New helmet law in Jersey

[srw]

did anybody happen to see the cycle show on the tv ( i think it was 2 weeks ago ) James Cracknell was on discussing his career & the accident that he was involved in a few years back in America when he was hit by a truck, he sustained head injuries but is on record saying that he owes his life to the helmet he was wearing on the day & that if he had not been wearing the helmet he would have been killed in the accident..

James Cracknell is not a pathologist. He is a TV presenter, journalist and wannabe politician. A pathologist is the only person qualified to say whether any form of protective equipment would definitively have saved someone's life.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I wonder whether it's possible to link driving style to forum use. Just wondering because I sense a head on collision coming on....

 

[srw]

But i doubt that will ever happen. What's more likely is they'll present a 'cycle safety bill' which includes a range of measures including helmet compulsion for all cyclists. Then by way of compromise, they'll put an age limit on helmet compulsion so only the kids have to wear one... and it'll probably get through since they met the anti-compulsionists half way. No parent would ever be fined or charged for letting their kids play on a bike without a helmet, unless they're hit by a car... then they'll be named and shamed for putting a child at risk, with lots of emotive images of an injured child that are more puke inducing than Pudsey feckin Bear.

I've said this before and I'll say it again. I think the chances of this happening in the UK in the near future (10 - 15 years) are tiny. The norm in London, and particularly in and around Westminster, is to ride without a helmet. A very large chunk of the cyclists that politicians see are tourists or commuters in suits. For politicians, the "live" mental image of a cyclist is increasingly someone in ordinary clothes. Neither this government, if (heaven help us) re-elected, nor the next one of a different colour is likely to bother wasting time on something that would visibly and expensively affect tourism in London.

 

[srw]

You forgot to add that he's also something of a hypocrite, given that he's known for riding without a helmet whilst preaching to others....

I prefer to argue on facts rather than value judgements about personality...

It will be interesting to review the statistics in a few years time. They have got statistics, haven't they?

 

[Dan B]

I wouldn't say 'faith based' more common sense that something between my head and whats hitting it will absorb some of the force coming my way

I have shoulders for that. They've worked pretty well so far, except when I've made my head 3 inches bigger by encasing it in polystyrene

 

[Mugshot]

did anybody happen to see the cycle show on the tv ( i think it was 2 weeks ago ) James Cracknell was on discussing his career & the accident that he was involved in a few years back in America when he was hit by a truck, he sustained head injuries but is on record saying that he owes his life to the helmet he was wearing on the day & that if he had not been wearing the helmet he would have been killed in the accident.

watching that & seeing the damage the helmet received i find it hard to believe that he would have survived the accident had he not decided to wear one, he & the doctors believe that a helmet saved his life, that's evidence enough to persuade me to keep wearing mine if i had even been thinking of leaving it at home.

What I don't really understand about the Cracknell example is the fact that it is never mentioned that prior to the incident with the truck he had been, at various stages, running/jogging/yomping in a rather similar position in the road to the one he was in when he was struck whilst on his bike. Surely if you occupy the same space whether on foot or on a bike you stand the same chance of getting hit? Either he should have been wearing a helmet whilst on foot as the risks were the same or not whilst on the bike, as the risks were the same.

 

[Big Nick]

I have shoulders for that. They've worked pretty well so far, except when I've made my head 3 inches bigger by encasing it in polystyrene

Shoulders on top of your head? Join the circus

 

[Big Nick]

Where? Please quote the post and explain where and how TMN argued that a point of view should be outlawed.

Do try and keep up

 

[glasgowcyclist]

[QUOTE 3201385, member: 30090"][/QUOTE]

@beano, there's no text from you in your reply, could you try again please?

GC

 

[Profpointy]

Does anybody actually believe that helmets are fashionable...???????? That's news to me. The wearers look like utter prats, including myself.

30 years ago hardly anyone wore cycle helmets ergo unfashionable. In my city (Bristol) I'd say it was very much the fashion to wear one. Ironically I am still in the unfashionable camp

 

[summerdays]

30 years ago hardly anyone wore cycle helmets ergo unfashionable. In my city (Bristol) I'd say it was very much the fashion to wear one. Ironically I am still in the unfashionable camp

I think it is the commuters who wear one morning and night and that in between you see a lot more of the bare headed varieties of cyclists.

 

[summerdays]

Thinking back to Jersey, what information have they gathered before bringing in this legislation that will allow the monitoring of the after effects? And what figures would either camp claim as a victory for their side (baring in mind how you can manipulate statistics to show what you want to see).

 

[glasgowcyclist]

...he & the doctors believe that a helmet saved his life, that's evidence enough to persuade me to keep wearing mine ...

If it were true, it would be a massive advertising opportunity for increasing sales of that model helmet at £130 a pop (and helmets in general).

Why do you think that a helmet manufacturer whose product was claimed to be directly responsible for saving the life of a world-famous sportsman would not trumpet this achievement?

GC

 

[Big Nick]

If it were true, it would be a massive advertising opportunity for increasing sales of that model helmet at £130 a pop (and helmets in general).

Why do you think that a helmet manufacturer whose product was claimed to be directly responsible for saving the life of a world-famous sportsman would not trumpet this achievement?

GC

Probably because whilst it saved his life he was still brain damaged......it's not exactly a marketing success I would suggest !!!!!

 

[MontyVeda]

...
i can not understand why there are people on a cycling forum getting there cycling shorts in a twist because a government wants to make it compulsory for children to wear cycling helmets while riding in the the hope it helps protect children from head injuries if they happen to be knocked off their bikes.

....

Why not address the problem's cause? That being the thing that's likely to knock children off their bikes. Promoting cycle helmets to improve road safety is a bit like promoting bullet proof vests to combat gun crime... it misses that mark by a long chalk.