Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Bicycling

Wolfson: Sponsor of Mandatory Helmet Bill Is No Friend of Cyclists

2:01 PM EDT on June 1, 2012

In case you missed it yesterday, City Council Member David Greenfield was bombarded in the Twitterverse after the Wall Street Journal reported that he plans to introduce a mandatory bike helmet law. (Streetsblog joined the fray with enthusiasm.)

City Hall is also having none of it. Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson shot down the helmet law idea at a presser yesterday, noting that Greenfield -- best known for haplessly trying to squeeze free parking from every conceivable inch of curbside space -- has opposed measures to improve cyclist safety. (In addition to mandatory helmet use, Greenfield is a fan of mandatory licensing for cyclists.)

Kate Hinds at Transportation Nation has the deputy mayor's full remarks on the subject. Enjoy:

First of all, there’s no other major city in the country that has a mandatory bike helmet law, and there’s a reason why. The thing that actually saves the lives of cyclists is protecting them from drivers, which we have done more in this city than any other city in America. It’s why our fatalities are down in this city, accident fatalities are down to an all-time low. So we are making enormous progress in keeping cyclists alive.

I understand there is a council person who has promulgated this. He is not a friend of bicyclists. He is against bike lanes. So I’m not going to take — and this administration is not going to take advice on protecting cyclists from somebody who has consistently been against the things that saves the lives of cyclists. As somebody who bikes to work nearly every day, I can tell you what saves the lives of cyclists. It’s separating cyclists from cars. And we’ve done more of that in this city than any other city in America. We’re going to keep doing that, we’re going to keep driving down fatalities, we’ve been successful at it. We’re not going to take advice from people who aren’t actually on the side of cyclist safety.

While there are some parts of the world that have helmet laws -- notably Australia and portions of the Pacific Northwest -- none of them have the kind of mainstream bike culture that prevails in cities without helmet laws, like Berlin or Copenhagen, where cycling is exceptionally safe. Helmet laws are becoming even scarcer as more cities adopt public bike systems. Mexico City and Tel Aviv recently jettisoned their laws in conjunction with launching bike-share.

After a couple of years in the council, Greenfield has established his specialty: proposing bills that serve no real purpose other than capturing the attention of the press. It looks like he's going to milk this moment for all it's worth too, but hopefully the rest of the City Council won't opt to make NYC a global embarrassment by giving this bill a second look.

Thanks for reading!

Register or log in to continue.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

‘Duped’: A Harlem 20-Something Blows the Whistle on an Illegal Temporary License Plate Business

Kareem found out the hard way that his Craigslist gig delivering temp tags was illegal. Now he's exposing the operation that employed him, revealing clues about his anonymous bosses that all trace back to the same place.

June 9, 2023

Day 3: These Hunger Strikers aren’t Paid Lobbyists — But Albany Can’t Tell the Difference

ALBANY — “They are putting every barrier in our way to not have to face us directly and  look us in the eye and then make an unconscionable decision. This is Albany at its worst,” said Amy Cohen. 

June 8, 2023

Manhattan Pol Wants OMNY to Work With Citi Bike

Citi Bike could become even more popular if the MTA figured out a way to integrate it with the OMNY pay system.

June 8, 2023

MAP QUEST: See Exactly Why Sammy’s Law Would Be So Crucial for the Boroughs

Ironically, one of the most dangerous roadways — East Gun Hill Road — is in the district of the Assembly Speaker who reportedly opposes Sammy's Law.

June 8, 2023
See all posts