On 4/7/2021 10:16 AM, jbeattie wrote:

snip

Yes, I rode in old cars and didn't wear seatbelts, etc., and I was in a unique position starting at an early age to see the benefits of modern -- gasp -- safety improvements. The metal dashes and non-collapsing steering columns, and absence of passenger restraints in old vehicles tended to mangle the occupant and allowed them to be ejected from the car. Anyone with a brain would chose the safer option. Why not? Why is that a bad thing?

There's a key difference between added safety features on motor vehicles
and added safety features on bicycles.

On a motor vehicle many of the safety features are to protect other road
users, not just the drive and passengers of the vehicle with those features.

While seat belts, shoulder belts, safety glass, collapsible steering
columns, reinforced doors, a third brake light, crumple zones, and
padded dashboards protect only the driver and the passengers, ABS,
traction control, TPMS, lane-departure warning, back-up cameras, and
collision sensors, also protect others. Fortunately, the cost of adding
the latter safety systems is quite low because sensors, actuators, and
cameras don't cost much (Honda was especially clever with their
sensorless TPMS, see
https://rts.i-car.com/collision-repair-news/tpms-without-the-sensor-in-the-tire.html
since replacing TPMS sensors when the battery is exhausted is expensive).

You don't see anyone giving up driving just because even low-priced new
cars now come with most of those safety systems. They don't think, "gee
all these safety features must mean that driving a car is exceptionally
dangerous."

I don't see the necrosis, that some claim exists, regarding kids, though
I do see that some people that almost _want_ to believe that it exists,
complaining about "the kids these days."

I still recall when they opened a new middle school in my town. The
school district put in a small bicycle parking area thinking "these
helicopter parents are so neurotic that they'll never let their kids
ride a bicycle to school." Within a week parents and students were
complaining that there was no place to park a bike because so many kids
were riding to school; the school hastily added another bicycle parking
area. Sure there are over-protective parents that wouldn't dream of
letting their kids bike to school, but those have always existed.

The wisdom of using a decent bicycle light that lets motor vehicles
notice you, especially when drivers are more distracted than ever,
shouldn't even be subject to any debate. Fortunately we've come a long
way from bottle dynamos and Wald D cell flashlight holders and most
cyclists understand that lights that let you both see and be seen are a
good idea. Similarly, adopting traffic calming that forces motor
vehicles to obey the law and share the road should be something that
everyone favors (though it is true that some high-speed riders are
frustrated by protected bicycle lanes because they can get stuck behind
a slower rider).