panglott

81 ms·

751.
by panglott 11y ago
Ultimately, the problem is that most people in the world are bilingual. Many Europeans are bilingual in two or more national languages, especially English. Most Indians are bilingual in a regional language and English and/or Hindi. Mos
752.
by panglott 11y ago
This is a senior-level course?
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by panglott 11y ago
Secession had been a topic of politics in the South for decades, and was was unpopular for a long time. After the South Carolina Fire-Eaters forced the issue in 1861, a wave of secession fever swept the South. Most seceding legislatures pas
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by panglott 11y ago
As a person who doesn't wear/trust bike helmets, if the certainty of an accident on a particular ride was increased to 100%, I would choose to not ride the bike rather than trust the helmet to protect me in a collision. If I knew
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by panglott 11y ago
A bike helmet is not designed to protect your head if you are hit by a car at 60 mph. The best way to protect yourself for the 60-mph-auto-collision is to not get hit by a car at 60 mph.
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by panglott 11y ago
"Oh, your DropBox is full? Ok..."
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by panglott 11y ago
This is of course the sane policy. But we don't even have universal pedestrian right of way.
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by panglott 11y ago
If cycling is so dangerous that people throwing bricks at you is safer, wouldn't the most reasonable course be to not cycle at all?
759.
by panglott 11y ago
In my town, they started putting in unprotected bike lanes and sharrows, and it has made a very major difference in driver behavior. This happens to me only about once a year now, instead of once every week or two. The behavior of road user
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by panglott 11y ago
Reflectors are standard in the US, I think, but not lights. Reflectors are in no way enough.
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by panglott 11y ago
Ah, nothing is quite so good for your health as spending your time sitting in a car.
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by panglott 11y ago
The point is that ordinary commuter cycling in normal weather on flat, clean roads is a lot less dangerous than standing around while people throw bricks at your head. And there's a health tradeoff between the exercise benefits of phys
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by panglott 11y ago
How is a 10 mph bike ride around the block even remotely comparable to karting at 100-mph?
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by panglott 11y ago
IOW, helmets are worthwhile as long as there as zero (or near-zero) marginal impact on cycling. Of course, there is not zero marginal impact on cycling. Helmet advocates never seem to try to estimate what cost there is to cycling rates. I s
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by panglott 11y ago
There's cyclist safety-consciousness and then there's driver perception of cyclist safety consciousness. These are separate things. I never wear spandex, almost never wear a helmet, but I always have lights and mirrors, and I neve
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by panglott 11y ago
Traffic policing in the US is insane in general. Everyone driving takes the speed limit as a speed minimum that should be exceeded by 10-15 mph, and everyone runs red lights all the time (the drivers try to make the light and fail, while th
767.
by panglott 11y ago
For a long time, you had to be pretty hardcore to cycle in traffic in the US. Politically radical, committed to fitness, whatever. Even 10 years ago, drivers would scream insults out the window, throw things at me from moving cars, and then
768.
by panglott 11y ago
I think the point is that most people think that the best way to improve cyclist safety is to get cyclists to wear helmets. This is quite wrong, helmets are way down the list behind driver education, bike lanes, bike lights, &c. &c.
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by panglott 11y ago
I am very, very cautious. But bike helmets are simply not designed for high-speed collisions.
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by panglott 11y ago
Absolutely, this is why I rarely/never wear a helmet. People think of them as essential safety gear in case you get hit by a car, but they offer almost no protection against this risk. They are designed to protect your head if you spon
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by panglott 11y ago
What on earth does some jerk goofing off on a skateboard have to do with normal travel at low speeds on flat roads in good weather by a competent cyclist? If you're doing tricks on gravel, or travelling on mud or snow, or goring really
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by panglott 11y ago
There are people who ride bikes because they love cycling (by choice) and there are people who ride bikes because they can't afford other means of transportion (by need). The latter tend not to wear helmets or follow traffic rules, the
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by panglott 11y ago
It equally supports the argument that people should wear protective headgear when they're driving or walking, but nobody takes that argument seriously for some reason. To the extent that our helmet obsession dissuades people from cycli
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by panglott 11y ago
Are most people expected to wear a bulletproof vest under normal conditions? Fun times when people get shamed for not wearing a bulletproof vest to go to the grocery store.
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by panglott 11y ago
Bike lights are far more important safety gear than a helmet is. But not having a helmet attracts more negative attention than not having lights does.
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by panglott 11y ago
The logic is clear, but whenever I suggest that drivers and pedestrians actually wear the helmets, somehow I get downvoted for trolling ;)
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by panglott 11y ago
The simple fact is that bicycle helmets are not designed to withstand an auto collision. If you are relying on them to protect you in an auto collision, you're doing it wrong. Get a motorcycle helmet instead.
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by panglott 11y ago
If you decide to drive somewhere instead of cycling, because you don't have a helmet at hand, you haven't replaced a damaged helmet, or you don't want to have helmet hair, or you don't think that helmets complement your
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by panglott 11y ago
The quote at top is from some HPL fanfic? http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/cienciareal/necronomicon/a...
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by panglott 11y ago
Michael Chabon's essay "A Yiddish Pale Fire", which discusses his encounter with a Yiddish travel guidebook that eventually inspired "The Yiddish Policeman's Union", is a great read too, if you can track it dow

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