LexRides

[ihearthuckabees]

Just saw this online (linked to Fark.com which is based out of Lexington), and thought I would bring it to attention:

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Wearing+bike+helmet+might+make+safer/3239860/story.html

[brokebike]

If the point of that article is to argue against mandatory helmet laws, then I would agree that helmet use should be up to the individual, and not mandated by the State.

However, if the point of the article is to convince people that bike helmets are useless overkill that may actually harm you more than protect you, I call a big BULLSHIT on that. If you read the article, the author mentions studies in various locations in Canada, like Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and also Western Australia. Yeah, if I lived in bucolic, remote areas of the world such as those, I'd probably eschew the helmet myself just because I'd likely not be experiencing heavy traffic and lots of inattentive drivers in those parts of the world.

This seems equivalent to those types of people who swear that they'll never wear their seatbelts in their car because they are worried that the seatbelt will actually trap them in their car and they'll get crushed inside, instead of being "ejected" to safety... yeah, right.
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[elzie5000]

There have also been studies suggesting that riders wearing helmets get in more accidents because drivers expect them to hold their line better than non-helmeted riders, and therefore give them less space when passing.

People should still opt to wear helmets, even though I don't.

[brokebike]

I like how the author states, "there are flaws in this line of reasoning and assumptions that are not backed up by evidence."

yet, he doesn't really provide any supporting evidence to speak of... only more flawed lines of reasoning and assumptions.
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[elzie5000]

Another story via fark, about a domestic dispute between a man and his bicycle.

http://blogs.tcpalm.com/off_the_beat_will_greenlee_blog/2010/08/drunk-man-jailed-after-arguing-with-bike-argument-winner-unclear.html