"Folks aren't riding around without helmets because it's fun. They're doing it because helmets aren't cheap", said Lindo, who wears a helmet when he rides and started the biking group NorthStar Cycling Club to support riders who are Black, Indigenous and people of color. "Buy them a helmet and you won't have to penalize them".
The biking organizations Cascade Bicycle Club and Washington Bikes encourage riders to wear helmets but oppose the mandatory laws. The street newspaper Real Change also opposes the requirement. Other cities, including Tacoma, have already repealed mandatory helmet laws.
An analysis of 1,667 helmet citations issued between 2003 and 2020 in Seattle found that Black cyclists received helmet infractions at a rate nearly four times higher than white cyclists. Native American/Alaska Native cyclists were cited at a rate more than two times higher than white riders.
Asian/Pacific Islander cyclists, however, receive infractions at rates 10 times lower than white cyclists. Municipal Court records do not distinguish between white and Latino/Hispanic individuals.
