Are we getting dumber as a nation? This feel like the mask thing.
Pedal Me bans staff riders from wearing helmets for safety reasons
511–520 of 797 posts
Re: Pedal Me bans staff riders from wearing helmets for safety reasons
#512I once saw an accident where a cyclist going straight through an intersection was hit by an oncoming truck turning left that was impatient, didn't see the cyclist and gunned it between cars. The cyclist was launched headfirst into the bumper of a car stopped at the light and her helmet loudly cracked in two. She was still hurt, but I'm sure she would have died without that helmet. If some riders choose to not wear a…
I had a near miss like this that really scared me in Vancouver. I was going straight, and the light went yellow just before I got to the intersection. Thinking like a car, I speed up to clear the intersection before the red light. An oncoming car in the left lane also sped up to make a left turn. I don't remember if he indicated, certainly I didn't see it. We both slammed on the brakes and narrowly missed each other.…
> Cycling on roads with cars is dangerous, even when there is a dedicated bike lane.
Don't trust the motor vehicles to keep you safe. That's your job.
Re: Pedal Me bans staff riders from wearing helmets for safety reasons
#513I once saw an accident where a cyclist going straight through an intersection was hit by an oncoming truck turning left that was impatient, didn't see the cyclist and gunned it between cars. The cyclist was launched headfirst into the bumper of a car stopped at the light and her helmet loudly cracked in two. She was still hurt, but I'm sure she would have died without that helmet. If some riders choose to not wear a…
Background: I do downhill longboarding as a hobby. > If some riders choose to not wear a helmet [...] ...we take their board from them, until they show up with one. This sport is almost completely unregulated (outside of official events), but somehow the community has developed an incredibly strong culture of keeping both yourself and the others around you safe. I guess something about being a niche sport, perhaps a…
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Re: Pedal Me bans staff riders from wearing helmets for safety reasons
#514I once saw an accident where a cyclist going straight through an intersection was hit by an oncoming truck turning left that was impatient, didn't see the cyclist and gunned it between cars. The cyclist was launched headfirst into the bumper of a car stopped at the light and her helmet loudly cracked in two. She was still hurt, but I'm sure she would have died without that helmet. If some riders choose to not wear a…
It concerns me that there's so many stories of bike helmets cracking in two and allegedly having saved someone's life. Bike helmets are designed to compress under impact and as such, they are very weak under tension, so when you see a helmet split into two, it indicates that it wasn't working as designed. Compressed polystyrene in the helmet would indicate that it was doing its job.
Famous last words: "Well, that wasn't supposed to happen!"
Re: Pedal Me bans staff riders from wearing helmets for safety reasons
#515Earlier quoted context omitted.
Background: I do downhill longboarding as a hobby. > If some riders choose to not wear a helmet [...] ...we take their board from them, until they show up with one. This sport is almost completely unregulated (outside of official events), but somehow the community has developed an incredibly strong culture of keeping both yourself and the others around you safe. I guess something about being a niche sport, perhaps a…
I''m not defending Pedal Me but you could try to design the city so biking is safer https://www.treehugger.com/why-dutch-dont-wear-helmets-48581... Sure you can still get in an accident. That's true of everything though. I don't go for a walk in a plastic bubble just in case a car hits me https://www.google.com/search?q=cars+hitting+pedestrians&tbm...
Design won't do anything for the millions of ignorati that are handed drivers licenses without demonstrating driving competence.
Re: Pedal Me bans staff riders from wearing helmets for safety reasons
#516Earlier 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. By this logic, no one would feel safe riding a bus when the driver has a seatbelt and you don't.
I happen to subscribe to this logic. I will often specifically choose bus seats that I think will fare better in a crash, as I feel at risk without belts. I'm surprised others don't feel the same. I'm also worried those vertical grab poles for standing passengers will become effective skull crushers in a crash.
Re: Pedal Me bans staff riders from wearing helmets for safety reasons
#517Earlier quoted context omitted.
Background: I do downhill longboarding as a hobby. > If some riders choose to not wear a helmet [...] ...we take their board from them, until they show up with one. This sport is almost completely unregulated (outside of official events), but somehow the community has developed an incredibly strong culture of keeping both yourself and the others around you safe. I guess something about being a niche sport, perhaps a…
I''m not defending Pedal Me but you could try to design the city so biking is safer https://www.treehugger.com/why-dutch-dont-wear-helmets-48581... Sure you can still get in an accident. That's true of everything though. I don't go for a walk in a plastic bubble just in case a car hits me https://www.google.com/search?q=cars+hitting+pedestrians&tbm...
You could have the best designed city in the world and you will still be at a high risk of your fragile brain case impacting the ground or something worse at speed. Whether you're pedaling down a country road or the busiest NYC intersection not wearing a helmet on a bike is stupid, full stop.
Re: Pedal Me bans staff riders from wearing helmets for safety reasons
#518Earlier quoted context omitted.
> And in many forms of racing, they usually go significantly faster than general traffic too. Yet, lethal TBIs are more likely to come from motor vehicle accidents than from bicycle accidents. > the risks seem low enough that the expense (including time to equip) of that additional equipment is too much to justify its general use. Yet, somehow this argument is deemed irrelevant when helmets for bicycles are discussed…
> Yet, lethal TBIs are more likely to come from motor vehicle accidents than from bicycle accidents. Is that per mile, per minute, or per lethal TBI? Also, is a collision between a bicycle and a motor vehicle a motor vehicle accident or a bicycle accident? Of course, bike helmets protect against more than just brain injury. They also protect against road abrasion of some portion of the head, which is not usually a fa…
> per lethal TBI?
Per lethal TBI, I don't think the data exists for per mile or per minute.
> Also, is a collision between a bicycle and a motor vehicle a motor vehicle accident or a bicycle accident?
Good catch, looking at their methods, they do include IDC-10 codes for pedestrian and bicyclist injuries due to motor vehicles in that number so I am not sure how many of those are actual vehicle occupants and I can't find any data at the moment that breaks those numbers down per IDC code group.
> Bike helmets are much lower expense and hassle than car helmets (which are mostly motorcycle helmets) and neck restraints,
Re: Pedal Me bans staff riders from wearing helmets for safety reasons
#519Earlier quoted context omitted.
It concerns me that there's so many stories of bike helmets cracking in two and allegedly having saved someone's life. Bike helmets are designed to compress under impact and as such, they are very weak under tension, so when you see a helmet split into two, it indicates that it wasn't working as designed. Compressed polystyrene in the helmet would indicate that it was doing its job.
I have worn a bike helmet without fail starting in the early 80s. I have always understood that they are disposable after any hard hit. Visible or not, polystyrene compresses, cracks, crumbles, etc. The shell or skin of the helmet never seemed to matter much, so whether it splits or shreds, doesn't matter. Maybe I'll have a look for a source on this.
Yeah, it's a crumble zone that might add a few precious millimeters to the very short deceleration path of the brain if limbs and reflexes fail to do that job completely. Disintegration means that it's doing its job.
That's a completely different story from the primary task of the helmets for rock climbers, construction workers or soldiers, which is distributing a small, concentrated impact (a rock or a dropped tool or random debris) to a wider area.
Re: Pedal Me bans staff riders from wearing helmets for safety reasons
#520I once saw an accident where a cyclist going straight through an intersection was hit by an oncoming truck turning left that was impatient, didn't see the cyclist and gunned it between cars. The cyclist was launched headfirst into the bumper of a car stopped at the light and her helmet loudly cracked in two. She was still hurt, but I'm sure she would have died without that helmet. If some riders choose to not wear a…
It concerns me that there's so many stories of bike helmets cracking in two and allegedly having saved someone's life. Bike helmets are designed to compress under impact and as such, they are very weak under tension, so when you see a helmet split into two, it indicates that it wasn't working as designed. Compressed polystyrene in the helmet would indicate that it was doing its job.
I had a helmet damaged by a roommate who knocked down a bike on a stand. The polystyrene was cracked completely through but remained bonded to the shell. They are supposed to break like that. Older styles of construction are going to be less durable but if it keeps the structure constrained to your head it will to a better job than nothing.