Projo Fitness Blog

AP photo / Alex Brandon
President Barack Obama pauses on his bike ride with his family and friends including Sasha Obama, 8, right, while on vacation on Martha's Vineyard on Lobsterville Beach in Aquinnah, Mass.

Did you see this photo? Our president, Barack Obama, biking during his Martha's Vineyard vacation. Glad to see he's still a fitness example, but he's let us down in the role-model department by not wearing a helmet.

OK -- I'm sure I'm not going to be the only one to scold him on this point, but come on, Mr. President. What were you thinking? (At least the girls are wearing helmets!)

Bike helmets aren't just for children. They're for everyone. They prevent injuries. Here's just a few statistics from the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute:

• Non-helmeted riders are 14 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than helmeted riders.
• Head injuries account for more than 60 percent of bicycle-related deaths, more than two-thirds of bicycle-related hospital admissions and about one-third of hospital emergency room visits for bicycling injuries.
• A very high percentage of cyclists' brain injuries can be prevented by a helmet, estimated at anywhere from 45 to 88 per cent.
• Direct costs of cyclists' injuries due to not using helmets are estimated at $81 million each year, rising with health care costs.

Not too long ago, my husband, Wes, son Jake, and I went for a family bike ride to the ice cream store near our house. Jake and I were wearing helmets, Wes was not. A little boy of about 3 was there when we arrived. He looked my husband straight in the eye and said, "Mr., why aren't you wearing a helmet?"

Wes has been wearing one ever since.

 Tags  bike bike helmets Martha's Vineyard Obama photo

Comments

j-dog said:

So what?

Most adults have the athleticism to be able to ride a bike and NOT fall off. If in case we do fall most of us have the athleticism to know how to break a fall.

Helmet laws are just another way for our government to stick their noses into our lives and further control us.

Link | August 28, 2009 10:13 PM
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Jana said:

I will not wear a helmet. I never have and never will. Next we will have to wear a helmet while swinging on a swing!

Link | August 29, 2009 12:39 PM
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TW said:

I am an adult who does not wear a helmet either. When I ride it is usually on a bike path, but if I am in town, I am fully aware of my surroundings. The helmets are uncomfortable and just plain ugly. I tell my kids to wear one because if I don't I am labeled a bad parent by other parents, doctors, etc. How did we all manage to get through childhood without the invention of bike helmets?

Link | August 29, 2009 4:26 PM
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Terri said:

Give the guy a break. If it were anyone else besides the President, it wouldn't have been in the papers so why pick on Pres. Obama. We should worry more about automobile drivers who continue to text on their cell phones while driving.

Link | August 30, 2009 8:06 PM
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Br said:

Helmets? I grew up without helmets, got my bruses and scrapes but still survived. Welcome to the United Socialist States of America. Don't worry,the goverment will let you do whatever THEY chose.

Link | August 31, 2009 4:39 AM
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jack said:

I have a blog slimming blog,i hope to share it with people

Link | October 23, 2009 12:29 AM
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PJ said:

Wow, who GIVES a damn? What's next, are you going to post an article when Obama breathes at the wrong time?

Link | November 16, 2009 10:08 AM
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