Chris Boardman - Helmets not even top 10 things keep cycling safe

[morrisman]

http://road.cc/content/news/111258-chris-boardman-helmets-not-even-top-10-things-keep-cycling-safe

 

[Spinney]

Good man - now we only need folks to listen to him!

 

[ComedyPilot]

I want to have Chris Boardman's children.

The man speaketh sense.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

He's consistently spot on about cycling. Boardman is an excellent ambassador for UK cycling.

BTW - I just had a look at the road.cc home page and that article doesn't appear on it. Odd.

EDIT: It has since appeared.

 

[Brandane]

Well said Chris Boardman !

Here I am on yesterdays CC ride to Linlithgow, which I extended to 100km.

If helmets were mandatory I wouldn't have been there. I probably wouldn't even possess a bike. As it is, I have 6 of them and thoroughly enjoy each one.

 

[MikeW-71]

He does talk sense, and I like his analogy

 

[screenman]

He does talk a lot of sense and I wear a helmet and will continue to do so.

Choice, I love it.

 

[growingvegetables]

Spot on!

 

[MikeW-71]

Helmets should not be made compulsory, I agree that keeping them as such an issue is a huge distraction from more important matters. I do wear one (well, 99% of the time) but I won't go telling everyone they should wear one, it's their choice to make.

Hell I rode around the lakes for a year without one at 16 and they didn't even exist when I was a child and I'm still here

 

[coffeejo]

"We’ve gone away from the facts,” he said. “We’ve gone to anecdotes. It’s like shark attacks - more people are killed building sandcastles than are killed by sharks. It’s just ludicrous that the facts aren’t matching up with the actions because the press focus, naturally, on the news stories, and [the notion that cycling is dangerous] becomes the norm, and it isn’t the norm."

 

[L14M]

This reminds me of kayaking, once your in a certain devision you do not have to wear a bouyancy aid. As you most likely won't fall in, but if you do you can swim (if not you are a idiot). While I wear a helmet i won't go around telling people to, your all wise enough to make your own choice.

 

[summerdays]

What would you put in the top 10? I'm still thinking and changing my mind, but it would include changing liability from how it currently stands, and the sentencing guidelines currently given to the courts. Though I guess that is things I would like to change to keep me safe rather than things now.

 

[L14M]

TBH prevention is better than the cure, thats' why I agree with Chris. But I think the prevention is currently not as good as it should be thus the cure is needed. This is my opinion anyway.

 

[oldstrath]

What would you put in the top 10? I'm still thinking and changing my mind, but it would include changing liability from how it currently stands, and the sentencing guidelines currently given to the courts. Though I guess that is things I would like to change to keep me safe rather than things now.

1. Reduction of urban speed limits to 20 mph
2. Reduction of speed limit to 30 mph on all other roads unless there is an adequate, well-maintained,not ridiculously longer and steeper, bike and pedestrian alternative
3. Proper enforcement of existing laws
4. Mandatory life bans on driving for anyone involved in a fatal collision unless they can conclusively prove their complete lack of fault
5. Mandatory life bans for repeat safety-related offences (such as speeding, drunk-driving, mobile phone usage)
6. Presumed liability
7. mandatory medical and retest every 5 years

 

[StuartG]

Points 4 & 5 (bans) really needs thinking about. The judiciary and beyond are very reluctant to have these in guidance or even available. Their thinking is that they would tend to be applied to serial offenders. Serial offending suggests there is something obsessive about their driving. Denying them a licence does not deny them access to a car but it does deny them insurance and other safeguards. Life bans sound good but, like prohibition, does it make things better or worse?

The answer I suggest is not obvious and different drivers will react in different ways. I am always pleasantly surprised by the number of people who elect to go on speed awareness courses (as the easy option) but come back and say it made a difference, a surprising difference to them. We should be basing our control of bad driving on recidivist rates and not what makes us feel good.

Training and attitude are two strong weapons we could use to modify behaviour. Prison (and that's what you have to use on people who will not give up driving when banned) is horrendously expensive and only stores up more problems on release.