Originally Posted by
Tiglath
The anti-helmet crowd...
There is no anti-helmet crowd. There is a bare-head-brigade around here, however, who are more an anti-helmeteer-fear-based-prosletyzing-more-with-scare-tactic-hyperbole-than-actual-facts crowd. They tend to be vocal when someone starts posting typical helmeteer nonsense.
To wit:
Originally Posted by
Tiglath
It is incredible for ANYONE to judge that riding a bicycle surrounded by cars with a terrifying speed differential, is not a risky activity. It defies belief.
...you are into Russian roulette territory.
...in most cities cyclists remain mice in an elephant stampede.
Originally Posted by
Tiglath
You might feel that bicycles are remarkably stable, but the typical biker is a precariously balanced, moving top-heavy object par excellence. All is well as long as no one touches your wheels and a myriad other things we take for granted, but let is not confuse the fact that riding a bike is not a difficult skill with the fact that bikes are stable objects.
One thing I admire scientists for is that they often couch their statements in cautionary language to reflect the fact that they practice educated uncertainty as opposed to ignorant certainty. Even when a fact is firmly established you see scientists using phrases like, "the data seems to suggest..." Not just "seems" or just "suggest" but double the uncertainty. And here we have a poster that on the patently dubious question of how things would turn out were he to fall off his bike and hit his head (god forbid) his uses 'rare' as the probability that he would be injured seriously. Such faith.
Bicycles are remarkably stable. Considering how I have stayed upright in some situations encountered on the road, I stick by that statement. If people are touching your wheels while in motion on a regular basis, you are doing it wrong. A bike in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. Outside forces acting in an untoward manner while riding a bicycle is indeed a rare, or at least non-common event. Again, if this is not the case for you, perhaps you should reconsider your riding style--millions of people worldwide ride bicycles without crashing every day. If you'd care to back up with figures your statement that cycling crashes resulting in serious head injury are other than rare, I'm all ears.