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Stanford students are more likely to wear masks on bicycles than helmets

stanfordreview.org

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Re: Stanford students are more likely to wear masks on bicycles than helmets

#141

Post by sershe »

retrac wrote: post #32
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #11

The same is true in the Netherlands. Honestly, if they are biking around campus, they don’t need helmets. Helmets are needed on American roads because of poor biking infrastructure (not an issue on campus or in the Netherlands). The article is taking liberties using nationwide statistics to criticize local behavior.

Are you sure? Just falling over on the bike while stationary (I admit I've managed this before) without being able to partially break your fall. could outright kill you if your head hits the pavement. (An uncontrolled fall from standing height to concrete such as by fainting can kill.) Even if you don't die, head impacts are really bad for the brain.

The standards for biking in Netherlands are very different... people treat it more like walking than like driving, as far as I can tell. Everyone's upright on a comfy bike and going pretty slow... the distances are shorter so you don't need to be a spandex cyborg to commute, and there are so many people it's probably hard to pass anyway. You don't wear helmets or carry poles walking, even though you could easily trip (someone I know got injured accidentally stepping off a curb).

I've only been to Amsterdam a couple times but my favorite snapshot of biking there was a lady biking hands free fiddling with her eye makeup (I think?), being passed by a hands-free dude wearing a suit, talking on his phone with one hand and other hand just kinda hanging alongside his body ;)

Re: Stanford students are more likely to wear masks on bicycles than helmets

#142

Post by lalaland1125 »

gfodor wrote: post #29
happytoexplain wrote: post #22

This is presented as hypocritical, and is taken that way by some of the comments, but masks and helmets are very different, with different situational contexts where their perceived protection varies differently, and different kinds of inconveniences. Being irresponsible about one but not the other may be hypocritical, but that's being taken as a must in order to score political points.

I think a better frame is we should laugh at people wearing masks on bikes the way we would laugh at people wearing helmets when riding an escalator. (To be fair, some % of people wearing masks on bikes probably just as so used to it they forgot. But I'm sure many are wearing it out of fear or cultural norms, which is depressing if we're talking about highly educated people.)

I mean, sometimes I do wear a helmet on an escalator if I just got off a bike and don't want to bother taking it off.

These are students traveling short distances between indoor classes where they have to wear masks.

If anything, keeping the mask on is the rational thing (less wear and tear, less effort, etc) because they would otherwise have to put it back on in two minutes.

Re: Stanford students are more likely to wear masks on bicycles than helmets

#143

Post by ObamaBinSpying »

shusaku wrote: post #60
ajkjk wrote: post #33

I'm pretty sure it's just that they need their mask wherever they're going and it's easier to hop on and hop off with it than stow it away.

Here in Japan you’ll literally see people alone in their cars with a mask. Maybe half the cars that pass have a masked driver. Obviously it makes no sense, but again if you need a mask where you’re coming from and going to, it just fades into the background.

Here in the US too... probably not half though.

Re: Stanford students are more likely to wear masks on bicycles than helmets

#144

Post by gfodor »

lalaland1125 wrote: post #142
gfodor wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a better frame is we should laugh at people wearing masks on bikes the way we would laugh at people wearing helmets when riding an escalator. (To be fair, some % of people wearing masks on bikes probably just as so used to it they forgot. But I'm sure many are wearing it out of fear or cultural norms, which is depressing if we're talking about highly educated people.)

I mean, sometimes I do wear a helmet on an escalator if I just got off a bike and don't want to bother taking it off. These are students traveling short distances between indoor classes where they have to wear masks. If anything, keeping the mask on is the rational thing (less wear and tear, less effort, etc) because they would otherwise have to put it back on in two minutes.

That was the point of the second paragraph of my post.

The point is we would laugh at someone who wore a helmet in an elevator for their safety when riding the elevator.

I assume some students are wearing masks on bikes because they think if they do not they are at risk.

Re: Stanford students are more likely to wear masks on bicycles than helmets

#146

Post by [deleted] »

kkylin wrote: post #39
ajkjk wrote: post #33

I'm pretty sure it's just that they need their mask wherever they're going and it's easier to hop on and hop off with it than stow it away.

I bike with my mask on for that reason. As a bonus, it also helps with my allergies. (I do wear a helmet -- as much out of fear of getting hit by a bike on campus as by a car off.)

[deleted]

Re: Stanford students are more likely to wear masks on bicycles than helmets

#147

Post by lalaland1125 »

gfodor wrote: post #144
lalaland1125 wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, sometimes I do wear a helmet on an escalator if I just got off a bike and don't want to bother taking it off. These are students traveling short distances between indoor classes where they have to wear masks. If anything, keeping the mask on is the rational thing (less wear and tear, less effort, etc) because they would otherwise have to put it back on in two minutes.

That was the point of the second paragraph of my post. The point is we would laugh at someone who wore a helmet in an elevator for their safety when riding the elevator. I assume some students are wearing masks on bikes because they think if they do not they are at risk.

It's not about forgetting or being "too used to it". Wearing a mask while doing a two minute bike ride between buildings is literally the most rational option.

Think about the time it would take to get out your backpack, pull out your mask case, etc, etc.

I don't know why you are assuming they are wearing a mask for safety reasons when there is a much stronger justification right there. Seems like motivated reasoning.

Re: Stanford students are more likely to wear masks on bicycles than helmets

#148

Post by ajkjk »

mrfusion wrote: post #145
ajkjk wrote: post #33

I'm pretty sure it's just that they need their mask wherever they're going and it's easier to hop on and hop off with it than stow it away.

Definitely that and not virtue signaling.

Yeah, most likely.

Re: Stanford students are more likely to wear masks on bicycles than helmets

#149

Post by gfodor »

lalaland1125 wrote: post #147
gfodor wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was the point of the second paragraph of my post. The point is we would laugh at someone who wore a helmet in an elevator for their safety when riding the elevator. I assume some students are wearing masks on bikes because they think if they do not they are at risk.

It's not about forgetting or being "too used to it". Wearing a mask while doing a two minute bike ride between buildings is literally the most rational option. Think about the time it would take to get out your backpack, pull out your mask case, etc, etc. I don't know why you are assuming they are wearing a mask for safety reasons when there is a much stronger justification right there. Seems like motivated reasoning…

That was the point of the second paragraph of my post.

The point is we would laugh at someone who wore a helmet in an elevator for their safety when riding the elevator.

I assume some students are wearing masks on bikes because they think if they do not they are at risk.

Re: Stanford students are more likely to wear masks on bicycles than helmets

#150

Post by cratermoon »

bradlys wrote: post #125
cratermoon wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the lockdowns that have been ineffective In the US they were ineffective half-measures with little to no real teeth. In other countries they mitigated the pandemic within weeks by having lockdowns that sustained the people and organizations affected and were strict enough to mean something. Saying "amount of social interaction is also a choice" is only true when the lockdowns were performative and the choice was gi…

My point was more about social interaction - not the lockdowns. It's an example of how social interaction is clearly a choice as much as being fat, drinking, cycling, etc. Almost everything is a choice but we have a system setup to incentivize people to do certain actions more than others... making certain choices easier to take on than others. That's the problem I'm having with your argument. Present better and easi…

> being fat

That is not a choice. The causes of obesity are complex.

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