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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

#31

Post by searchableguy »

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.

Exactly what I think as well.

This might lower risk for the customers because driver may take less risk without a helmet in some situation but the risk for driver is only increased.

This is optimizing for customers at the cost of drivers.

I don't see any supportive extensive research linked from them .

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

#32

Post by mabbo »

This feels a bit like the narrator in "Fight Club" explaining "the formula" car manufacturers use.

> Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.

Pedal Me has done the math on what the average settlement for a traumatic brain injury to it's staff is going to be, multiplied by the probability of such an event, and has decided that they'll make more money without helmets.

It ignores that much of the risk comes from outside of the drivers control. It ignores that driver behavior could otherwise be monitored to ensure safety.

It would just be nice if it was honest- a driver with a helmet on doesn't match the sexy appeal they're going for. That people might say "if the driver needs a helmet why don't I, the rider?".

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

#35

Post by perlgeek »

whimsicalism wrote: post #23
perlgeek wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was one study about that, which was... not very robust science. It relied on self-report of the biker (and if I remember correctly, it was just a single one, so not enough data).

Fair enough, although it relied on video data, not self report, and included over 2300 cars. Perhaps it would have been different for different cyclists. Here is a study investigating this methodology of studying car behavior and ultimately concluding it is useful: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00014...

... or in different cities, or even different countries, or at different times of day, or in different seasons.

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

#37

Post by saghm »

perlgeek wrote: post #7
whimsicalism wrote: post #3

IIRC it is studied that cars behave more dangerously around bikers with helmets while they give a wide berth to unhelmeted bikers.

There was one study about that, which was... not very robust science. It relied on self-report of the biker (and if I remember correctly, it was just a single one, so not enough data).

> It relied on self-report of the biker (and if I remember correctly, it was just a single one, so not enough data).

Unless I'm misunderstanding what's meant by "self-reporting", it sounds like regardless of how many riders they got data from, it would say that there are 0 fatalities to bikers because people who are dead don't respond to surveys.

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

#38

Post by BurningFrog »

perlgeek wrote: post #7
whimsicalism wrote: post #3

IIRC it is studied that cars behave more dangerously around bikers with helmets while they give a wide berth to unhelmeted bikers.

There was one study about that, which was... not very robust science. It relied on self-report of the biker (and if I remember correctly, it was just a single one, so not enough data).

Yeah, there is always a study made somewhere by somebody supporting whatever you want to believe in.

Individual studies are on average fairly useless.

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

#39

Post by ericbarrett »

_Wintermute wrote: post #24
Sebb767 wrote: post #15

How dare those guys drive on roads with cars! This seems insane. Even if the data supported this, anyone from the PR department should have seen how much bad press this generates from a mile away.

From their point of view, it's like if a delivery company banned drivers from installing roll-cages and racing harnesses - the initial question should be, why on earth do you think you need that?

A fall from bicycle height onto concrete can kill you if you hit your head—even if the bicycle is completely stationary. This rule is BS and I expect the company will be pressured to reverse their decision immediately.

Sincerely, a guy who's probably alive because of a bicycle helmet.

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

#40

Post by _Wintermute »

sva_ wrote: post #26
edmcnulty101 wrote: post #9

Helmets are trying to reduce an already tiny risk. We live in a world of safety fanaticism.

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?
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