On 4/11/2021 8:04 PM, sms wrote:
On 4/11/2021 4:17 PM, jbeattie wrote:

snip

As a couple of data points, I've been hit maybe a half-dozen times and
never while skulking in the gutter. I was lane center riding the speed
of traffic when someone turned in front of me.Â* Nice ride to the
hospital in an ambulance.Â* I was doing the same thing when some one
pulled out from my right for no reason. I got hooked by a mail truck.
I got rear-ended by a bus while in the middle of the f****** lane.
People do stupid sh**.

Taking positive steps to avoid being hit is something we need to do more
on. The cyclist community needs to double-down on education and avoid
compulsion.

Gentle encouragement for helmets and lights, and setting an example,
will have better results than advocating for mandates. Even though
nearly everyone here understands that helmets and lights are a good
idea; countering the false narrative of people like Frank is important
but in a nice way.

Passing out lights for free to those without them, whatever the reason
someone lacks them, is one productive effort that I've engaged in, using
my discretionary money when I was the mayor of my city. Several
organizations offer free helmets, at least for children.

Note that the "education" alluded to by SMS seems to be teaching people
to use add-on gimmicks. There's no mention of teaching people the actual
causes of crashes, nor the riding behaviors that minimize crashing.

--
- Frank Krygowski