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It's tough to convince people (in Europe) to wear helmets without a surrounding culture of jokes about killing vulnerable road users. Maybe if they really want

by jchrisa 11y ago

It's tough to convince people (in Europe) to wear helmets without a surrounding culture of jokes about killing vulnerable road users. Maybe if they really want to sell helmets in Europe they need to import American drivers.

adventured 11y ago
That's a pretty unfair criticism. Fatalities per 100,000 vehicles, the US ranks #24 best (lowest) in the world among nations not the size of Maldives. To put it into perspective, Russia and Mexico are four times worse; Brazil is five times worse; Colombia is six times worse; the Philippines and China are ten times worse; India is 15 times worse; Venezuela is 20 times worse; Nigeria is 30 times worse. Adjusting for miles driven per capita, the US comes out ahead of about 18 European nations, and is comparable to France and Spain.
- kaybe 11y ago
  Maybe it should also be scaled by number or percentage of cyclists in this case.
- jchrisa 11y ago
  It's not about the outcomes it's about the attitude. Which is only held (acted on) by I'd guess less than 1% of drivers, who think when they see a cyclist that they should "teach her a lesson." This attitude doesn't show up in the European countries I've cycled in. It's the existence of that attitude that keeps parents from biking / walking their kids to schools merely blocks away. I've never cycled in countries without basic infrastructure, it would be interesting to see how closely cycle danger correlates to car danger.
pmontra 11y ago
Don't know about all of Europe but basically every serious cyclist in Italy wears a helmet. It's very rare to see a road bike or a MTB cyclist without one. The opposite is true for short range cyclists inside cities. Basically nobody wears a helmet. Small children sometimes do, less frequently their parents. Given the number of cyclists using sidewalks in cities (tolerated but not allowed) I think cyclists are quite worried by drivers. Given I always ride in the road (better surface, no obstacles, faster) I think they are a little too fearful (crossing fingers). By the way, because of our climate that collar airbag won't sell well here. It could be handy replacement for a scarf in winter but nobody's going to wear it in summer. About the north of Italy: it's NYC's weather with less extremes (0-35C / 30-95F.)

by jchrisa 11y ago

adventured 11y ago

That's a pretty unfair criticism. Fatalities per 100,000 vehicles, the US ranks #24 best (lowest) in the world among nations not the size of Maldives. To put it into perspective, Russia and Mexico are four times worse; Brazil is five times worse; Colombia is six times worse; the Philippines and China are ten times worse; India is 15 times worse; Venezuela is 20 times worse; Nigeria is 30 times worse. Adjusting for miles driven per capita, the US comes out ahead of about 18 European nations, and is comparable to France and Spain.

kaybe 11y ago
Maybe it should also be scaled by number or percentage of cyclists in this case.
jchrisa 11y ago
It's not about the outcomes it's about the attitude. Which is only held (acted on) by I'd guess less than 1% of drivers, who think when they see a cyclist that they should "teach her a lesson." This attitude doesn't show up in the European countries I've cycled in. It's the existence of that attitude that keeps parents from biking / walking their kids to schools merely blocks away. I've never cycled in countries without basic infrastructure, it would be interesting to see how closely cycle danger correlates to car danger.

pmontra 11y ago

Don't know about all of Europe but basically every serious cyclist in Italy wears a helmet. It's very rare to see a road bike or a MTB cyclist without one. The opposite is true for short range cyclists inside cities. Basically nobody wears a helmet. Small children sometimes do, less frequently their parents. Given the number of cyclists using sidewalks in cities (tolerated but not allowed) I think cyclists are quite worried by drivers. Given I always ride in the road (better surface, no obstacles, faster) I think they are a little too fearful (crossing fingers). By the way, because of our climate that collar airbag won't sell well here. It could be handy replacement for a scarf in winter but nobody's going to wear it in summer. About the north of Italy: it's NYC's weather with less extremes (0-35C / 30-95F.)