Helmets mandatory in Italy

A snowHead

@GreenDay, but surely compulsion is essentially a rule?

A snowHead

I do a number of sports where head protection is often used, and really there is, like I refer to above (cross country skiing), no logic as to wearing head gear.

I ride a road bike a lot, and I enjoy the long mountain descents, and of course I wear a helmet; though am pretty sure would not be a lot of help at some of the speeds, but again coming off at speed and sliding down the road is different to going over the edge of a 30m drop or having a head-on with a vehicle.

Windsurfing, high winds and big seas, don't wear one, whilst others (small %) do.

NB many beginners on courses wear one along with a life jacket - but that is compulsory in many schools

Kitesurfing - again most do not wear one and some are doing very extreme stuff and only a small % do.

And again learning they are a must.

I personally do wear one, if only to secure my expensive prescription sunnies so I can see 100%, though I am getting tested for lenses next week.

Wing Foiling - by far the most injury-inducing sport I practise. When I first started I thought why are people wearing life jackets, but I quickly found out that they were Impact vests for some of the violent wipe outs that happen.

But again, especially in warmer climates the vast % of people don't wear any protection, and there is a major difference between practising on a lake / flat water and the open sea where in the shallows the foil can slice your legs quite easily, so I've ditched the shorty for full length.

The wipeouts I frequently take, as many as 20 or so in an hours session often see me going over the front and now instinctively cover my head/face with my arms as the board which is attached to you via a coiled leash can fly back at you if you're not concentrating.

And yet when it comes to skiing I'm in the same camp as @tangowaggon, almost, in that if I go out on lady's front bottom Friday and or I know I'm going to be carving hard n'fast then I'll wear one, likewise excursions to La Grave I'll wear one, but I don't wear one tree skiing, when I know really I should and other times when I know maybe I should.

Finally snowboarding, is a must until you have good control as falling backwards and that whiplash I've seen a fair few mates endure concussion as we all learnt when helmets were not widely used.

Do have more friends that use them now for ski touring but would say they are still in the minority.

And as I started typing this the wind was offshore and light and now it's switched cross-shore and filling in, now where's my helmet Laughing

https://anotherharddayattheoffice.co.uk/weathercam.html

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It amuses me as to whether instructors will comply Twisted Evil

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@Boris, I'm not going to enter into a debate or argument on this subject, it's been done to death in the past.

Have a good day.

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@GreenDay, ah so you can't answer the genuine question then. My question was not whether helmets should be compulsory, but more the difference between compulsory and rules

I was intrigued so a quick google defines

Rules are guidelines that define how things should be done or how people should behave.

Compulsory means something is mandatory, required, or obligatory.

But then also adds - If a rule is compulsory, it means you have to follow

So to answer my own (genuine) question, there is no difference between a rule and compulsory. While one may disagree with it, there are consequences for ignoring it. As there are for other mandatory rules people may disagree with, not wearing a seatbelt for example

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@GreenDay, Are you saying helmets on motorbikes should be at users discretion?

After all it is free

Another non-helmet wearer that is against compulsion/law but I would comply if needed.

But I think more to the point here is why? Hear me out.

#1 As all kids have been wearing helmets for many years and become accustomed to it, will it not naturally become de facto standard? My two children (now adults) still wear them (even though they ditched the cycle ones some time ago).

#2 The percentage of people that get bussed off the ill for minor or major injuries - that would not otherwise have done so had they worn a helmet must be tiny.

Just seems unnecessary to me.

Note: I think the banning of off piste (largely as I understand it) is a bigger put off for me in regard of Italy.

@Layne, “ Note: I think the banning of off piste (largely as I understand it) is a bigger put off for me in regard of Italy.”

The what exactly? I presume Alagna Freeride Paradise* hasn’t heard of this?

* if you know how to ski Scottish type conditions

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@under a new name, not something I've looked into a great deal but I've seen threads like this for example:

https://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=98433

As most on here know we happily ski in France for various reasons hence only a passing interest (I have thought one day - probably when retired - I'd go to the Dollies though).

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@Layne, nah. AFAIK no rules in Aosta and certainly no rules other than proper kit in Piedmonte. That's a pretty old thread, and discredited ...

You know it makes sense.

It's interesting how Italy and Austria seem to have a very different attitude to skiers and cyclists. Mountain bikers from Austria often cross the border due to the restrictions on biking here, restrictions that generally don't apply to ski tourers and freeriders. Italy has more open access for cyclists, but do watch out for the bears Skullie

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

@Boris, Sorry for the delay, been busy.

Perhaps we are talking at cross purposes, so I will make my point simply -

I believe that wearing of helmets, whatever the sport/discipline, should be entirely at the discretion of the adult, and not made compulsory.

Having said that, if a rule is brought in at a ski area I use, I then have a choice - don't ski there, or ski there with a helmet (like I do in cycle sportifs).

A snowHead

@GreenDay, ok, that’s a perfectly valid position to hold.

I went back to clarify my post, I wasn’t so much debating the rights or otherwise of helmet wearing, it was questioning the difference between compulsory and a rule. Which seems to be the same as should and must.

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Hopefully, there'll be a grace period (like snow chains), where although now legally required, non-helmet wearers will only be cautioned this season, and not fined until next.

But, it's a bit of a money earner tho, eh? And the wealthy 'reckless' skiers will deserve to have some of the wind taken from their sails - so fines will probably occur this season - however surprised the nabbed skiers are.

For me, this will be a deciding factor on my resort choice. So, I wonder if Italian resorts will notice a drop in bookings for 2026/27?

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Well you're talking about 10% of the market who don't regularly wear, and the significantly smaller percentage of that group to who this is a "Over my cold, bare head" issue.

I suspect any drop would be masked by the longer term loss of viable skiing days in the lower lying European alps consolidating in higher resorts.
Ultimately, its a My House, My Rules scenario - they don't owe you a mountain and you don't owe them a living. Alta rules apply.

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@tangowaggon,

After all it is free

The question of getting too hot would also be an issue for cross-country. If compulsory helmets make sense for XC skiing they certainly make sense for skate-boarding, roller-blading etc.

I'd say that any rule, or law, mandating helmet wearing (or any other safety measure) has to demonstrate a substantial advantage for "the average person". Which, for example, seat belts do. Because the "average person" paid a lot of money to fix the folk who got thrown through their windscreens.

As for our own "health and safety" we all make explicit and (mostly) implicit decision about risk all the time. Or just do, or don't do, stuff without thinking. When I went down to put my wheelie bin out this morning I realised my front door had been unlocked all night. Just carelessness. I'm off sailing tomorrow. To France. Chances are that unless we encounter rough weather or (more particularly) fog, none of us will wear a life jacket at any time. If I had to do anything on the foredeck if it was bouncy I'd probably wear one in preference to using a life line which could well trip me up.

@davidof, A couple of the events I've watched boy race at, have some lengthy and technical downhill sections. It's more those sections where helmets would be beneficial, however accept that maybe not required on most of the course.

And obviously would be a massive PITA having to remove them to shoot.

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@Boris, yes that's competition where speeds can be very high, have you actually seen any head injury issues? I've seen very few crashes in biathlon but falling on a rifle is one of the nastier things that can happen. In general the snow is ok to ski on and relatively safe - although there are exceptions like at la Clusaz a couple of years back where it rained.

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@davidof, Saw someone crash out into netting in Sweden last year on downhill section, required precautionary hospital visit. To echo your point, this was early season and the track was all man made and no snow either side.

To be clear I'm not arguing helmets should be compulsory in XC - just a worried parent watching his little boy Laughing

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@Boris, bobble hats should be mandatory - there was even a reinforced one mentioned on snowheads: https://antiordinary.co/products/volcom-helmet

I know nothing about this product though.

@davidof, yeah, but you can't put stickers on it. and you are going to have to get really on top of the phrase "So che non sembra un casco ma è conforme alla norma CEN uno zero sette sette" for the lifties.

You know it makes sense.

@davidof, What about buffs Laughing

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@Boris, not for baldies

A snowHead

@davidof, darn, rules me out, mind you when I try XC I need full body armour not just helmets

A snowHead

you may be better off just sending a drone out.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I love skiing off-piste wearing a helmet in Italy

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@Boris, bald men set the pace, or so they say

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I hate wearing hats and though I would hate a helmet even more, but I don't even think about it now, so compulsion wouldn't bother me at all.

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I can't say I've heard a convincing argument put forward for why not to wear a helmet. However, I also don't see a reason to make wearing them compulsory for adults (I'd be ok with it for under 18s).

Some of the teenagers at whistler park used to practice tricks wearing a helmet then take it off for the filmed version. So clearly they thought it was potentially a positive (else why wear it at all?), but looking cool more important Laughing

After all it is free

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The whole thing is ridiculous. Helmets have been common for 25 years or more. IMV rightly so.

Once rattled myself so hard with snowboard whiplash wearing a helmet that I must have been in a fugue state for 10 minutes. I "woke up" buying a hot chocolate with no memory of how I'd got there ( or indeed where I had left my board). I know anecdote is not data but seems pretty no brainer on the risk/inconvenience curve.

Help!!

Helmets mandatory in Italy

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