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The lack of bad anecdotes on that page combined with the fact 13k people daily ride their bike on campus would only serve to make me not feel like wearing a hel

The lack of bad anecdotes on that page combined with the fact 13k people daily ride their bike on campus would only serve to make me not feel like wearing a helmet there... Yes that first story is unfortunate but I'd bet she just wasn't that great on a bike

cratermoon 5y ago
> I'd bet she just wasn't that great on a bike Literally blaming the victim. Not a good look.
- isbvhodnvemrwvn 5y ago
  Kali Lindsay? Victim of what? Either way it was her actions that led her to getting brain injuries.
  - cratermoon 5y ago
    > it was her actions Actions within a system in which better choices were not available. There's no reason to lay the blame at the feet of the victim in that system.
    - isbvhodnvemrwvn 5y ago
      How was wearing a helmet not available?
      - cratermoon 5y ago
        Wearing a helmet is one of the choices out of the ones possible within the constraints of the system. By "better choices" I mean ones that would require questioning the limits in which the existing choices can be made.
- pessimizer 5y ago
  This is a discussion about helmet-wearing, which is voluntary. The entire discussion is about whether a victim deserves blame. Don't retreat into easy clichés.
  - cratermoon 5y ago
    "Voluntary" doesn't count for much within in a system in which the individual is held responsible for choices constrained by that system. Absolving literally everything except one person is blaming the victim.
- weird-eye-issue 5y ago
  Likely it was her fault - are we not allowed to be realistic and say that anymore? Also, she wasn't wearing a helmet so isn't that her fault as well? It's not like somebody attacked her and I'm blaming her. She fell off her bike without a helmet on. It's a different situation
AlbertCory 5y ago
Last sentence: really bad look for you there. Even if you're right, that "just wasn't that great" person could run into you, ace bicyclist that you are. Whenever I talk to private pilots and mention people I know who've gotten killed flying a plane, they invariably say "I've looked at all those accidents and I'm confident I wouldn't have made that mistake." Right. It's other people who have those accidents.
- weird-eye-issue 5y ago
  A couple weeks ago I was on a motorcycle for the first time on a small island in Thailand. I was going slowly and had no incidents. On the way, two girls on a motorcycle passed me the other direction going way too fast (and they were positively beaming - I was thinking "they are having a little too much fun") A few minutes later we turned back and happened across them shortly after they fell off their bike going around a turn with nobody else around. There is a reason they had an accident that day and not me. Yes of course things happen all the time that are out of our control but... Not always, especially when it comes to falling off your bike when nobody else is around. Another story... I know somebody who got in a bike accident near a college campus somewhat recently. They never maintained their bike and their front tire had basically come apart while they were riding it. That was also their fault. I know these are anecdotes but so is that story that prompted this discussion. In life it's important to focus on what you can control because those are the things most likely to impact you on any given day. Flying a small plane is a totally different topic... There are several orders of magnitude more factors outside your control than riding a bike through a college campus

cratermoon 5y ago

> I'd bet she just wasn't that great on a bike Literally blaming the victim. Not a good look.

isbvhodnvemrwvn 5y ago
Kali Lindsay? Victim of what? Either way it was her actions that led her to getting brain injuries.
- cratermoon 5y ago
  > it was her actions Actions within a system in which better choices were not available. There's no reason to lay the blame at the feet of the victim in that system.
  - isbvhodnvemrwvn 5y ago
    How was wearing a helmet not available?
    - cratermoon 5y ago
      Wearing a helmet is one of the choices out of the ones possible within the constraints of the system. By "better choices" I mean ones that would require questioning the limits in which the existing choices can be made.
pessimizer 5y ago
This is a discussion about helmet-wearing, which is voluntary. The entire discussion is about whether a victim deserves blame. Don't retreat into easy clichés.
- cratermoon 5y ago
  "Voluntary" doesn't count for much within in a system in which the individual is held responsible for choices constrained by that system. Absolving literally everything except one person is blaming the victim.
weird-eye-issue 5y ago
Likely it was her fault - are we not allowed to be realistic and say that anymore? Also, she wasn't wearing a helmet so isn't that her fault as well? It's not like somebody attacked her and I'm blaming her. She fell off her bike without a helmet on. It's a different situation

AlbertCory 5y ago

Last sentence: really bad look for you there. Even if you're right, that "just wasn't that great" person could run into you, ace bicyclist that you are. Whenever I talk to private pilots and mention people I know who've gotten killed flying a plane, they invariably say "I've looked at all those accidents and I'm confident I wouldn't have made that mistake." Right. It's other people who have those accidents.

weird-eye-issue 5y ago
A couple weeks ago I was on a motorcycle for the first time on a small island in Thailand. I was going slowly and had no incidents. On the way, two girls on a motorcycle passed me the other direction going way too fast (and they were positively beaming - I was thinking "they are having a little too much fun") A few minutes later we turned back and happened across them shortly after they fell off their bike going around a turn with nobody else around. There is a reason they had an accident that day and not me. Yes of course things happen all the time that are out of our control but... Not always, especially when it comes to falling off your bike when nobody else is around. Another story... I know somebody who got in a bike accident near a college campus somewhat recently. They never maintained their bike and their front tire had basically come apart while they were riding it. That was also their fault. I know these are anecdotes but so is that story that prompted this discussion. In life it's important to focus on what you can control because those are the things most likely to impact you on any given day. Flying a small plane is a totally different topic... There are several orders of magnitude more factors outside your control than riding a bike through a college campus