BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Mackinac Island Community Helmet Project

The Michigan community of Mackinac Island has considered adopting a local bicycle helmet ordinance in the past, but has rejected the idea.

On June 24th the Mackinac Island Community Foundation announced a contest to design a community bicycle helmet. The winner will be selected in August, and the helmets will be available for the summer of 2011. The idea grew from the death of cyclist Jim Juday, and is an effort to promote voluntary helmet usage on the island.

The helmets will be manufactured by Nutcase, a US company that markets for its Asian parent company and specializes in unusual graphics. Current nutcase graphics include a watermelon helmet, flags, bright polka dots and other color combinations designed to appeal to children and adults. The basic helmet is a skate-style design with small round vents that meets the US CPSC bicycle helmet standard. Nutcase was alone among the manufacturers contacted to be interested in producing a helmet for Mackinac Island, a community of 500 residents.

There is more info on the Mackinac Island Communty Foundation site. http://www.micf.org/helmet-contest.htm