BlueBikes may be skirting state regulations meant to ensure bike safety, fulfilling a helmet availability requirement by selling them on their online storefront.

State law requires all bike rental businesses to make helmets available to customers as well. Yet if you pay for a ride at a BlueBike rack, you won’t see any helmet being offered.

That’s because the company fulfills its legal obligation by selling branded helmets on its website, ensuring all customers have the option of safety so long as they’re willing to walk the bike home, wait for the helmet to be shipped to them, and only then ride to their destination.

That’s if customers can even find the storefront. The BlueBikes Website does not include a link in the top banner, tucking the sole mention of a store all the way at the bottom of the page next to the privacy statement and career board.

The digital storefront has only two items, the helmet itself and a physical BlueBikes key you can order. The only product not legally mandated doesn’t even have a photo, instead using a 2D graphic.

The state law in question is MGL c.85, § 11D, which states, “A person, firm or corporation engaged in the business of renting bicycles shall make available a bicycle helmet conforming to the specifications for bicycle helmets of the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission to each person renting a bicycle.”

Summarized in plain English by Mass.gov, that means “stores selling or renting bikes must display a sign about helmet law, and renters must make helmets available.”

When asked how a mail order product fulfills the need to offer helmets for frequently unplanned BlueBikes trips, city officials didn’t have much to say. A spokesperson for the Transportation Department noted that members of the city’s low-income bike eligibility program could pick up a free helmet from city hall.

“In accordance with Massachusetts law, helmets are available to any user via the online store,” said the city’s statement. “This information is provided to users on the map panels at stations and in the liability waiver that all users sign before renting a bike. In addition, the city makes free helmets available to any income eligible Bluebikes member during drop-in hours at City Hall.”

Follow-up questions about distribution and whether mail order storefronts fulfill the legal requirements for physical businesses did not receive a response.

The press office for Lyft, which runs Bluebikes on behalf of the cities that own it, also declined to comment for this article.

As BlueBikes expands its geographic reach and includes new demographics in its customer base through initiatives like adding electric bikes, the effects of its policies grow as well proportionally.

Data compiled by the federal Department of Transportation (DOT) found that as few as one in five cyclists wear a helmet for every trip, despite helmets proving almost 90% effective at mitigating head and brain injuries.

“The use of helmets is the single most effective way to reduce head injuries and fatalities resulting from bicycle crashes,” concludes the paper.

Ever for those that don’t ride themselves and don’t care what fate befalls cyclists, traumatic brain injuries put a tremendous burden on societal resources. The DOT found that every $10 spent on bike helmets saves $30 in direct costs down the line, and $365 in indirect societal costs.