Some bicyclists are hardheaded about mandatory-helmet law

Bicyclists ride near the Golden Gate Bridge. A bill has been introduced in the state Senate to make helmets mandatory for all bicycle riders, requiring adults to wear them, not just minors. Bicyclists ride near the Golden Gate Bridge. A bill has been introduced in the state Senate to make helmets mandatory for all bicycle riders, requiring adults to wear them, not just minors. Photo: Paul Chinn / The Chronicle Photo: Paul Chinn / The Chronicle Image 1 of / 7 Caption Close Some bicyclists are hardheaded about mandatory-helmet law 1 / 7 Back to Gallery

Getting a helmet onto a grown-up bicyclist’s head isn’t a no-brainer, even though the saving of brains is the idea.

A proposed state law that would require adult cyclists to wear helmets — as the law requires minors to do — is facing a bumpier reception than a mountain bike tire on a Mount Tam single track.

Last week, state Sen. Carol Liu, D-La Cañada Flintridge (Los Angeles County), introduced SB192, a bill requiring adult cyclists to wear helmets or pay a $25 fine. California would become the first state to require helmets for riders over 18.

Some cyclists — mostly those who wear a helmet anyway — said it was a fine idea. Others, including the head of a statewide cycling advocacy group, said it was a thorn in the side of their tires.

“It’s the wrong way to go,” said Dave Snyder, head of the California Bicycle Coalition. “California needs to do everything it can to increase bicycling. A helmet law puts up a barrier.

“We think the main way to make the streets safer for everyone is to get more people on bicycles, not fewer. A mandatory helmet law would reduce the number of cyclists and the number of trips.”

Over the past decade, Snyder said, biking has gotten safer. The number of bicycle trips has nearly doubled, but the number of accidents has increased about 10 percent.

On bike-friendly Valencia Street in San Francisco, a major cycling thoroughfare with its own bike lane, The Chronicle watched 100 cyclists pedal past the corner at 22nd Street on Sunday. Sixty-eight wore helmets and 32 did not.

Mariano Fernandez was one who didn’t. He said he felt “pretty safe” without one and that the cops would have “bigger fish to fry” than coming after him if the proposed law passes.

“I’ll take my chances,” he said. “If you don’t know what you’re doing you should wear a helmet, but I know what I’m doing.”

Differing opinions

Raymond Artis was wearing a helmet but said it should not be required, because it would unduly harm the poorest cyclists who could least afford to buy one. But his cycling companion, Lamercie Saint-Hilaire, a doctor at San Francisco General Hospital, said mandatory helmets were a great idea.

“I see patients every day with head injuries,” she said. “If you’re on the road, you need to take the proper precautions.”

Other regular riders said it was a complicated issue. Kai Lyons, a 20-year-old jazz guitarist who rides all over San Francisco with his guitar strapped to his back and his amplifier strapped to the front of his bike, said he wears a helmet but understands Snyder’s argument against forcing adults to comply.

“My gut says to pass the law, but my mind says people should think for themselves,” Lyons said. “The main reason people don’t wear them is because it’s not stylish. But neither is an accident. I suppose if people were forced to wear them they would get used to them.”

Pat McBride, an Oakland sleep clinician who ascends Grizzly Peak every Sunday with a pack of fellow hard-core bike addicts, said it only took one accident to convince her the helmet law would be a good idea. She was riding in Montclair last year when an absent-minded motorist opened his car door directly into her path and she wound up flat on her back in the middle of Mountain Boulevard.

“The helmet got cracked,” McBride said. “It would have been my brains instead. It’s not only yourself that you have to watch out for. It’s everyone else.”

'A bunch of close calls’

George Higgins, an Oakland deputy public defender, rides a tandem through the East Bay hills with his wife, Sharon, in the rear seat. He said there was “something obnoxious” about making bike helmets mandatory but that he would never ride anywhere without his. He said he used to play ice hockey without a helmet as a kid and almost lost all his teeth, and now that he’s acquired a little more sense he would like to hang onto his teeth for the duration.

“I’ve had a bunch of close calls,” he said. “I just put the helmet on and don’t think about it. You get used to it quickly. If I wasn’t wearing it, I would feel uncomfortable.”

Since 1994, California cyclists under 18 have been required to wear a helmet. The proposed law, in addition to extending that to all riders, would require riders to wear reflective clothing at night. According to Liu, 9 out of every 10 cyclists killed in crashes were not wearing helmets.

Liu’s nephew, Alan Liu, was killed in 2004 by a drunken driver while cycling in Sonoma County. He was wearing a helmet.

Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: srubenstein@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SteveRubeSF