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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

#691

Post by ComputerGuru »

u801e wrote: post #597
ComputerGuru wrote: post #393

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cycling in a vacuum is safe-ish and not a particularly risky affair. Cycling on a shared road with automobiles going eight times your speed and weighing some 250 times your bipedal vehicle’s weight is not so safe.

Differences in speed and mass are largely irrelevant if collisions don't occur. You can minimize the risk of a collision by following the rules of movement on the road (right of way and positioning) and anticipate if someone isn't following those rules and take appropriate action to avoid a collision before it's imminent. If passenger cars, large trucks and buses. and motorcycles can share the road, so can pedalcycli…

> Differences in speed and mass are largely irrelevant if collisions don't occur.

Breaking: Helmets and safety gear are largely irrelevant if collisions don't occur.

(Hey, PPE is also largely irrelevant if you are never in a situation where a virus can establish a foothold on your person!)

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

#693

Post by jeromegv »

mcguire wrote: post #675
thayne wrote: post #627

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting you should bring that up. That was used as an example of unintended side effects of policy in my economics class, because when people started wearing seat belts, they drove faster and more recklessly, so while the seatbelts protected people inside the cars, the number of pedestrians hit by cars went up. See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_compensation

Hmm. Most states brought on mandatory seat belt laws in the mid-1980s--mid-1990s. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_belt_laws_in_the_United_S... ) 1981 was the last year with motor vehicle fatalities over 3.0 per billion miles. By 2000 it was 1.53 and 2019 it was 1.10. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in... ) I can only find pedestrian fatality numbers from 1994. ( https://injuryfacts.ns…

Regarding pedestrian death: Size/weight of car have also dramatically increased.

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

#694

Post by mzs »

alexggordon wrote: post #344

Note, these are not normal bikes. From the article: > A major cause of head injuries is going over the handlebars, which is not possible with a 3 metre long bike. Another thing that makes us unique is our training systems, maintenance systems, and ability to track poor rider behaviour. Made me curious what they actually look like[0]. Seeing that, I’d tend to reset my presumptions about wearing helmets with these. The…

Cars change lanes and make unindicated turns. All the risks from the side are still there, plus over the handlebars the length from the seat to the front of this bike is not impossible. Even hitting the bike itself isn't some magic protection where a helmet wouldn't help, could even be worse.

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

#695

Post by [deleted] »

idiotsecant wrote: post #517
gernb wrote: post #504

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

[deleted]

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

#696

Post by dghlsakjg »

eloff wrote: post #424
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…

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.…

Vancouver left turns are wild. There’s almost never a turn lane or turn signal.

When I first moved there I didn’t realize that a yellow was treated as if left turners now owned the intersection. Had a few close calls when I would go straight on a yellow while left turners were trying to turn.

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

#699

Post by cgrealy »

cameronh90 wrote: post #665
throwawayhelmet wrote: post #44

Okay, true story. Years ago I struggled with this exact logic regarding skiing with helmet. After serious consideration I decided to start skiing so carefully that I do not need a helmet. As you may guess at this point, The very first day I left my helmet home, I got into an accident and got a skull fracture. I started using my helmet again after that. (But another safety related thing I have started to really doubt.…

My old boss was an experienced skier on an organised cross country ski tour and got killed by an avalanche. It was in a low avalanche risk area with no avalanches forecast, and he was wearing all safety equipment, including one of those balloons. Medical help was almost immediate and nobody else on the tour was seriously injured. Sometimes the universe just wants you dead.

The fact is that experienced back country skiers are more likely to die in an avalanche.

Part of this is complacency, but honestly most of it is just probability. The more you do something, the more chances you have for just the wrong combination of factors to happen.

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

#700

Post by Tijdreiziger »

dd82 wrote: post #666
_abox wrote: post #542

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the Netherlands we're doing fine without them though. Nobody wears one on a regular bike. I've had a few times where I slipped so fast I didn't even remember what happened but every time my arm was there protecting my head. Reflexes are awesome. Accidents can happen sure but the added hassle doesn't seem worth it. Of course things are different when you do high speed cycling or mountain biking.

>I've had a few times where I slipped so fast I didn't even remember what happened but every time my arm was there protecting my head. Reflexes are awesome. isn't this a good example of confirmation bias? it worked for you, so it must work for everyone the same as it did for you each time they require it. its your brain, I guess. and you do have that social health network to cover you when medical issues arise. guess…

It clearly works for millions of Dutch cyclists.
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