Pedal Me bans staff riders from wearing helmets for safety reasons

Post by diebeforei485 » Mon, May 23, 2022, 12:46 AM UTC

mcguire wrote: post #657

_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.

" In absolute terms, more people were killed in a car accident (237) than in a bicycle accident (203) last year, but this is different per kilometre travelled. Traffic mortality per billion vehicle-km was much higher among cyclists than among passenger car occupants (11 versus 1.6 deaths). " ( https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2020/31/decline-in-road-fatali... )

Post by diebeforei485 » Mon, May 23, 2022, 12:48 AM UTC

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.…

Post by diebeforei485 » Mon, May 23, 2022, 12:55 AM UTC

krab wrote: post #532

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…

I'd like to wear helmet as a passenger as well as a driver on such bike. The helmet doesn't add almost any inconvenience, is reasonably cheap and light. Why not wear it? I use shared bikes one-way quite often and I usually carry my helmet around, strapped to a backpack. In colder weather I would cycle in a business shirt. No issue with a helmet.

Post by dleslie » Mon, May 23, 2022, 1:00 AM UTC

falcolas wrote: post #679

maccard wrote: post #571

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a big difference between the speeds you travel at in a bowl and in very skating.

Speed doesn’t matter when you hit your head. I had a friend who fell while ice skating at the speed of a slow stroll, and hit the back of his head. He was dead a week later. And just getting a concussion can result in measurably decreased mental capabilities for months. Dad time: you’ve got one brain for your entire life. Stop relying on luck to keep it in working order.

Post by ted_dunning » Mon, May 23, 2022, 1:03 AM UTC

thayne wrote: post #627

bad_alloc wrote: post #608

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

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