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Let's pad everything!

Old 07-14-18, 10:00 PM
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Let's pad everything!

In the spirit of some of the recent suggestions for how to make the extremely low cycling death rate even smaller, I propose that instead of spending money forcing people to bike or licensing cyclists, why don't we cover all cars, buildings, curbs, trees and buidings with thick padding?

There is no way to guarantee that drivers will ever be perfect, but we can certainly make the world perfectly safe to crash in. Who cares if someone runs over you if the tires are large and fluffy enough to roll right over you like a velvet fog?

Let's not stop until Congress makes this entire nation of ours one big bouncy house for the safety of bicyclists!
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Old 07-14-18, 10:10 PM
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Vastly more people die in driving collisions... so your proposal will likely save vastly more motorists. BTW, ever notice all new vehicles have mandated airbags.
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Old 07-14-18, 10:28 PM
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Originally Posted by genec
Vastly more people die in driving collisions... so your proposal will likely save vastly more motorists. BTW, ever notice all new vehicles have mandated airbags.
I have. So you must think covering every hard surface in airbags is reasonable.

Let's get out the vote!
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Old 07-14-18, 10:32 PM
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Originally Posted by Kontact
I have. So you must think covering every hard surface in airbags is reasonable.

Let's get out the vote!
Proposals to put airbags on the outside of motor vehicles HAVE been made.
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Old 07-14-18, 10:35 PM
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Originally Posted by genec
Proposals to put airbags on the outside of motor vehicles HAVE been made.
That won't save cyclists, will it?

The curbs, streets and buildings are going to need those airbags, too.

Or maybe all cyclists should have to ride in airbag suits by law. Can you get behind that?
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Old 07-14-18, 10:55 PM
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Originally Posted by Kontact
That won't save cyclists, will it?

The curbs, streets and buildings are going to need those airbags, too.

Or maybe all cyclists should have to ride in airbag suits by law. Can you get behind that?
It could if the airbag deploys pre-collision,

Reduce the acceleration when a pedestrian or cyclist hits the bumper or hood.

Of course, if one can reliably predict a collision, then one should use the collision avoidance system instead, which is coming to a car near you very soon.
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Old 07-14-18, 10:58 PM
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Originally Posted by CliffordK
It could if the airbag deploys pre-collision,

Reduce the acceleration when a pedestrian or cyclist hits the bumper or hood.

Of course, if one can reliably predict a collision, then one should use the collision avoidance system instead, which is coming to a car near you very soon.
The expanding airbag would just launch the cyclist toward some other hard object.

All must be tender and soft!
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Old 07-15-18, 06:50 AM
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An idea that came and went thankfully.
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Old 07-16-18, 09:04 PM
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You laugh, we already have padding on scaffolding here, at pavement level. No doubt it'll be on lamp posts before the decade is out..
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Old 07-16-18, 09:26 PM
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A lot of people already wear helmets and cycling gloves. All you really need extra are knee pads, elbow pads and shoulder pads. BMXers already wear shoulder pads and full head helmets.

So all that stuff is already available. No real need to reinvent the wheel.

But you really don't need them if motorists would only driver better like they do in Denmark, the Netherlands and Japan where cyclists don't need to wear helmets.
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Old 07-16-18, 11:18 PM
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Originally Posted by Daniel4
A lot of people already wear helmets and cycling gloves. All you really need extra are knee pads, elbow pads and shoulder pads. BMXers already wear shoulder pads and full head helmets.

So all that stuff is already available. No real need to reinvent the wheel.

But you really don't need them if motorists would only driver better like they do in Denmark, the Netherlands and Japan where cyclists don't need to wear helmets.
Knee pads and helmets don't stop the sort of internal trauma people die of when they hit something hard at over 30 mph.


The cyclist death rate in the Netherlands is 1 death for every 82,534 people. In the US it is 1 death in 400,000. That means Dutch cycling death rates are 5 times higher than the US.

So what are you talking about?
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Old 07-17-18, 02:49 AM
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Originally Posted by genec
Vastly more people die in driving collisions... so your proposal will likely save vastly more motorists. BTW, ever notice all new vehicles have mandated airbags.
No jokes about the occupants, PLEASE.
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Old 07-17-18, 02:51 AM
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Originally Posted by Kontact
Knee pads and helmets don't stop the sort of internal trauma people die of when they hit something hard at over 30 mph.


The cyclist death rate in the Netherlands is 1 death for every 82,534 people. In the US it is 1 death in 400,000. That means Dutch cycling death rates are 5 times higher than the US.

So what are you talking about?
Nope, it's about the same. The Netherlands is a teeny, tiny bunch of islands and such held together with landfills and dikes. The US is a huge country about there on a globe.
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Old 07-17-18, 06:19 AM
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Originally Posted by Kontact
Knee pads and helmets don't stop the sort of internal trauma people die of when they hit something hard at over 30 mph.


The cyclist death rate in the Netherlands is 1 death for every 82,534 people. In the US it is 1 death in 400,000. That means Dutch cycling death rates are 5 times higher than the US.

So what are you talking about?
What is the cycling rate? How many more Dutch people per capita are cycling around vrs folks in the US?
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Old 07-17-18, 06:37 AM
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Vulnerable Road User Protection

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Old 07-17-18, 07:09 AM
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Originally Posted by Rollfast
Nope, it's about the same. The Netherlands is a teeny, tiny bunch of islands and such held together with landfills and dikes. The US is a huge country about there on a globe.
European Netherlands is not a teeny, tiny bunch of islands.

European Netherlands is larger than Florida, has the same average elevation, and has a higher peak elevation. (Vaalserberg ~300 m versus Briton Hill ~100 m.)

The biggest difference is that European Netherlands is flood tolerant and well prepared to weather storms. Florida not so much.
Oh, and many many people ride bicycles in European Netherlands. Apparently only a few savvy people ride bikes in Florida.

On the other hand, the Kingdom of the Netherlands does include a "teeny, tiny bunch (if you mean several) of islands." But if what you mean by "bunch" is "a grouping," then no. They aren't that close together. And the islands are not held together with landfills and dikes.

Finally, Russia is huge.

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Old 07-17-18, 07:36 AM
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Why pad everything when we could just wrap ourselves in bubble wrap?

BTW, what do they ship styrofoam in?
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Old 07-17-18, 08:11 AM
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Originally Posted by Kontact
There is no way to guarantee that drivers will ever be perfect, but we can certainly make the world perfectly safe to crash in.
I just saw this thread, and the above idea taken without the emotional baggage in the rest of the post is a reasonable line of thought. Read Ralph Nader's old book, Unsafe at Any Speed. Much of his discussion in that book was around making automobiles safer to crash in, and even safer to be hit by. For example, Nader advocated removing design elements that were especially hazardous to pedestrians in collisions. Similarly, we see efforts in highway design to cushion bridge abutments with collapsible orange barrels. There is even a rail trail trail in the nearby city of Marquette that has padding on the sides where the trail crosses an old rail bridge, with the padding serving to protect cyclists who might otherwise stray into the metal structure. (Makes more sense once you see the bridge in person). Designing with safety and injury mitigation in mind is not a bad thing.
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Old 07-17-18, 09:10 AM
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Originally Posted by genec
Vastly more people die in driving collisions... so your proposal will likely save vastly more motorists. BTW, ever notice all new vehicles have mandated airbags.
Airbags that for decades have been made by just one company which was therefore never incentivised to correct a significant flaw in their design. Every year those defective airbags kill more drivers and passengers than any amount of cyclists that are killed that year.
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Old 07-17-18, 09:36 AM
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Originally Posted by Leisesturm
Every year those defective airbags kill more drivers and passengers than any amount of cyclists that are killed that year.
????

The peak first gen air bag related fatalities was 53 in 1997.

23 people were killed by defective Takata airbags - worldwide all time.

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Old 07-17-18, 09:39 AM
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My wife keeps telling me I'm too skinny. Now she has a public safety argument. Thanks.
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Old 07-17-18, 09:47 AM
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I can't post url's, yet, but copy and paste this to see a real body air bag for cyclists in action:

youtube.com/watch?v=U1rz1ypxFPM
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Old 07-17-18, 09:56 AM
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Originally Posted by Milton Keynes
Why pad everything when we could just wrap ourselves in bubble wrap?

BTW, what do they ship styrofoam in?
Check this out to see that wrapping one's self in bubble wrap isn't as ridiculous as some people think. youtube.com/watch?v=U1rz1ypxFPM

Peanuts and other small "chunk" style styrofoam packaging is shipped in bags. Sheets and blocks are shipped in cardboard cartons.

The last shipment of styrofoam I received was wrapped around a new 4K monitor. News flash: electronic devices do not protect styrofoam.
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Old 07-17-18, 10:21 AM
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Originally Posted by Milton Keynes
BTW, what do they ship styrofoam in?
Why don't they make the entire plane out of the same material the black boxes are made from?

What makes Teflon stick to the pan?

Inquiring minds want to know.
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Old 07-17-18, 11:01 AM
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Originally Posted by mr_bill
????

The peak first gen air bag related fatalities was 53 in 1997.

23 people were killed by defective Takata airbags - worldwide all time.

-mr. bill
In the heat of battle I mis-spoke. Sue me. You can't kill my point however. Only blunt it. There are millions of the things deployed (the other meaning of the word). Give it time.
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