And still many without helmets

[MST.ESQ]

fair enough

how would you word the sign?

eg fine print "a public service announcement"?

Ah, yes. Lawyers love the fine print...

There are several ways to do it and no magic formula. One popular way is to include the phrase "...a message from from the MTB Cranium Safety Alliance (MTBNJ, etc)." or something similar on the bottom of the sign. This kind of stuff is always open to interpretation, but the less official you can make it look, and the more you can draw attention to the organization posting the notice, the better off you are. But don't let me scare anyone out of doing this - I just want to make sure we give some thought to how we go about doing this to avoid any unintended consequences.

BiscoJosh - any thoughts? You just finished studying for the bar so all of this should be fresh in your mind.

And yes: citing the law as it relates to minors would not cause any issues and recovery against the park would be difficult - but let's not whet any lawyers' appetites if we can avoid it...

 

[clutch]

Guys - its only like $45 for two proper looking custom lettered sign (vinyl).

http://www.safetysign.com

it should look and feel official - so something

Helmets MANDATORY
NO Exceptions
Under Penalty of the Law​

Jdog if you order it, i'll be happy to Paypal you part or all of the cost.

kush

How about "Cycling is inherently dangerous, Helmet use strongly recommended" Any stronger than that and I think you'd need the park to change policy.

I'm not sure about brainless adults but "Children Must Wear Bike Helmets" is New Jersey Law. This banner is a simple reminder and should not have any legal issue.

Maybe "Children Under 14 must wear helmets, You should too"

 

[MST.ESQ]

:2guns: to the ambulance chasers....thats nuts....

Boy I could tell you some stories... It is amazing what some people sue over. The worst part... the cost of defending these crazy suits is sometimes worse than the possible outcome if the plaintiff had won the case!

 

[alex_k]

Maybe "Children Under 14 must wear helmets, You should too"

I like this one

 

[FFT]

"Put on a helmet a-hole"

maybe someone can put up an official looking sign - "helmets mandatory"

kush

So a guy is out riding and decides he doesnt want to wear a helmet, and he's not requires to, and you call him an a-hole.

Now you Nazis want to enforce your own laws, contact your local law makers if it's that important to you, a-hole.

 

[kush]

So a guy is out riding and decides he doesnt want to wear a helmet, and he's not requires to, and you call him an a-hole.

Now you Nazis want to enforce your own laws, contact your local law makers if it's that important to you, a-hole.

Hey - I don't really mind if you bash your head in.

But the point throughout has always been that you A-HOLES without helmets will ruin it for the rest of us.

That I do mind.

kind regards
kush

 

[jdog]

So a guy is out riding and decides he doesnt want to wear a helmet, and he's not requires to, and you call him an a-hole.

Now you Nazis want to enforce your own laws, contact your local law makers if it's that important to you, a-hole.

In the end it is totally their decision. Some parks mandate helmet use and others don't. The issue at 6 mile is that we have so many newbies that don't know any better.

It would suck it 6 mile or any other trail is closed because little Johnny smashes his noggin.

 

[Norm]

So a guy is out riding and decides he doesnt want to wear a helmet, and he's not requires to, and you call him an a-hole.

Now you Nazis want to enforce your own laws, contact your local law makers if it's that important to you, a-hole.

The people who possibly ruin it for the rest of us aren't exactly in any position to throw stones here. I'm not sure how this is unclear. If you know that riding a park without a helmet may cause the park to close to bikers, and you still don't wear a helmet, how is that not incredibly selfish?

 

[FFT]

It would suck it 6 mile or any other trail is closed because little Johnny smashes his noggin.

Agreed, but dont be suprised if the next time I see one of you surfers come down the beach and i call you an a-hole for not wearing a life preserver.

Until it becomes a law I will stand my ground. The next time your in Allaire call the helmetless horse people a-holes and get back to me on the outcome.

 

[FFT]

The people who possibly ruin it for the rest of us aren't exactly in any position to throw stones here. I'm not sure how this is unclear. If you know that riding a park without a helmet may cause the park to close to bikers, and you still don't wear a helmet, how is that not incredibly selfish?

I am not arguing if it should or should be mandatory, my point is that until it is, you cant call people a-holes, or post misleading information on public property. I wear a helmet 99% of the tiime on on those lands and do the best I can to keep places open. Granted I dont do as much as Jay or Frank, but I do my part when it's needed.

The people who get places closed arnt aways punk kids out for a once a year ride. I've seen my share of lycra clad morons with 10" seat posts get thrown OTB onto their $200 carbon helmet - do I call them a-holes, yes, but not to their face. Feel free to flame me, I dont mind at all.

 

[crash_in_nj]

Name calling is fun and all, but I'm pretty sure it isn't going to help. I'm not sure if it would be practical, but how about inviting the helmetless noobs to a group ride to help show them the ropes, and remind them nicely that they would have to wear a helmet to go on the ride. Or would something like that cause the lawyers to salivate a little too much?

 

[Pearl]

ive refused to participate in any group rides with anyone who doesn't have a helmet.

i dont have a shovel big enough to pick up brains and skull.

plus it would stink, the smell of the deer crap on the trails is enough for me.

 

[warcricket]

Agreed, but dont be suprised if the next time I see one of you surfers come down the beach and i call you an a-hole for not wearing a life preserver.

there's a lot that can be said here.
i mean you rarely see dirt jumpers bitching about helmets; however, take for example what happened at the 4 20 trails when some kid fell on his noggin and his parents got the municipality to plow the place. Granted, I'm not exactly sure of how legal those trails were to begin with, but I'm sure the po-po knows of such spots.

 

[MST.ESQ]

Name calling is fun and all, but I'm pretty sure it isn't going to help. I'm not sure if it would be practical, but how about inviting the helmetless noobs to a group ride to help show them the ropes, and remind them nicely that they would have to wear a helmet to go on the ride. Or would something like that cause the lawyers to salivate a little too much?

A lawyer could never salivate too much... :rofl::rofl::rofl:

 

[kush]

Sure. I could have had better manners and skipped the ahole thing.

But you have to figure that they rode past right at the time when i was just helping a guy who cracked his helmet instead of his head right at the start of the trail. and he was no newb.

(not to mention they didn't even bother slowing down or stopping to ask whether help was needed).

flat tyres you want to be ms. manners or the righteous civil rights guy please go ahead. as for me, there are more important things to get aggravated about.

i'm out.

 

[Norm]

I am not arguing if it should or should be mandatory, my point is that until it is, you cant call people a-holes, or post misleading information on public property. I wear a helmet 99% of the tiime on on those lands and do the best I can to keep places open. Granted I dont do as much as Jay or Frank, but I do my part when it's needed.

The people who get places closed arnt aways punk kids out for a once a year ride. I've seen my share of lycra clad morons with 10" seat posts get thrown OTB onto their $200 carbon helmet - do I call them a-holes, yes, but not to their face. Feel free to flame me, I dont mind at all.

The situation here is the Jorba contacts telling us that one main issue the park has is that people ride without helmets. I've gotten in touch with Jay offline to see if he's serious about this and if we can possibly help. If so, he's obviously going to get the ok from the park before anything like this is done. So it wouldn't be misleading information, it would be above board.

 

[crash_in_nj]

A lawyer could never salivate too much... :rofl::rofl::rofl:

He can if it's me he's salivating over. :drooling:

 

[clutch]

Why stop at helmets though. Why not require spine protection, chest protection, shin/kneeguards, and elbow/forearm protection. Surely head injuries aren't the only injury that could lead to a lawsuit that closes the park.

While we're at it we should ban QR's, clip-in pedals, frame mounted water bottles, front wheel brakes and anything else that could contribute to a crash and subsequent injury/lawsuit.

I don't want to see parks closed down because some one gets hurt either, but the problem is with liability laws not the freedom to chose your own protective gear.

 

[Norm]

I don't want to see parks closed down because some one gets hurt either, but the problem is with liability laws not the freedom to chose your own protective gear.

It's not about protecting every possible angle so much as making the people who call the shots happy. It's really a low-level form of politics. But as you get older you have to start realizing that life *is* politics, for better or worse.

 

[FFT]

OK, i get it and am on the fenced as long as we agree that insults and makeshift signs are not the right way to get your point across.