Re: Cycling world gone mad

Sena wrote:
rlb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx said...
snipe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Sn!pe) wrote:

Richard Bos <rlb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

As for helmets: if us Dutch don't need them, I don't see why you British
would.
One more time: my best friend, aged 15, was knocked off his bike by a
passing van while on his way to skool. He hit his head and took a week
to die, never regaining consciousness. Had he been wearing a helmet
there's a reasonably better chance that he would have survived.
Had he been wearing red flashing lights and a two-tone siren, there's
more than a reasonable chance that he'd never have been hit in the first
place. Shall we require schoolchildren to dress up as ambulances?

(IOW: the plural of "anecdote" is "anecdotes", not "data".)

Thinking about it, there's more sense in wearing reflective or high-vis clothing or bands than there is the current design of helmet. A lot of cyclists I see on the road are usually insufficiently visible to traffic because they're wearing dark clothes or their lights aren't jbexvat. In a lot of cases they don't seem even to have visible reflectors. I'm not saying that the cyclist is never to blame - I don't ride now but I used to cycle everywhere and I know I was often stupidly clad - and I know that falling off bikes doesn't inevitably mean there was another vehicle involved. In my case there was very rarely another vehicle involved when I fell off; it was my own disengaged brain that caused it.

I reckon that if high-vis or reflective wotnots were recommended more forcefully there would be fewer incidents - and that would de facto mean fewer injuries.

I dunno though... Little Sis was knocked off her bike at a T junction. She had right of way and and was going straight on: the vehicles on the joining road to her left were stationary. They were in two lanes. The woman turning left saw her and waited. The bloke turning right (and so with no vehicle between her and him) didn't and drove into her. She was wearing a dayglow pink and black very visible fleece jacket and riding an equally pink bike at the time. She now has a permanent black line just under her chin.

--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Can _anything_ be done about hit & runners? [Re: Nailed by Hit and Run]
    ... vehicle than I see it happening in any other type of homicide. ... bike, riding my motorcycle and driving my car. ... And I think those people are likely to run if they do hit someone. ... the video keeps rolling the images are next to useless. ...
    (rec.bicycles.misc)
  • Re: Thats Gonna Leave a Mark
    ... a bike must first steer the wheels out from under ... as far as motorcycle riding goes. ... If they TRY to hit me and I notice it, ... the 4 wheeled vehicle is an SUV. ...
    (rec.autos.driving)
  • Re: for all you helmets are bad types...
    ... dosn't deter *me* from wearing mine. ... assaults being the biggest cause of head injuries by a long way. ... walking and coming off a bike? ... has hit the ground at all is once. ...
    (uk.rec.cycling)
  • Re: Tales of the road
    ... they could win a bike. ... "Waering a lid may make you less fearful / but it won't help much ... "but it won't help you much if you're hit by a vehicle" ...
    (uk.rec.cycling)
  • Re: Lets Talk About Rainbows!
    ... wound models count for as many models as they have remaining wounds. ... If you double your opponent's WS, you hit on 2+ in combat. ... (Weapons Damage replaces Weapon Destroyed on the VD table - ... manage to embark into a vehicle, ...
    (rec.games.miniatures.warhammer)