I think style of riding is important as well. Sent from my iPhone
On Mar 16, 2011, at 11:10 AM, Jan Heine <hein...@earthlink.net> wrote: >> to get people on bicycles, you don't want to force them to wear a helmet >> and imply that they are doing something more dangerous than driving. > > The same arguments were made when Preston Tucker wanted to include seatbelts > in his cars. His board thought it implied that Tucker cars were unsafe. > (Instead, it was Volvo who introduced seatbelts. I guess they weren't afraid > that their cars might be considered unsafe.) > > Today, most of us use seatbelts, because we are aware of the risks of > driving. Seatbelts don't keep people from driving. It seems to make little > sense to pretend that riding bikes is risk-free. Do we really want to foster > a teenage-like feeling of invincibility in cyclists? (Like my neighbor 20 > years ago, who took up cycling in middle age. She loved it, riding against > the flow of traffic, helmet-free on an old bike with no real brakes.) > > The bigger issue that nobody addresses is simple: A seatbelt or a helmet is > your last line of defense. Accident avoidance through competent > driving/riding is a much more important component of your safety. With cars, > our focus on technology over driver education has had the U.S. slip from the > safest country for drivers to one of the least safe. (However, that statistic > in the NY Times was per driver, not per miles, and Americans drive more... so > one might want to correct for that.) > > At Bicycle Quarterly, we are considering looking at the statistics and > figuring out whether helmets make riding safer, whether risk compensation > really is a factor, etc. I believe there is a need for real data, rather than > opinion, on the subject. It's not that hard to figure this out, especially > when you compare different countries and populations. But of course, like > most quasi-religious topics, it would be a hotly debated issue. What do you > guys think? > > Jan Heine > Editor > Bicycle Quarterly > http://www.bikequarterly.com > > Follow our blog at http://janheine.wordpress.com/ > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
