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Pretty interesting advice with lots of less obvious advice along the lines of "doing this may be less legal but safer". An additional fact like this is riding w

by gleenn 4y ago

Pretty interesting advice with lots of less obvious advice along the lines of "doing this may be less legal but safer". An additional fact like this is riding without a helmet can actually make surrounding drivers perceive you as more dangerous, end up giving you more space, and there by make you actually safer. I still always ride with a helmet but it goes with this website auite a bit: doing things that are less obvious and potentially less legal can actually reduce your chance of accidents. Another great quote from the page: wearing a helmet doesn't reduce your chance of getting hit, it just makes it better if you do get hit. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Riding safely is more important than wearing safety gear.

unsupp0rted 4y ago
You can ride without a helmet with a helmet: https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/08/12/article-2025183-0D63A3BD00000578-615_468x177.jpg https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/08/12/article-2025183-0...
jinto36 4y ago
I don't think most people in cars would think about the helmet, unless they themselves have spent much time thinking about cycling. I always can tell who the drivers are that also cycle, they try to give you much more space. I imagine trying to make yourself as visible as possible is more beneficial than not wearing a helmet.
analog31 4y ago
>>>> An additional fact like this is riding without a helmet can actually make surrounding drivers perceive you as more dangerous, end up giving you more space, and there by make you actually safer. This seems to be a widespread belief, but I don't think it's plausible, for a couple of reasons. First, I doubt that most crashes occur when motorists have had time to make a reasoned judgment about the safety of the cyclist. Being passed too close by a car is only one possible crash scenario. In many others, claims that the cyclist "came out of nowhere" or was "invisible" come to mind as being more likely indicators of the real hazard. Second, as a cyclist, I would not perceive a cyclist without a helmet as more dangerous. I would know that other factors are more important, such as the cyclist's situational awareness and bike handling skill. In fact I am perceptive to whether a cyclist is controlling their bike safely, not that I pass them any closer because of it. I've been a daily year-round bike commuter for a couple decades. I regularly wear a helmet unless I'm going 2 blocks from my house to the store along a particularly tame neighborhood route, which brings up another issue about safety. I've read this article, and it usually gets thumbs-up by cyclists on web forums. But in addition to its excellent study of crash scenarios, one piece of advice lights up at the bottom of the page: *Avoid busy streets.* You can't get hit by a car where there are no cars. I'm lucky to live in Madison WI, which is gradually building bike infrastructure into new street designs, and has a number of nice bike paths. But it also has a network of neighborhood streets that can get you a pretty good ways without having to worry about traffic at all.
rob_c 4y ago
It may be so but it's the same as saying put a big spike in the stearing wheel and people drive safer, good intentions over all but flawed when the cyclist ends up in a&e. In risk management this is trying to flatten the curve by increasing the chance of death.

by gleenn 4y ago

unsupp0rted 4y ago

You can ride without a helmet with a helmet: https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/08/12/article-2025183-0D63A3BD00000578-615_468x177.jpg https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/08/12/article-2025183-0...

jinto36 4y ago

I don't think most people in cars would think about the helmet, unless they themselves have spent much time thinking about cycling. I always can tell who the drivers are that also cycle, they try to give you much more space. I imagine trying to make yourself as visible as possible is more beneficial than not wearing a helmet.

analog31 4y ago

>>>> An additional fact like this is riding without a helmet can actually make surrounding drivers perceive you as more dangerous, end up giving you more space, and there by make you actually safer. This seems to be a widespread belief, but I don't think it's plausible, for a couple of reasons. First, I doubt that most crashes occur when motorists have had time to make a reasoned judgment about the safety of the cyclist. Being passed too close by a car is only one possible crash scenario. In many others, claims that the cyclist "came out of nowhere" or was "invisible" come to mind as being more likely indicators of the real hazard. Second, as a cyclist, I would not perceive a cyclist without a helmet as more dangerous. I would know that other factors are more important, such as the cyclist's situational awareness and bike handling skill. In fact I am perceptive to whether a cyclist is controlling their bike safely, not that I pass them any closer because of it. I've been a daily year-round bike commuter for a couple decades. I regularly wear a helmet unless I'm going 2 blocks from my house to the store along a particularly tame neighborhood route, which brings up another issue about safety. I've read this article, and it usually gets thumbs-up by cyclists on web forums. But in addition to its excellent study of crash scenarios, one piece of advice lights up at the bottom of the page: *Avoid busy streets.* You can't get hit by a car where there are no cars. I'm lucky to live in Madison WI, which is gradually building bike infrastructure into new street designs, and has a number of nice bike paths. But it also has a network of neighborhood streets that can get you a pretty good ways without having to worry about traffic at all.

rob_c 4y ago

It may be so but it's the same as saying put a big spike in the stearing wheel and people drive safer, good intentions over all but flawed when the cyclist ends up in a&e. In risk management this is trying to flatten the curve by increasing the chance of death.