🚀 go-pugleaf

A friend just forwarded this to me.  I bet NONE of you change your
mind despite all the evidence.  As a matter of fact I bet you're
afraid of tuning in.  Well I can't FORCE you to watch.  But even if I
could I WOULDN'T since I believe in freedom of CHOICE.

from:
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2893122&page=1


in BC, 20/20 airs at 9 PM (this week) but check your local listings.


Feb. 22, 2007 - Deaths! Injuries! People are hurt every day. This is
unacceptable, isn't it? We should do something about it. And when
people want something to be done, they usually say that "there ought
to be a law."
And so we get more laws meant to make us safer. Because 700 Americans
die in bike accidents every year - that's two a day - lots of places
now have passed laws requiring every biker to wear a helmet. It seems
only sensible, since head injuries are what kill people. Public
service announcements tells us that "a properly fitted helmet
cushions
the blow, protecting the head and brain from injury."


So helmets should protect people ... like me. For years I've ridden
my
bike to work, and for years I rode without a helmet. It was probably
very dangerous. "20/20's" offices are in New York City, which means I
had to weave in and out of traffic, hoping I didn't get hit by a car.
This year, I finally started wearing a helmet. I wasn't forced to,
New
York has no law requiring adults to wear them, but my friends talked
me into it, and frankly, I was surprised to discover that today's
helmets are better; they're actually comfortable.


But does my helmet make me safer? Maybe not, because safety measures
often have unintended consequences.


Watch the story on "Scared Stiff: Worry in America" on a special
edition of "20/20" Friday at 9 p.m. ET


Putting the Theory to the Test


Ian Walker is an avid cyclist and a human behavior researcher at the
University of Bath in England. He set up a bike with an ultrasonic
distance sensor and camera, and rode for miles with and without a
helmet. His data showed that cars reacted differently when he had the
helmet on.


"When I wore a helmet, there was a quite considerable tendency for
drivers to get closer," Walker said.


What's the reasoning, I wondered? Is it because a driver thinks, "Oh,
that rider has a helmet. ... If I hit him, he'll live?"


No," Walker said. "It's that they're saying, 'He knows what he's
doing.' When they see a cyclist who has all the gear, they think it's
a sign of someone who's experienced and skillful."


Walker found that 23 percent more cars came within three feet of him
when he wore a helmet. And, he says, there's another unintended
consequence of helmet laws: fewer cyclists.


Parts of Australia, Canada and New Zealand have made bicycle helmets
a
requirement. What you see is that when you make them a requirement,
the number of head injuries among cyclists in those countries drops
off," he said.


That sounds great, right? Fewer head injuries is a good thing. Well,
not so fast.


"The number of cyclists is dropping off at exactly the same rate."
Walker said.


Assuming these former cyclists don't rush out and start doing other
exercise, that's not a good thing.


"When people don't cycle, they're not getting exercise," he said. "We
know that not getting exercise and being sedentary is incredibly
dangerous. You get heart attacks, you get strokes ... proven killers
that kill thousands of people. So when people make helmets a
requirement, with the best intentions, it may actually kill more
people."


The 'Lulling Effect'


And here's another unintended consequence. Now that I wear a helmet,
I
feel safer. So I've noticed that I take more risks. I ride in traffic
more often. Economists call this the "Peltzman Effect:" the idea that
people adjust their behavior in a way that counteracts the intended
safety effect.


Come on, I DARE YOU to watch.  I DOUBLE DARE YOU!!