One of the disconnects within the biking community that I simply don’t understand is this:

Why do so many cyclists, who routinely tell others (esp. SUV drivers) how to live their lives, bristle with indignation when they are told to do a simple thing that makes biking safer–i.e., to wear a helmet?

It would take a few hands to count the number of times I have been flamed or nastygrammed by someone not-so-gently reminding me that only kids under 16 are required to wear a helmet in Mass,, that doing so is a personal choice, don’t-tread-on-me and so on.

In the same vein, MassBike posted as one of the profiles in its “I’m a ___, and I Ride” a photo of a student riding without a helmet. When I complained about their choice of photo/profile, let’s just say my comments were not received warmly. The reaction is particularly ironic given that the student cyclist killed in a collision with an MBTA bus last week was not wearing a helmet.

I can’t understand why MassBike and other cycling organizations do not advocate for more stringent bike-helmet laws (while at the same time advocating for a “vulnerable road users bill”). I can’t understand why cyclists won’t put on helmets. Sure, it makes your hair look wavy. Sure, it’s bulky (though the Dahon Pango folding helmet will cut that problem in half). Sure, it’s a little hotter in the summer. Sure, it adds some number of ounces for the weight weenies out there.

But it’s frankly stupid to ride without a helmet, at least right now in the Boston area. Maybe we’ll be like the Netherlands someday and there’ll be enough of a critical mass of bikers that it’s suddenly super-safe. But it certainly isn’t that way on Huntington Ave or in most of the area, and we shouldn’t act as if that nirvana is just a little ways away.

Wear a helmet already.