By Beacon Editorial Board
Imagine for a moment that you're cruising along on your favorite bicycle ride, responsibly using the bike lane and making every effort to be a considerate user of the road. You let your mind drift and enjoy the feeling of a warm breeze flowing over your head.
The next feeling that you appreciate is the pain of warm asphalt grinding against your skull as an unexpected automobile collision causes you to skid violently along the surface of the road.
You've just been taught a painful lesson in personal responsibility.
Though bicycle helmets are not required for anyone over the age of 17 in the state of Oregon, we advocate that it should be the personal responsibility of individual cyclists to safeguard their own health and safety by the use of a bicycle helmet.
In the contest between car, concrete and cranium there is usually only one combatant coming away clean, which is why the responsibility for one's own personal safety rests squarely on the shoulders of the cyclist.
It is the cyclist, not the motorist, which bears the burden of greater risk in any accident. Should the unthinkable happen, and bike meets car at high velocity, it is the cyclist who lacks the protective mass of an automobile.
Despite the clear advantage of survivability that the use of a bike helmet affords, the idea of a mandatory bike helmet law is seemingly unpopular among Oregon residents, as State Sen. Floyd Prozanski (D) discovered recently when he announced his plans to push a mandatory helmet law into consideration.
Though Sen. Prozanski backed off from his announcement, due to large amounts of negative feedback about the proposed bill, both he and, we here at The Beacon, still strongly support the use of bicycle helmets.
While it is more annoying to add another accessory to a carefree bicycle routine, the extra time it takes to find and place a helmet upon the head is far less than the time you'll spend in an ICU having gravel picked out of your face.
Putting on a helmet is something that you, as a cyclist can control. The sometimes unobservant motorists you share the road with are a much more unpredictable variable.
The Beacon's own photographer, sophomore Timmy Trabon, was recently involved in a vehicular collision, which left him in a wheelchair, unable to do his job.
Trabon's injuries were aggravated by the fact that he was not wearing a helmet at the time of the collision. He was lucky to escape the accident without permanent head trauma but his case should illustrate the point that even on a casual ride, the random consequence of fate can have its way.
While it may never pass into law, we believe a law mandating the use of bicycle helmets would greatly benefit the people of Oregon and the students of the University of Portland.
For a state and a school so renowned for bicycle enthusiasm it seems absurd to think that people would not be wearing helmets on their own accord, and that a law mandating responsible behavior would be met with disapproval.
Any well-meaning cyclist can make the same mistake that Trabon did while on the road.
A helmet is a cyclist's insurance policy against mistakes of their own and the poor driving of others. They should be worn as a measure of personal safety and as an example to others of the right thing to do.
