Helmets??

[classic33]

Sometimes a battle is unwinable / not worth fighting. I think blanket compulsion would never work or be worth it. Specific compulsion, ie those who choose to ride on main roads (I'd probably go as far as to say only on A roads / trunk routes) should have to wear lids, would be much more achievable / palletable.

So the fact that I'd be on an "A" road, almost from leaving home, would be enough for it to be be compulsory to wear one.
Only other viable options are off-road or use the local SatNav RatRun. The latter having a lower speed limit, but a higher accident rate. For the roads, without breaking them down into user types. Also a higher rate of speeding.

I'll throw in a comparison, motorbikes. Rider required to have a helmet, quad riders are not.
I cycle on the same roads on two & four wheels. Would I be required to wear a helmet when on the quad? After all the motorised version doesn't require the user to wear one.

 

[ianrauk]

Sometimes a battle is unwinable / not worth fighting. I think blanket compulsion would never work or be worth it. Specific compulsion, ie those who choose to ride on main roads (I'd probably go as far as to say only on A roads / trunk routes) should have to wear lids, would be much more achievable / palletable. A lot of cyclist deaths, where the lid wearing debate comes in, fail to take account of the 'whole' event, that led to the death anyway. For instance, Person A. was hit by a truck, whilst riding their bike, without a lid, and died. Everybody on the pro lid side starts jumping up and down shouting about how a lid may have saved them, everybody on the other side, points out that a lid is no defence against a truck. What has been omitted, or wasn't realised is, that ( again a theoretical case) person A. ended up under the truck, because they had been hit in the head by a piece of debris, this knocked the senses out of them / sparked them out,which was why they ended up under the truck. In this case, the lid may have been of some help. Again a bit of an oversimplification, but I wouldn't be surprised if there have been a lot of cases where a fatal collision event was initiated, by an unseen event, which wearing a lid would have mitigated.

So have you now stopped showing xray pictures and having a go at non helmet wearers too?

 

[Racing roadkill]

So the fact that I'd be on an "A" road, almost from leaving home, would be enough for it to be be compulsory to wear one.
Only other viable options are off-road or use the local SatNav RatRun. The latter having a lower speed limit, but a higher accident rate. For the roads, without breaking them down into user types. Also a higher rate of speeding.

I'll throw in a comparison, motorbikes. Rider required to have a helmet, quad riders are not.
I cycle on the same roads on two & four wheels. Would I be required to wear a helmet when on the quad? After all the motorised version doesn't require the user to wear one.

That would still leave the ball in your court though. You don't have to wear a lid, if you don't want to, you have an alternative route / mode of transport available to you, that means you don't have to wear a lid. It's now down to you to choose what you want to do. Ideally I'd like to see a system where people are financially incentivised to wear a lid, rather than forced to wear a lid, for example, if the quad rider chooses to wear a lid, and has an off, he pays less of an excess, on any insurance claim. I'd maybe like to see an insurance compulsion for cyclists, which costs nothing but an excess, which is only payable if the cyclist is involved in an incident / accident, on a certain type of road, and wasn't wearing a lid. That way, the lid isn't compulsory, you take your chances, as to whether you end up paying a cost or not. That would be a tricky one admittedly, but there's probably a way.

 

[Racing roadkill]

So have you now stopped showing xray pictures and having a go at non helmet wearers too?

I never intended to 'have a go' at non lid wearers, just point out that I prefer to wear a lid, and don't quite get it if people want to risk not wearing a lid. It's their shout, none of my business.

 

[Racing roadkill]

Ah, despite you saying drivers behave with less care and attention when cyclists are wearing a helmet, makes sense.

Well that's half of what I said, the icing, without the cake.

 

[ianrauk]

I never intended to 'have a go' at non lid wearers, just point out that I prefer to wear a lid, and don't quite get it if people want to risk not wearing a lid. It's their shout, none of my business.

A very dramatic U turn
On one hand you say it's none of your business, on the other hand you were quite happy to make it your business by having a go at others, showing xrays, being quite aggressive about the subject, (Helmets, or not wearing of being a bugbear, Darwin clubs etc)

But, seeing as you have now seen sense and realised that it is in fact none of your business, perhaps we can leave it at that if you keep it to to yourself too.

 

[Racing roadkill]

[QUOTE 3740366, member: 259"][/QUOTE]

Oh look a selective, out of context quote

 

[Racing roadkill]

A very dramatic U turn
On one hand you say it's none of your business, on the other hand you were quite happy to make it your business by having a go at others, showing xrays, being quite aggressive about the subject, (Helmets, or not wearing of being a bugbear, Darwin clubs etc)

But, seeing as you have now seen sense and realised that it is in fact none of your business, perhaps we can leave it at that if you keep it to to yourself too.

Very true, happy to oblige, I think I failed to grasp quite the strength of feeling about these debates originally.

 

[snorri]

Very true, happy to oblige, I think I failed to grasp quite the strength of feeling about these debates originally.

Failed to grasp not only the strength of feeling, but the strength of the argument as well.
Never mind, I've given you a Like for "Showing a better understanding but still room for improvement"

 

[TheSoulReaver03]

Bones heal, helmets don't. Why would you want to ruin a helmet when you can just take the full force of impact with your skull? Sure, it's gonna hurt. Sure, it's gonna bleed. A little pain, but you saved the money worth of a helmet. THINK!

 

[ufkacbln]

One of the best things from helmet debates is that people do Learn

There are a number of posters who have gone from avid pro compulsion quoting nonsense to recognising that helmets have limitations and there should be choice

Davidk is another example of this

The hope is that ins few years Doog will also see the light

 

[Mugshot]

Perhaps he read Dr Ian Walker's studies?

Maybe he has taken something away from these threads, Dr walker included, it's certainly a different attitude to the last time.

 

[classic33]

That would still leave the ball in your court though. You don't have to wear a lid, if you don't want to, you have an alternative route / mode of transport available to you, that means you don't have to wear a lid. It's now down to you to choose what you want to do. Ideally I'd like to see a system where people are financially incentivised to wear a lid, rather than forced to wear a lid, for example, if the quad rider chooses to wear a lid, and has an off, he pays less of an excess, on any insurance claim. I'd maybe like to see an insurance compulsion for cyclists, which costs nothing but an excess, which is only payable if the cyclist is involved in an incident / accident, on a certain type of road, and wasn't wearing a lid. That way, the lid isn't compulsory, you take your chances, as to whether you end up paying a cost or not. That would be a tricky one admittedly, but there's probably a way.

So you want to create a new law, for less than 500 people in the UK!
This despite the rider of the motorised version having no such legal requirement to use a helmet.
If its down to choice of roads, you'd prefer the non helmet wearing rider to use the route with a higher accident rate.

 

[Dayvo]

I think the OP was last seen vanishing over the horizon after his 2nd post.

Couldn't see if he was wearing a helmet or not.

 

[doog]

The hope is that ins few years Doog will also see the light

What light? Im afraid I dont share the same self congratulatory, imperious smugness that's arisen because some poor bugger made the mistake of wondering into the shark tank. :-)