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Pedal Me bans staff riders from wearing helmets for safety reasons

bikebiz.com

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

#601

Post by shrimpx »

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.

The obvious solution is to require passengers to wear helmets, as well as the drivers. But this brings us to the core of the endless helmet debate, which is that lots of people are deeply repulsed by wearing a goofy ass helmet and getting nasty helmet hair while out on the town. And the data shows that if you require helmets, lots of people stop cycling — in this case, people would stop using bike taxis.

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

#602

Post by shrimpx »

yellowapple wrote: post #201
loloquwowndueo wrote: post #153

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 situa…

> Wearing a helmet is a low-cost no-brainer Or in this case, a low-cost keep-your-brainer.

A low-cost brainer.

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

#603

Post by aeternum »

rollcat wrote: post #359
spankalee wrote: post #272

I 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…

Don't you think it's a little hypocritical to force everyone to draw their acceptable risk line at exactly where you happen to draw it?

Longboarding is risky, downhill longboarding is riskier, doing it without a helmet slightly moreso, doing it naked probably slightly moreso.

Why is it okay for you to set the acceptable risk bar and steal boards from anyone that doesn't agree? Should people that think that downhill longboarding with a helmet is risky steal your board?

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

#604

Post by isbvhodnvemrwvn »

jdr23bc wrote: post #184
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…

No doubt Pedal Me contractors operating in Dutch cities might choose to not wear a helmet. That'd be fine. But that choice should be left to the contractor, not the company.

It's worse, they are not contractors but employees. The company should have a book thrown at them.

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

#605

Post by oliwarner »

RC_ITR wrote: post #254
oliwarner wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it rightfully illicits that response. Wearing a safety device shouldn't make an activity less safe. Your "simple equation" relies on your variables being solid. And they aren't. It's important to stress that the behavioural studies from Bath (that show helmeted riders take more risks in simulations, that cars give them less space) are not data about whether helmeted users are at greater risk. Or that comparisons…

> No, it rightfully illicits that response. Wearing a safety device shouldn't make an activity less safe. American Football vs Rugby and the difference in CTE is often cited as the prime example of where this is true. Helmets and shoulder pads encourage riskier hits.

Often cited, sure, but I don't see cyclists (myself included) put a helmet on and start taking on 18-wheelers. What I'm trying to say is it matters how true these studies are. Say we accept there's an increased risk of having an accident, the data also shows that if you have an accident you're much more likely to die without a helmet.

I think a lot of people —including experienced cyclists— would be surprised how easily a silly little fall, a knock against a car, can just kill you.

So even if a helmet makes you marginally more likely to be involved in an accident, being a professional vulnerable road user, all day is no joke. I'd like to have safety equipment when my number comes up.

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

#606

Post by isbvhodnvemrwvn »

watwut wrote: post #483
GuB-42 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

It makes the activity look dangerous. I do perceive motorbike taxi as more dangerous then, say, car.

It should not be a reasonable basis for denying their employees right to wear PPE.

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

#607

Post by [deleted] »

spike021 wrote: post #545
spankalee wrote: post #272

I 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…

Back in elementary school a few decades ago, they did a demonstration of what happens if you're not wearing a helmet. They used a watermelon and dropped it from maybe 5 or 6 feet up in the air. I refuse to ride anything without a helmet ever since.

[deleted]

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

#608

Post by bad_alloc »

aeternum wrote: post #603
rollcat wrote: post #359

Earlier 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…

Don't you think it's a little hypocritical to force everyone to draw their acceptable risk line at exactly where you happen to draw it? Longboarding is risky, downhill longboarding is riskier, doing it without a helmet slightly moreso, doing it naked probably slightly moreso. Why is it okay for you to set the acceptable risk bar and steal boards from anyone that doesn't agree? Should people that think that downhill l…

> Why is it okay for you to set the acceptable risk bar and steal boards from anyone that doesn't agree?

For the same reason we enforce seatbelts in cars: Enough people died. Then those who saw them die decided on these rules so we don't need to go through the same pain. The fact that you don't get this shows that the rules work.

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

#609

Post by runamok »

_proofs wrote: post #555
jasonkester wrote: post #475

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you suppose happened to the rest of skateboarding that pushed it in the opposite direction? Watching the olympics this summer, it was amazing to watch the street skating events with none of the competitors wearing any sort of protective gear. And it’s not like they didn’t need it either. They were getting wrecked in falls to the point where some of the couldn’t even finish the competition. It was nuts watchin…

short answer: branding long answer: branding anecdotally, am a daily skateboarder and long time snowboarder who is guilty of having an ego, and even wear pads to protect a couple massive contusions (swellbos) but i never wear a helmet, so ill frame it like this: 95% of the time i am not that much at risk for serious head injury when skating, and even though i take it for granted, there is an element of knowing how to…

Not to mention the risk of getting hit by another snowboarder or skier.

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

#610

Post by blfr »

bad_alloc wrote: post #608
aeternum wrote: post #603

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't you think it's a little hypocritical to force everyone to draw their acceptable risk line at exactly where you happen to draw it? Longboarding is risky, downhill longboarding is riskier, doing it without a helmet slightly moreso, doing it naked probably slightly moreso. Why is it okay for you to set the acceptable risk bar and steal boards from anyone that doesn't agree? Should people that think that downhill l…

> Why is it okay for you to set the acceptable risk bar and steal boards from anyone that doesn't agree? For the same reason we enforce seatbelts in cars: Enough people died. Then those who saw them die decided on these rules so we don't need to go through the same pain. The fact that you don't get this shows that the rules work.

OK but longboarding is not essential like general transportation. Why ban helmet-less longboarding instead of the whole thing?
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