🚀 go-pugleaf

Joshua_Putnam <josh@WOLFENET.COM> wrote in article
<5o4ckh$p1@ratty.wolfe.net>...

> Go read the helmet standards.  Helmets are very specifically
> *not* designed for bike/car accidents.  They are designed to
> protect you from your own momentup when tipping over or falling
> from normal riding height, period.  That's what the helmet
> companies intend them to do, that's what the standards require
> them to do, that's what they do.  If you honestly think a helmet
> is going to do you a bit of good in a car/bike accident, you're
> deluding yourself.  That is very specifically *not* what they are
> designed for.
(SNIP)

Most car/cyclist accidents are glancing blows; the cyclist is not usually
injured by the car, its the fall and that IS what the helmet is designed
for.

> The statistics from industrialized countries across the globe
> make it clear that cycling is not a particularly hazardous
> activity.  The helmet standards make it clear that helmets are
> not designed to protect against collisions with other vehicles.
> So what possible justification is there for mandating helmets for
> cyclists before mandating them for other, more dangerous,
> activities such as driving, walking, climbing stairs, etc.?
> 
> --
> 
>  Josh@WolfeNet.com  is  Joshua Putnam / P.O. Box 13220 / Burton, WA 98013
>                        "My other bike is a car."                   
>                      http://www.wolfenet.com/~josh
> 
Most industrialized countries that have large numbers of cyclists provide
separate routes for them.  Holland, for example, limits the amount of cars
on the road by a road tax.  They also provide separate bike routes that do
not permit pedestrians or motorized vehicles.  In most locales in North
America, this is not the case.

Driving already requires seatbelts and provides airbags, and when walking,
you have human reflexes to help limit injury; the instinct to put your
hands out if you fall.  On a bike, you are (hopefully) gripping the
handlebars, so you don't have that benefit.

It has not been very many years since race drivers began wearing helmets. 
Yet, nowadays, one would think only a fool would get in a racecar without a
helmet.  But, there are still head injuries and people still die.  However,
the incidence of it is reduced.

In hockey, a substantial number of players did not wear helmets well into
the '80s.  There were not that many serious injuries or deaths.  Yet, now
they are required.  Why?  Because it makes the sport safer.

Even with a helmet law, there will still be serious cycling injuries.  But,
the chances of a head injury from a fall is considerably reduced.  And,
most sensible people will take all precautions to protect the old knoggin.

With the dramatic increase in both motorists and cyclists in the last few
years (with no signs of letting up) there is more potential for injury than
ever before.  Hence, any improvements in safety will likely reduce the
number of injuries.