[*BCM*] grim scenes saturday... any news?

[Anne Wolfe]

Helmets, like seat belts, are not designed to prevent accidents.  They are
designed so that when accidents happen, and they do (people bump into each
other just walking) risks are minimized.  Not eliminated, minimized.  To
what degree will depend on many factors.  But basic physics combined with
basic biology says that a helmet will prevent more damage from happening
when there is an accident than it will cause, and will prevent more damage
than not wearing a helmet.

Balancing risk is always an art, but generally if I slip and fall down I'm
not likely to do it with a force that will break my skull or spread my
brains on the pavement.  People with balance or movement problems who do
fall down repeatedly are known to wear helmets, and sturdier ones than bike
helmets (designed for one use, really), and they're not doing it to look
good.  But combine falling down with the momentum of travelling on a bike
and the kinetic energy of a car, and a helmet is a cheap (yes, cheap,
particularly when compared with the cost of a bike) way of minimizing a lot
of risk.  There was even an old slogan years ago, which I can't remember
exactly, but from before helmets were more of a standard than they are now,
where Bell suggested that you use a "$20 helmet to protect your million
dollar head."

I cannot think of one single thing that isn't occasionally dangerous, even
when used as directed or acting normally.  That doesn't make things like
earthworms, banana peels, the morning newspaper or your living room
furniture likely to kill you.  But just because it could, if you accept
Turtle's argument, then you should never leave the house and you shouldn't
have anything in the house.  Except that the house could collapse and kill
you.  Hey, it happens.

And yes, Turtle's never fallen on her head.  That 90 year old grandma that
everyone seems to have that never died of smoking will tell you smoking is
good for you - all that coughing clears the lungs.  But the numbers will
disprove that, and the numbers will prove that helmets are better than not,
particularly in a collision.  In the Netherlands, there are set bike lanes,
many of those bike lanes are off road, even in major cities like Amsterdam,
lights are mandatory (and generated automatically through a little spin
wheel against the front tyre, so not the battery issues), and it is flatter
than a flat pancake, giving great visibility.  That's a big reason why the
Dutch don't wear helmets - collisions between cars and bikes are far rarer
than in the US and particularly in Boston as they're not sharing the road in
the same way.  But when there are the collisions, the Dutch without helmets
die at the same rate as those without helmets anywhere else.

2009/8/2 Alek Shapiro <alshapiro at clarku.edu>

> Yes, flying over handlebars at 20 mph and landing on an unhelmeted skull is
> always a safe event.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Spike Mccue" <spikemccue at gmail.com>
> To: "Boston Critical Mass" <list at bostoncriticalmass.org>
> Cc: "Boston Critical Mass" <list at bostoncriticalmass.org>
> Sent: Sunday, August 02, 2009 2:33 PM
> Subject: Re: [*BCM*] grim scenes saturday... any news?
>
>
> > There is never a point when you're on a bike that you don't need a
> > helmet no matter the traffic. Saying otherwise is absurd.
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
> > On Aug 2, 2009, at 1:52 PM, Turtle <turtle at thewiseturtle.com> wrote:
> >
> >> And I hope that you wish, as I do, that the real causes of crashes is
> >> paid attention to, so that in the future we might be able to prevent
> >> it from happening again, because for all we know a helmet might
> >> actually cause a crash (again limited visibility, improper wearing,
> >> more weight on the head, etc.).  My goal is for no one to feel they
> >> need a helmet, like is the case in the Netherlands, safe, biking
> >> capital of the world.
> >>
> >> Peace, Love, and Bicycles,
> >> Turil
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >
>
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-- 
Anne M. Wolfe, LL.M.
Mobile: ( 07805) 456901

Be well, do good work, and keep in touch. - Garrison Keillor
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