Originally Posted by
yugyug
Your insistence on equating seat belts and helmets and not thinking about their differences is why you don't understand their different effects on the perception of danger. Its important to understand that people don't rationalise their perception of danger or even consciously consider it. Affects work bodily, and its from thinking about how products, systems and experiences work on the body that larger social affects becomes understandable. This conversation is not about proving that helmets make cycling seem dangerous by society - thats the work of statistics, if anything - but rather about understanding why helmets make cycling seem dangerous.
I'm redirecting this conversation to the correct forum: "The helmet thread". It started on
http://www.bikeforums.net/advocacy-s...l#post17134313 . Clearly this is no longer addressing the OP of this thread and is just creating a new helmet thread, no one needs that. So let's continue here.
To reply to [MENTION=361609]yugyug[/MENTION] - comically, you are saying exactly what I'm saying: Why do people think that helmets make bikes
feel dangerous and seat belts do not make cars
feel dangerous? It is a perception issue. Perceptions are easily mislead. People don't think about "normal" things, like cars - we ALL drive cars, we
must drive cars, therefore society does not see cars as a danger (or just a small, necessary danger).
Funny side story, getting my teeth cleaned a couple weeks ago, the hygienist knew I biked to my appointment (bag & helmet in hand). She asked about winter biking (I'm in Minneapolis area); I told her I bike year-round. All she said "risky". Without any knowledge, her perception is that riding a bike in the winter is risky. And that right there is the issue I'm getting at: without any research or knowledge, people assume some things are dangerous and others are not. People make this assumption based on "feelings" and not facts.