Posted on 08/28/2009 4:36:17 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Perhaps President Obama didn't want to look uncool on his bike ride Thursday, but his decision to skip the helmet had safety experts banging their heads.
Obama, on vacation with his family in Martha's Vineyard, joined the First Lady and his daughters yesterday for a ride in Aquinnah, a town at the western, most rural end of the island.
The President appeared to be the only one with no helmet.
Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, an advocacy group in New York, speculated the President might have been concerned about his image.
"Helmets look goofy - you look a little dorky," he said. "When you're the leader of the free world you have to look tough."
White agreed it would have been better if Obama had worn his helmet, but cut him a little slack.
There's a difference between riding on the congestion-clogged streets of Manhattan and a bucolic swath of Massachusetts, he said.
David Mozer, director of the International Bicycle Fund, a nonprofit advocacy group in Seattle, disagreed.
"Most bike accidents just happen. Bicycles up and turn over by themselves, and head injuries are a possible consequence of that," he said. "Head injures don't heal well, and they can be very expensive and life-long."
"It would be great if the President set an example," Mozer said.
Still, Mozer conceded, "It's really hard to get the girl when you're wearing a helmet - they're not real flattering."
But he pointed out bicycling superstar Lance Armstrong looks cool in his helmet.
Last year during the campaign, Obama became the target of ridicule on the Internet when he was photographed riding with a helmet in Chicago.
Perhaps that's why White House spokesman Bill Burton seemed mildly surprised to learn his boss was not wearing his safety gear.
"I know that he generally does wear a helmet when he rides a bicycle," Burton told reporters. "He supports the wearing of bicycle helmets."
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I am no fan of him, but it’s his call whether or not to wear a helmet.... he should tell the groups to stuff it... Besides, if he were seriously injured, his ObamaCare mentors will discuss with him quality of life and how he has the option to end it all.
Gotta side with Zero on this one: those helmets are dorky, and I’d rather die with some dignity than live wearing one of them.
N0 news, please.
These moaning do-gooders kicked off about a statue in a Cincinnati suburb (i.e., inanimate representations of humans made out of bronze) featuring kids riding bikes. There was an expression of exhilaration on their faces but - HORRORS - the sculptor omitted helmets!
Perhaps the most annoying aspect of the Safety Nazis is their naked opportunism: a president, a celebrity, a film, a TV show are there simply to serve as set pieces for their control freakery.
Slack is for taking up, not for giving out.
And this guy is a champion turd-slacker.
Don’t the health care advocates (Nazis) scream about the “idiots” on the motorcycle and wreck being a burden on our current health care system? Well, “that ONE” is who they are talking about.
Because he was wearing his helmet BACKWARDS, duh!
” Bicycles up and turn over by themselves “
There ought to be a special circle in Hell for people who utter this kind of inane stupidity in public....
Oh, and don’t wear one either since I pay for my own health care coverage.
Look at this droky-looking guy and his friends!
Unfortunately, I have to side with the Obamessiah on this one.
He should tell these people to kiss his bicycle seat.
Uh, I mean ‘dorky.’
” Gotta side with Zero on this one “
Has anybody checked on where this picture was taken?? He may very well be in violation of a local ordinance...
If so, would it rise to the level of ‘high crimes and *misdemeanors*??
>>I am no fan of him, but it’s his call whether or not to wear a helmet.... he should tell the groups to stuff it... <<
Yep.
Because he was wearing his helmet BACKWARDS, duh!
with a flat tire no less.
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