One Street News

January-February 2017

Vol. 10, Issue 1 

1. Bosnia and Herzegovina Repealed Their Bicycle Helmet Law!
2. Resources - Court Finds Bad Street Design Liable
3. Hot Topics - Women Fight for the Right to Bicycle

Bosnia and Herzegovina Repealed Their Bicycle Helmet Law!

With the recent repeal of their mandatory all-ages bicycle helmet law, Bosnia and Herzegovina has become our best model for similar efforts. One Street offered support to these courageous advocates throughout their campaign. Congratulations to all their citizens and visitors for the return of the freedom to ride bikes normally, without a helmet.

Mandatory bicycle helmet laws undermine efforts to increase bicycling by making bicycling seem more dangerous than it is, then putting the blame on cyclists if a crash does occur. If we expect more people to ride bikes, these laws must be removed from the books. Such repeal efforts usually seem impossible because of the emotional, overblown rhetoric that caused their passage in the first place. Mexico City is one rare example of a successful total repeal. Israel is a partial example by repealing at least the adult portion of their law. But there were no nationwide total repeals. Until now!

Join with us in celebrating this important victory by reposting the press release from the Centre for Environment. Read more and find the press release here.

Resources - Court Finds Bad Street Design Liable

We’re currently featuring this important court finding on the One Street home page because it lays the groundwork for many more such cases. Too often, traffic engineers and their entities have no recourse for building dangerous streets. If you are campaigning to improve a dangerous street for bicyclist and pedestrian safety, be sure to point to this case as a precedent.

Hot Topics - Women Fight for the Right to Bicycle

In most developed countries, women don’t think twice about riding their bicycle. But in some areas of the world, cultures have distorted women’s right to travel freely, especially targeting bicycling. Women who dare to bicycle in such places, are met at least with harassment and at worst, physical attack. And yet many are facing these dangers in a courageous fight to tear down these myths and open the way for all women to ride bicycles without threat. Read more here.