I believe this post was actually poking fun at the expense of a particular type of person. Something doesn't have to be illegal to be idiotic and annoying.
Bikes are good, so helmet "laws" are really just "suggestions". Riiiiiiiight.
And as a driver who's had to dodge bicyclists on Hawthorne when Harrison is two blocks over, I gotta say, get real. Stupid behavior is stupid. If you have a choice, stay out of traffic. Fuck.
It is actually a very valid argument. Bikers throughout the city decide to ride on heavily trafficed streets when they are designated bikes streets usually one to two blocks over. That's safety.
Alberta's a small street. It's not MLK/Grand or whatever (I have no fucking clue why people choose to ride those streets where there's no bike facilities plus streetcar tracks, etc). Traffic is slow. There's a crosswalk every couple of blocks. Maybe it was a great way to travel east / west 10 or 20 years ago, but it ain't now-- it's full of tourists and yups parking and re-parking their Priuseses. I see no problem with mixing bikes into all this. It's a low key street and it will only get more low-key as time goes on and it becomes the Most Unbearable Neighborhood in Portland(tm).
Going's nice if you're riding through the area, but if you want to do anything on Alberta, why wouldn't you be able to ride on it?
I always say if you're too stupid to not wear a helmet, then you deserve whatever brain damage you may receive when you fall off your bike and bite the fucking curb.
And as a driver who's had to dodge bicyclists on Hawthorne when Harrison is two blocks over, I gotta say, get real. Stupid behavior is stupid. If you have a choice, stay out of traffic. Fuck.
Going's nice if you're riding through the area, but if you want to do anything on Alberta, why wouldn't you be able to ride on it?
Really though: the only thing more stupid looking than a bike helmet is brain damage. Know this.
http://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportati…
(and, yes -- stay the fuck of off c. chavez, hawthorne, alberta, burnside, powell.....)
(safety is the point, with consideration being a secondary one.)