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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

#81

Post by _Wintermute »

herodoturtle wrote: post #51
mabbo wrote: post #32

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…

Let's see how that works out for them. Being clever. Edit: this was a tongue in cheek reference to the follow-up line in Fight Club (after the scene alluded to by OP).

They're hugely successful in London, so pretty well I guess?

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

#82

Post by littlestymaar »

davidg109 wrote: post #34

Do drivers take greater risks from wearing a seatbelt? Where’s the data to substantiate their claims?

The risk compensation myth was crafted in the 70s as an argument against guardrails! And it was indeed reused as an argument again seatbelts a few years later. And of course, there has never been any data to substantiate these arguments.

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

#83

Post by mabbo »

scotty79 wrote: post #67
mabbo wrote: post #32

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…

I think the point is that you'll have less traumatic brain injuries without helmets than with helmets because you'll have less accidents over all and less severe ones. If a cyclist have a helmet he and everyone around him behaves dumber. This was researched.

> less traumatic brain injuries without helmets than with helmets because you'll have less accidents over all and less severe ones.

Less accidents overall? I can believe that, maybe. But you'll need to back up "less severe ones".

If a new driver who's phone distracted them for a split second is going to hit me on my bike, I feel like it's going to be more severe if I don't have a helmet on.

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

#84

Post by chrisshroba »

yellowapple wrote: post #52

I'm sorry, and pardonner mou Français, but what in the actual fuck? Should delivery drivers not wear seatbelts because they might not be as afriad that they'll fly through the windshield? Should linemen not wear harnesses because they might be more confident working on power lines? Should warehouse workers not wear hi-vis jackets because they might be more confident working around forklifts? Should construction worke…

I understand where you’re coming from, but I’d like to see some data rather than “what the actual fuck”. I believe there are some cases where safety protections make people act dumber - and now I’m curious if this is or is not one them. I don’t take a position either way, but I don’t feel like shouting that you’d tell your employer to eat a bag of dicks really contributes much here.

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

#85

Post by Nextgrid »

yellowapple wrote: post #52

I'm sorry, and pardonner mou Français, but what in the actual fuck? Should delivery drivers not wear seatbelts because they might not be as afriad that they'll fly through the windshield? Should linemen not wear harnesses because they might be more confident working on power lines? Should warehouse workers not wear hi-vis jackets because they might be more confident working around forklifts? Should construction worke…

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 aforementioned problems are hard (read: expensive) or impossible to solve, so while the ethical idea might be to just not offer this service at all, the objective here is to make money whatever-it-takes (or most likely, raise money, as I doubt this thing is profitable) as opposed to providing a good transport service (maybe because there's no actual demand for this?).

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

#86

Post by [deleted] »

yellowapple wrote: post #52

I'm sorry, and pardonner mou Français, but what in the actual fuck? Should delivery drivers not wear seatbelts because they might not be as afriad that they'll fly through the windshield? Should linemen not wear harnesses because they might be more confident working on power lines? Should warehouse workers not wear hi-vis jackets because they might be more confident working around forklifts? Should construction worke…

[deleted]

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

#87

Post by hh3k0 »

polote wrote: post #70
yellowapple wrote: post #52

I'm sorry, and pardonner mou Français, but what in the actual fuck? Should delivery drivers not wear seatbelts because they might not be as afriad that they'll fly through the windshield? Should linemen not wear harnesses because they might be more confident working on power lines? Should warehouse workers not wear hi-vis jackets because they might be more confident working around forklifts? Should construction worke…

> If I was a staff rider, I'd be putting that helmet on and telling Pedal Me to eat an OSHA-sized bag of dicks if they have a problem with it. And then they would fire you and you will have to find a company that allow helmets and everyone will be happy

> And then they would fire you, hand you a substantial financial settlement for your wrongful termination, and you will be able to collect unemployment benefits while you take your sweet time to find a company that's not garbage.

FTFY

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

#88

Post by moonbug »

polote wrote: post #70
yellowapple wrote: post #52

I'm sorry, and pardonner mou Français, but what in the actual fuck? Should delivery drivers not wear seatbelts because they might not be as afriad that they'll fly through the windshield? Should linemen not wear harnesses because they might be more confident working on power lines? Should warehouse workers not wear hi-vis jackets because they might be more confident working around forklifts? Should construction worke…

> If I was a staff rider, I'd be putting that helmet on and telling Pedal Me to eat an OSHA-sized bag of dicks if they have a problem with it. And then they would fire you and you will have to find a company that allow helmets and everyone will be happy

ah, but you see, they don't actually employ you

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

#89

Post by Nextgrid »

chrisshroba wrote: post #84
yellowapple wrote: post #52

I'm sorry, and pardonner mou Français, but what in the actual fuck? Should delivery drivers not wear seatbelts because they might not be as afriad that they'll fly through the windshield? Should linemen not wear harnesses because they might be more confident working on power lines? Should warehouse workers not wear hi-vis jackets because they might be more confident working around forklifts? Should construction worke…

I understand where you’re coming from, but I’d like to see some data rather than “what the actual fuck”. I believe there are some cases where safety protections make people act dumber - and now I’m curious if this is or is not one them. I don’t take a position either way, but I don’t feel like shouting that you’d tell your employer to eat a bag of dicks really contributes much here.

This would make sense for situations where the main risk was the driver/operator of the machine, but when it comes to cycling on the road (especially in crazy Central London traffic) I would expect the risk to primarily come from cars.

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

#90

Post by moonbug »

teruakohatu wrote: post #77
polote wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

Comments like this do not make HN a better place. If you think helmets are a safety hazard, please make your case rather than mocking the OP.

HN is not a good place.
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