The speed of freedom is 32 KPH.

[Manonearth]

Hello everybody. I have an Ecoped Pulse. It's my 3rd ebike, the first 2 having been stolen. I paid 60 bucks for the scooter I have now and 20 bucks for parts to fix it up. I've refurbished it so well, it's been mistaken for new. I'm also building a grocery cart/trailer for it.
I love my ebike. I love that it does not require insurance, plates, registration or a license. It is my property, and I don't have to ask anybody for permission to use it. The absolute definition of freedom. If they insist that I limit myself to 32 KPH then so be it. I'm 57 now and not in much of a hurry. It always bothered me that a drivers license is considered a privilege in Canada. Well, when I get on my Ebike and putter along at 32 KPH, it's not a privilege, it's my freaking right. I can prove it too.
Earlier this year Officer Wells pulled me over in the downtown core of Cornwall. I did not have pedals, and unbeknownst to me, my drivers license was suspended. I was given a summons to appear in court for violation of sec. 53.1 of the HTA of Ontario. Driving a motorized vehicle with a suspended license.
I appeared and refused to plead guilty, and a trial date was actually set. I then met with the persecutor, sorry, prosecutor, and was offered the wonderful opportunity of having this all in my rear-view mirror for the low cost of 650.00. I laughed in his face. He said he would see me in court on the 19th of December.
I stopped by the courthouse to formally request disclosure. After a month I popped in again and made the request again, as i had not received anything. Finally, after 2 weeks I received the persecutors, sorry, prosecutors file I had requested. As an extra added bonus I also received notice that the courts had withdrawn the charges and that it was not necessary for me to appear on the 19th of December. My guess is somebody read this decision.

https://www.canlii.org/en/on/oncj/d...RUi4gdi4gUGl6emFjYWxsYSwAAAAAAQ&resultIndex=3
I've tacked up the notice of with drawl in my shop, and my bike is sitting in the kitchen, waiting for a sunny day.

I've been thinking lately about helmets. I don't like that I have to wear one. After all I can hit 32 KPH on my mountain bike and I don't have to wear a helmet. I would like to ride my ebike without a helmet. I was a gymnast as a young man, I know how to fall. I think next summer I may purposefully get a ticket for not wearing a helmet, and then fight it. Perhaps a little civil disobedience will go a long way.
That's all I got for now. Let's hope for a speedy arrival of spring.

 

[indianajo]

Welcome to the site.
After spending Thanksgiving & Christmas 2017 plus New Year's til Jan 10, with my jaw wired shut, I've added a chin guard as a requirement for the helmet I'm wearing. I always go over the handlebars to fall on my chin and arms, never on the top of my head. I'm wearing a Fox rampage "downhill mountain bike racing helmet" although I never get off road.
However, in 1969 I saw a motorcycle snagged by a car in such a way that the rider spun in the air horizontally and whacked his head against the fender before falling on his back. I don't think anything I was doing on the way down could have prevented that.

 

[Manonearth]

Welcome to the site.
After spending Thanksgiving & Christmas 2017 with my jaw wired shut, I've added a chin guard as a requirement for the helmet I'm wearing. I always go over the handlebars to fall on my chin and arms, never on the top of my head. I'm wearing a Fox rampage "downhill mountain bike racing helmet" although I never get off road.
However, in 1969 I saw a motorcycle snagged by a car in such a way that the rider spun in the air horizontally and whacked his head against the fender before falling on his back. I don't think anything I was doing on the way down could have prevented that.

I have no problem with someone who wants to wear one, and I believe they are useful for higher speed vehicles like motorcycles and snowmobiles. I don't like them for a bicycle, and my ebike does not go any faster than a bicycle. As an adult I don't have to wear one on a bicycle, and HTA says my ebike is a bicycle, ipso facto, I shouldn't have to wear one. So to be clear. I am not saying helmets are bad. Obviously they work and can prevent injuries. I just think that if I'm regulated to 32kph, and I am not a girl, then I shouldn't have to wear one.

 

[Feliz]

I have no problem with someone who wants to wear one, and I believe they are useful for higher speed vehicles like motorcycles and snowmobiles. I don't like them for a bicycle, and my ebike does not go any faster than a bicycle. As an adult I don't have to wear one on a bicycle, and HTA says my ebike is a bicycle, ipso facto, I shouldn't have to wear one. So to be clear. I am not saying helmets are bad. Obviously they work and can prevent injuries. I just think that if I'm regulated to 32kph, and I am not a girl, then I shouldn't have to wear one.

And if you were a girl you should have to wear one?

 

[Alaskan]

A local CPA was riding his bike without a helmet, went into a sharp turn, did a pedal strike on the road, was catapulted off his bike and flew head first into a curb. He spent two years in a coma, now cannot earn a living, his family's circumstances are drastically reduced. The rest of us, through our health insurance premiums (read taxes allocated to universal health care in Canada) have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for his care and it is far from done. If he were a "girl", he would have enough common sense to wear a helmet and saved himself, his family and the rest of us huge grief and cost.

Until you remove yourself from society and cease depending on the commons (roads, police, fire departments, schools,, etc.) and the good sense of others, the decisions you make will effect more than just you. The key issue is neither rights nor freedoms but rather the responsibilities that are linked to them.

 

[Gator]

My son decided not to wear his helmet as an act of rebellion. He crashed and scraped his face pretty bad and tore a hole in his scalp. He is OK now and all healed up. He wears his helmet now. I am grateful that his lesson was learned at a lot lesser expense. At 17 it would be tough for him going back to spoon-feedings and diaper changes.

 

[Feliz]

A local CPA was riding his bike without a helmet, went into a sharp turn, did a pedal strike on the road, was catapulted off his bike and flew head first into a curb. He spent two years in a coma, now cannot earn a living, his family's circumstances are drastically reduced. The rest of us, through our health insurance premiums (read taxes allocated to universal health care in Canada) have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for his care and it is far from done. If he were a "girl", he would have enough common sense to wear a helmet and saved himself, his family and the rest of us huge grief and cost.

Until you remove yourself from society and cease depending on the commons (roads, police, fire departments, schools,, etc.) and the good sense of others, the decisions you make will effect more than just you. The key issue is neither rights nor freedoms but rather the responsibilities that are linked to them.

Agree, I took a spill competing in mountain biking years ago (early eighties) and went over the bars landing in a large puddle, when I got up I noticed my helmet was dented and cracked. I felt around in the water and found a sharp boulder I had hit my head on, I only needed a couple stitches but if I hadn't of been wearing a helmet it would of been far worse. I have never rode without a helmet since.

I don't understand what being a girl has to do with wearing a helmet!

 

[Manonearth]

Really? We are not talking motorcycles here. With lower speeds all tolerances are reduced. As far as I can see an adult should have the option. If you want to wear one go ahead, I just don't like that it's a law. And as far as the "girl" comment. I grew up with two brothers. Don't be a girl is like saying don't be afraid of every little thing. I know helmets are good for motorcycles guys. But I'm only doing 32 KPH. I would simply like the same option I have on a mountain bike. But please, lets hear more stories about motorcycle head injuries and how laws will protect us from ourselves. Freedom is always the key issue, and it automatically comes with responsibility, but by it's very nature, one can choose to ignore that.

 

[Feliz]

Don't tell me about motorcycles, I built and raced them all my life up till a year ago when I turned 80. Don't wear a helmet, I don't think anyone cares, just pay your own medical and funeral expenses.

 

[PDoz]

I wear a helmet, don't have a choice - it's law in australia that all cyclists wear them and has been since the 80's . I'm also well and truly brain washed so don't even feel comfortable riding around my own property without one

BUT I think compulsory lids on bikes was a failed social experiment - we have enough population data comparing Australia to Euro countries to realise adressing behavior and infrastructure would have been a better strategy - between lower participation rates and reduced health benefits from exercise, right up to the 25 times higher accident rates amongst lid countries vs non lid countries. No question, if you're going to crash you want to be wearing a lid - it reduces MINOR injuries ( not accountant comas) - but the data is telling us you're more likely to crash in a country where you are expected to wear them . Worse, if we can believe the data - vehicles pass closer if you have a lid....it's not as simple as our emotive response ( and logic) suggests.

As for the insurance / social cost argument - insurance companies use numbers, so there might be an argument that people chosing to wear helmets are the ones who should forfeit social benefits ( nb I don't believe this, but that's what the science seems to suggest)

My personal experience is riding an ebike Intravel faster on average than a normal bike, so all the normal bike helmet data we have is not relevant - we're somewhere between bike and motorbike. I'm not comfortable taking part in the Darwinian experiment for ebike lids. I've been falling off bikes and motorbikes for 40 years, I've thrown away many thousands of $ worth of damaged helmets in my time , and the only significant head injury I've had was skiing without a lid.....so I wear one.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Perhaps, a little civil disobedience will go a long way.

Tom ...
I agree; it will. But which way?

Please let us know about the fun times, too.
... David

 

[6zfshdb]

If you are opposed to the helmet law, fight the law, not the helmet. There are ways to challenge the law while still wearing one. Being rebellious is one thing but being foolish is another matter.

 

[DaveMatthews]

I'd rather wear my helmet than drool on you.

Well at least (currently) drooling is a choice.

 

[BriantheAussie]

Many years ago when I was 10 riding my bike, I got chased by a group of other kids, no helmet, full pelt into a brick drive thru wall.
I fractured my skull, luckily though only a very small crack , required eight stitches , had headaches off and on for six months and apparently was very lucky.
From that day forward I always wore a helmet and luckily here in Australia it become law to wear helmets. I've had numerous accidents since, as I've always cycled am 51 now and on every occasion have counted my blessings for wearing one.
Don't ever underestimate how important they can be.
You will only know when you have a serious accident without one.

 

[steve marino]

I don't have a horse (or helmet) in this race, but a helmet saved me when I was a teenager when a car pulled across an intersection and stalled. I slammed into the side of said car on my motorcycle pretty hard and had no injuries even though my head hit first.

Here in the US, every state that went to a mandatory helmet law for motorcycles saw an increase in motorcycle fatalities, and every state that reduced their speed limits on highways saw their total fatalities increase. So it just depends.

 

[harryS]

When I visit up there, I like everything about Canada. I was surprised to see that helmets are required for ebikes, but then again, a lot of your ebikes are electric motor scooters. I could see helmets being optional for the bicycle type ebikes, but the law would have too much trouble distinguishing a motor scooter from a e-scooter by sight.