Originally Posted by
TrojanHorse
How about fatalities per mile ridden?
Bingo!
Originally Posted by
TrojanHorse
I also looooooove seeing this in the article: The lack of helmet use [...] contribute to bicyclist deaths, he said
As if that tiny little piece of styrofoam is going to save you when a 3 ton car rams you
As for helmets, its true they will not sve you from a spleen busting collision with a car, but I wear one. My most serious accident was about 1980, when I had gotten on the bike to run to the 7-Eleven for
more beer. I woke in a hospital with a broken nose and a concussion. Had I been wearing a helmet at the time it might have prevented the concussion. Helmets reduce the odds of receiving traumatic brain injuries in non-fatal accidents, so I wear one.
My wife gets really concerned, but I explain to her that there are a lot of idiots out there on bikes, and I ride smart. I ride in areas wit a lot of bike infrastructure and I still see most people riding real fast on sidewalks, against traffic, crossing busy driveways; something that is damnnear suicidal.
As far as infrastructure goes, I do feel safer in bike lanes. The article mentioned that they were safer, but unfortunately, hard data on that was absent.
Originally Posted by
JimmyH
In the '70s through the '90s I never wore a helmet. That was for children learning to ride AFAIC
I see a lot of parents taking their children out, where the child is wearing a helmet (required by law in CA for cyclists under eighteen) and the parents are not. I think it sends the kids mixed signals, but I bite my tongue.