Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Pedal Me bans staff riders from wearing helmets for safety reasons

bikebiz.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

151–160 of 797 posts

Re: Pedal Me bans staff riders from wearing helmets for safety reasons

#151

Post by Nextgrid »

guerrilla wrote: post #98
Nextgrid wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that as another commenter points out, passengers wouldn't feel safe next to a helmet-wearing driver while not wearing one themselves. The proper solution here is to provide helmets for passengers as well, but that raises more problems - they needs to be a way to sanitize them, multiple sizes might need to be available (I assume they need to be sized properly for adequate protection?), etc. The aforemen…

> The problem is that as another commenter points out, passengers wouldn't feel safe next to a helmet-wearing driver while not wearing one themselves. Too bad? If your business model depends on this then you just have to suck it up and deal with it, not compromise worker safety. > The proper solution here is to provide helmets for passengers as well, but that raises more problems - they needs to be a way to sanitize…

Just FYI, I'm not defending them by any means. I take a very dim view of this company.

Re: Pedal Me bans staff riders from wearing helmets for safety reasons

#152

Post by isbvhodnvemrwvn »

edmcnulty101 wrote: post #108
yellowapple wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless you're Usain Bolt, you probably ain't jogging or walking at bicycle speeds.

At bicycle speeds?

15-35 kmph for recreational usage. It's sprinting speeds for people who walk.

Re: Pedal Me bans staff riders from wearing helmets for safety reasons

#153

Post by loloquwowndueo »

Wearing a helmet is a low-cost no-brainer and it provides increased protection. It does NOT turn riders into daredevils, fairly certain any statistics that say so don’t distinguish between single riders and those riding with cargo or passengers which are not idiots and know to adjust their riding accordingly.

I’m fine with riders being able to choose whether to wear a helmet based on their skill, confidence and situation. But saying “wearing a helmet turns you into a psycho so don’t, or we’ll fire you” is really nonsensical and irresponsible.

Re: Pedal Me bans staff riders from wearing helmets for safety reasons

#154

Post by isbvhodnvemrwvn »

jtbayly wrote: post #27
throwaway4220 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But what is your overall safety. Like can you still get seriously injured being careful not wearing a helmet

Can you still get seriously injured being careful wearing a helmet?

No post body was provided.

Re: Pedal Me bans staff riders from wearing helmets for safety reasons

#155

Post by stephen_g »

sampo wrote: post #80
davidg109 wrote: post #34

Do drivers take greater risks from wearing a seatbelt? Where’s the data to substantiate their claims?

> Do drivers take greater risks from wearing a seatbelt? Some people have suggested even that: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_compensation#Seat_belts

It seems completely debunked in that case at least.

I can imagine how somebody could have thought risk compensation might be a thing in the short term - such as when seatbelts were a new invention. I've seen the kind of thing like people demonstrating how their active cruise control won't let their new car crash into the car in front, which is a pretty dumb idea (even if it will almost certainly work). But that seems to wear off pretty quickly, and then having it just becomes the default and you don't think of it anymore, so I imagine any risk compensation would quickly evaporate.

With bicycle helmets, they're mandatory here for riding out on the street, so it was just always the default. Anecdotally, putting on a helmet was and is just something we always did, and never changed the perception of risk because it was just the normal default. I don't even think about it, just like how I always put on the seatbelt and then don't think about it anymore.

Re: Pedal Me bans staff riders from wearing helmets for safety reasons

#156

Post by II2II »

_Wintermute wrote: post #40
sva_ wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you fall on asphalt without a helmet, you can very easily get seriously injured

And this is why you always wear a helmet when walking or going for a jog?

Many walkers and joggers wear a lit up harness (or even bicycle lights) to improve their visibility while walking after dark in my area. So yes, some wear safety gear.

Re: Pedal Me bans staff riders from wearing helmets for safety reasons

#157

Post by alpaca128 »

y7 wrote: post #63

Maybe relevant: the Netherlands is probably the country with the highest use of bicycles for transport, yet no one, except for cyclists on racing bikes/MTBs or foreign tourists, ever wears a bike helmet. This is because they're only marginally effective at preventing injury, and the disadvantage of reduced cycling use if helmets are mandated results in far worse public health outcomes. See also https://dutchreview.co…

The Netherlands probably also have some of the safest roads for cyclists.

Nonetheless I recommend to always wear gloves when riding a bike. They weigh nothing, fit in every bag/pocket and if you ever crash you'll be glad you wore them. Hands are very likely to get injured in an accident and it's not fun to not use them for a couple of days.

Re: Pedal Me bans staff riders from wearing helmets for safety reasons

#158

Post by masto »

chrisshroba wrote: post #84
yellowapple wrote: post #52

I'm sorry, and pardonner mou Français, but what in the actual fuck? Should delivery drivers not wear seatbelts because they might not be as afriad that they'll fly through the windshield? Should linemen not wear harnesses because they might be more confident working on power lines? Should warehouse workers not wear hi-vis jackets because they might be more confident working around forklifts? Should construction worke…

I understand where you’re coming from, but I’d like to see some data rather than “what the actual fuck”. I believe there are some cases where safety protections make people act dumber - and now I’m curious if this is or is not one them. I don’t take a position either way, but I don’t feel like shouting that you’d tell your employer to eat a bag of dicks really contributes much here.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S136984781...

“In sum, this systematic review found little to no support for the hypothesis bicycle helmet use is associated with engaging in risky behaviour.”

Re: Pedal Me bans staff riders from wearing helmets for safety reasons

#159

Post by indymike »

arjvik wrote: post #146
ekianjo wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm sorry, and pardonner mou Français, but what in the actual fuck? Do you wear a helmet when you drive inside your car? If not, why not? It might make you much safer in case of a crash, according to your reasoning. Wearing a helmet can itself become a leading factor to cause an incident, and it's clearly what they are hinting at in the linked article: that data seems to indicate that riders wearing helmets may be…

Correlation vs causation much? In order to show that helmets *cause* accidents, they need to create a randomized study where they force employees to flip a coin to decide whether to wear a helmet or not. Otherwise, here's one plausible scenario: Employees who work in tiny suburbs with small roads and very little traffic feel safer, and this are less likely to wear a helmet. They get in less crashes because their town…

I can prove that helmets reduce head injuries both in quantity and severity.

Re: Pedal Me bans staff riders from wearing helmets for safety reasons

#160

Post by Brian_K_White »

GuB-42 wrote: post #99
wzdd wrote: post #20

This is a pedicab service. A cynic would assume that Pedal Me is mandating this (and thus putting their drivers at risk) because passengers are more nervous about taking a service where the driver wears a helmet and they do not.

So why not do the reasonable thing and provide passengers with helmets, like they do with motorbike taxi?

Who decided that was reasonable? I certainly did not.
Post reply on HN