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#71
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Mark Hickey wrote: wrote: If the common line were "Consider wearing a helmet if you're doing something unusually risky on a bike," things wouldn't be nearly so polarized, would they? Thing is, we're not very good at determining what's risky. That's absolutely true. For example, because of 20 years of intense helmet promotion, people are now convinced that cycling is quite risky. It's not. Check out the link below. To me, making helmet wearing a habit is the best approach... yeah, sometimes I'm going to wear my styrofoam hat when there's virtually no chance of head injury, but I'd rather wear it too often than not often enough, if you know what I mean. It's like wearing a seat belt - I put it on by habit, even when I'm going to be just moving my car across a parking lot. Overkill? You betcha - but I'd rather "just do it" than have to calculate the potential for danger every time I got in the car. To me, any comparison between seat belts and bike helmets is specious. On the one hand, we have a safety measure which lasts as long as the vehicle, has approximately zero cost in terms of vehicle price or convenience, and is designed and certified using very realistic tests - tests which accurately mimic the crashes that cause fatalities. On the other hand, we have a consumer product which can cost thirty percent of the cost of the vehicle, is claimed to need replacement every few years, and is designed and certified to protect ONLY against the types of falls every little kid has always safely survived: a stationary topple. Not surprisingly, helmets designed against stationary topples have had no effect on serious head injury rates. Yet people still pretend they're as effective as seat belts! Replace your seat belt with a gift-wrap ribbon. Then you'll have an accurate comparison. As for races and other events requiring helmets, I can't imagine it any other way. While you and I agree that wearing a helmet doesn't make you impervious to injury, it is a reasonable way to somewhat reduce the potential for injury (though we can argue ad infinitum about how much reduction we're talking about). In our current legal climate, it would be suicidal for an event promotor / sponsor to not require helmets, right wrong or indifferent. It would also be suicidal for them to not require participants to obey traffic laws, even though many can be safely broken. First, I ran a large invitational century for seven years. I never required helmets. It caused no problems. Second, I _did_ provide specific information on traffic laws and other safety tips. How many centuries do that? The default warning is "Always wear your helmet" - Period! The overemphasis on helmets is absolutely nonsensical. ================================================== ========================== How dangerous is cycling? See http://www.bicyclinglife.com/SafetyS...SafetyQuiz.htm - Frank Krygowski |
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#73
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Stephen Harding wrote:
[...] More people bicycling means more people in favor of bike-centric, or at least bike-friendly infrastructure? Unfortunately no. More people cycling usually leads to more bike-unfriendly infrastructure like bike-lanes or bike-ways. More motorists at ease with bicyclists using the roadways? Yes. Ingo. |
#74
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(Ingo Keck) wrote:
Stephen Harding wrote: [...] More people bicycling means more people in favor of bike-centric, or at least bike-friendly infrastructure? Unfortunately no. More people cycling usually leads to more bike-unfriendly infrastructure like bike-lanes or bike-ways. Not always the case... http://www.mcdot.maricopa.gov/bicycl...n/bikeplan.PDF Plenty of wide (6'/2m or more) bike lanes on a lot of the major roads, well maintained. Other than Beijing, the best bike infrastructure in any city I've lived in. Mark Hickey Habanero Cycles http://www.habcycles.com Home of the $695 ti frame |
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