Jaysus cycling! (7 Viewers)

[rettucs]

Is there a study where they show that drivers are more likely to drive closer to you if you have lights on your bike? Seriously though, the amount of ninja cyclists that come out of nowhere when I'm driving is unbelievable. Especially in this leafy suburb on the edge of the city, some of the roads don't have much in the way of street lighting.

I've heard that about helmets, not about lights. And I've never been willing to enter the great helmet debate. If people don't want to wear them thats their own business, but I won't have anyone telling me I'm somehow in the wrong because I choose to wear one.

But whether you wear a helmet or not, cycling in the dark without lights is something I would never do.

I drove into town on saturday night past and there were a lot of cyclists coming the other way. I'd say 4 out of 5 had no lights.

 

[Space]

By that reasoning, I should be wearing elbow and knee pads too. And a gum shield. And shoulder protectors.
I've fucked all those up over the years.
Chipped elbows, gashed knees, fucked up teeth, plate in my shoulder.
I always thought helmets were for brain injuries and the like.

Do you wear one?

I don't wear one in the city but do wear one off road and I never said you should wear one either. Just a comment on your previous post that you've never needed a helmet then said you got eight stitches in your head in a bike related incident, surely the helmet would have prevented this? Fairly straight forward logic there.

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

This worked out quite nicely yesterday

Gonna get a proper holder though

 

[Space]

Just don't burn your head in the dark with it.

 

[Cornu Ammonis]

I've heard that about helmets, not about lights.

Yeah, I know, I was being facetious. Also, the whole "drivers drive 2.4 cm closer to cyclists wearing a helmet" is just a surrogate measure of the hard study that needs to be done: take all A&E intakes and do a standardised questionnaire that looks at severity of injuries, amount of protection worn and whatever other factors are pertinant to the question. Has driving closer to cyclists wearing helmets actually affected the number of collisions? If so, there should be a statistically significant increase in collisions with helmetted cyclists compared to non-helmetted.

Most of these quoted studies are not science, they are poorly designed surveys at best.

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

People fucking yell at me to get a helmet.

Coworkers. Like they have an opinion that matters.

Fucking nutters.

 

[magicbastarder]

i'd have probably broken my nose in an accident a few years back if it hadn't been for wearing a helmet, so i wear one.
a chap i know was coming downhill (on the road) in wicklow a month or so back and a sheep ran out in front of him. his helmet ended up in about seven pieces and he has probable permanent facial scarring. i suspect wearing the helmet was a wise choice.

 

[Unicron]

Are there any stats, anecdotal or otherwise about sheep running closer to you if you're wearing a helmet?

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

Are there any stats, anecdotal or otherwise about sheep running closer to you if you're wearing a helmet?

100% likelihood of a shattered helmet

 

[rettucs]

i'd have probably broken my nose in an accident a few years back if it hadn't been for wearing a helmet, so i wear one.

I've said it elsewhere in this thread but I'm pretty sure I'd be dead, or at best, badly brain damaged.

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

I think our skulls are tougher than we might be giving them credit for.

 

[IFF]

I've said it elsewhere in this thread but I'm pretty sure I'd be dead, or at best, badly brain damaged.

yes, i think the same with me.

----
i was out cycling on friday morning and when coming down a hill in a town, at a t-junction in the middle of the hill, a car pulled out very slowly right in front of me with all the momentum i was carrying. i would say if i pulled the breaks, i'd have came off. thankfully i had space to the left of the car to go by it but really it is one of those moments.

I think our skulls are tougher than we might be giving them credit for.

i'm sure you are right, but i don't want to test the theory. i only have one

 

[rettucs]

I think our skulls are tougher than we might be giving them credit for.

maybe but I cracked the back of my head pretty hard. Hard enough for me not to be able to see for about 5 minutes afterwards. Smashed the helmet too. I can't see how that could have had anything but a bad ending without the helmet.

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

i'm sure you are right, but i don't want to test the theory. i only have one

Pearse St's finest tested it for me.

 

[Unicron]

Plus, not cracking your skull doesn't mean that brain damage isn't a risk

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

How many people were dying of brain injuries from cycling when we didn't have helmets?

Now we have bike lanes and everything. It's never been safer.

Again, each to their own, but by this rationale everyone that drives a car should wear one. Those fuckers are always crashing into each other.

 

[pete]

i nearly crashed the car last night because of two cyclists coming the other way down the road with those stupid tiny fastblinkylights on the front of their bikes. i couldn't see the bikes or the riders in the dark, just two blinky lights chasing each other. i got distracted for a couple of seconds trying to figure out what i was seeing and didn't notice the car in front of me had stopped.... so yeah anyway you should either use proper lights or use none at all because it's safer for me.

 

[rettucs]

How many people were dying of brain injuries from cycling when we didn't have helmets?

Now we have bike lanes and everything. It's never been safer.

Again, each to their own, but by this rationale everyone that drives a car should wear one. Those fuckers are always crashing into each other.

theres more cars on the road than ever before too. And people are angrier than they ever were, probably because there are more cars than ever before.

 

[7 - No tomorrow]

theres more cars on the road than ever before too. And people are angrier than they ever were, probably because there are more cars than ever before.

Driving is a fundamentally frustrating experience.

I've even cancelled my Zipcar membership.

It'd drive you bonkers.

 

[magicbastarder]

I think our skulls are tougher than we might be giving them credit for.

i suspect this comment might be proof that you're wrong.
it's not about how strong your skull is.