Minor complaints thread (17 Viewers)

[Cormcolash]

Friend of mine got hit and run cycling on the quays a few years ago and got a really bad head injury from it that took months to get over. They would have got away with hardly a scratch if they'd been wearing a helmet, and they don't cycle without one now.

 

[ann post]

Friend of mine got hit and run cycling on the quays a few years ago and got a really bad head injury from it that took months to get over. They would have got away with hardly a scratch if they'd been wearing a helmet, and they don't cycle without one now.

See there is the rub. Do i disagree that the helmet would have helped? Maybe - there are studies that drivers are more cautious around cyclists without helmets. they are not extensive studies, but there aren't really any extensive studies around that field in general and variables are hard to map.

What is more worthy of action there is the concept of a the hit and run.

Factors involved before the helmet becomes relevant:

Driver speed
Driver Road Position
Culture of accountability/non accountability (see the endless 'hit by a car' articles that give cars some anthropomorphic value and that it wasn't a person badly operating a 1.5 ton machine)
Attitude to city driving
Lack of safe segregation
Mobile phone usage in cars
Lack of policing

So while the anecdote of one person could seemingly justify a mass enforcement of helmets it is actually and extension of the so-called 'concerned motorist' trope of saying bikes are dangerous because they don't have helmets grafted onto their heads when the realistic view is that the primary danger in non-competitive cycling is the private car being used badly and probably in breach of the driving licence contract.

Anecdotal as well but I've cycled in spain, germany, austria and the netherlands so far and the main thing i've learned is the irish driving attitude is very very aggressive. So by all means wear a helmet as a personal preference but when it comes to enforcement the helmet debacle is a misdirection from the source of the danger and where enforcement is needed. There are more than just helmeted/helmetless cyclists being hit by tragedy all the time here.

 

[hugh]

Individual anecdotal evidence too but I was walking down James Street a year or two ago and a woman in front of me got her wheel stuck in the Luas track, came off the bike, and smacked her head off the ground. She was wearing a helmet but if she hadn't been it seems obvious she could have been seriously injured. No careless or asshole drivers there ... just bad luck.

I certainly wouldn't be in favour of enforcing helmet usage (and any car driver suggesting that can piss off) but it baffles me when some cyclists insist that wearing them does not make you safer. It just seems like a .... eh .... no brainer to me. I actually feel really uncomfortable now if I get on a bike without one (like driving without a seatbelt). I do know it won't save me if something really bad happens though.

 

[ann post]

Individual anecdotal evidence too but I was walking down James Street a year or two ago and a woman in front of me got her wheel stuck in the Luas track, came off the bike, and smacked her head off the ground.

Again, the infrastructure was built to accommodate cars, but bike integrations were overruled as an expensive afterthought rather than a ground up integration.

NTA declined to put rubber in Luas tracks

Rubber inserts could prevent bicycles getting caught in track grooves

www.irishtimes.com

 

[hugh]

Sure. The cycling infrastructure is awful. Which makes it potentially dangerous to just cycle down the road in a lot of cases. Which is why I'm baffled as to why people would decide not to wear helmets. Surely all the more reason to do so. We shouldn't have to do this... I do get that. But given the circumstances in which we find ourselves I'd prefer to lessen my chances of getting a head injury.

Having said that... I haven't come off my bike since I was a teenager. Now frantically touching wood....

 

[Cormcolash]

Bear in mind that I'd be well up for banning most private vehicles in cities

 

[therealjohnny]

I've got a cold, and Lemsip is still awful

 

[GARYXKNIFEDX]

I've got a cold, and Lemsip is still awful

They come in capsule form these days you know.

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

I like Lemsip

 

[therealjohnny]

They come in capsule form these days you know.

I went to buy a packet of paracetamol tablets and a packet of lemsip (sachets). The girl at the till wasn't allowed to sell me both. I opted for the sachets because I'm an idiot conditioned by a lifetime of habit.

 

[ann post]

Which is why I'm baffled as to why people would decide not to wear helmets. Surely all the more reason to do so.

As always, because drivers...

https://psyarxiv.com/nxw2k

Like I've seen your argument 100 times on cycling twitter. To actually have a significant reduction in head injuries on the roads drivers should wear helmets, and outside of the roads, people should wear helmets in the shower too. I don't outwardly disagree with you, My original minor complaint was that driver twitter had jumped on the helmet conversation as usual when addressing all the other factors, which may essentially be their own attitude and behavior might actually be effective. More cyber hot air essentially.

I'd nearly upgrade it to a major complaint as the insurance companies are aggressively pushing into trying to setup a market for cycling in Ireland now, and that will essentially lead to mandatory helmets, body armour, no kids doing anything without hivis where I'm old enough to remember cycling to school on a road i'd barely touch as an adult now age 9 with my mate and not a care in the world. Cars are twice as big and twice as fast and looked on largely as some sort of birthright.

I'm not trying to drag you into it or anything more a case that I think the mantra should always be at this juncture* to address the driving first and then see if the cycling needs work.

*the dying planet juncture

 

[Lili Marlene]

An old boss, American, visiting Ireland for work, once laughed in my face when she saw me in a high-vis vest. Honestly i'm not sure she'd ever seen a bicycle before either.

 

[pete]

An old boss, American, visiting Ireland for work, once laughed in my face when she saw me in a high-vis vest. Honestly i'm not sure she'd ever seen a bicycle before either.

at least it worked

 

[Cornu Ammonis]

I've got a cold, and Lemsip is still awful

I make my own hot lemon drink with an actual lemon, honey and a couple of slices of ginger. Mint too if I can be bothered to go into the garden. I take the paracetamol separately. Lemsip is horrible.

 

[Cormcolash]

I make my own hot lemon drink with an actual lemon, honey and a couple of slices of ginger. Mint too if I can be bothered to go into the garden. I take the paracetamol separately. Lemsip is horrible.

Yeah, real easy to make and making it fresh rules. A tiny bit of chilli can be good in it too.

 

[therealjohnny]

I've got a cold, and Lemsip is still awful

I don't think this is a cold. Probably cat scratch fever or something

 

[therealjohnny]

cat scratch fever

 

[Kermit McDermott]

Cue the Ted Dogshit videos....

 

[ernesto]

Those annoying Halloween bat animations

 

[David Kronenbourg]

Those annoying Halloween bat animations

Booo