen Username: Joancrystal Post Number: 1736 Registered: 5-2001 |
I'm another person who wouldn't mind seeing children biking in full body armor (or at least in protective padding like football players wear) but I know how difficult it would be for most people to control a bike while wearing that kind of weight and bulk. Therefore, if compromise is needed for the sake of function, I would like to see everyone who rides a bike wearing a helmet everytime they ride for as long as they are riding. Head injuries are too serious and too likely to occur for riders not to take this simple precaution. The argument that bike helmets lead to racial profiling is repugnant. So is the argument that the prime focus of a bike helmet law should be to make it easier to identify bicycle thieves. Helmets save lives and prevent serious injuries. That is all we need to know to press for a bicycle helmet law which is applied to ALL bicycle riders in town. |
