closetbiker

I had a friend at work who was wanting to ride his bike into work and asked me for some advice.

He had a limited amount of money to spend and wanted to prioritize his purchases. He said a helmet was the first purchase, lights his second priority. When I mentioned maybe lights were a better choice for the initial purchase, he scoffed at the advice and went ahead and bought his helmet.

He did buy a light next, but it was only one and it was a rear blinky. Even after I explained he had a rear reflector and most potential collisions will come from in front and not from the rear so maybe a front light would be better, he discounted that advice too.

He did learn about riding on the wrong side of the road. After I told him the problems with it, he did it anyway and came to me soon after telling me about a motorist that almost hit him in the exact way I described how it could happen.

Not long after he bought his helmet the clip that holds the chin strap broke. He ended up tying his chin strap in a knot to keep his helmet on.

What's my point? The average Joe thinks a helmet is the top priority in safety. The other stuff doesn't matter nearly as much. I think that's not very good.