[*BCM*] grim scenes saturday... any news?

[Anne Wolfe]

I honestly can't think of anything, from apples to earthworms to  
zebras that isn't occasionally dangerous. On the balance of risks  
you're better off wearing a helmet.

Helmets in bike accidents are like seat belts in car accidents.  
Sometimes they will cause a problem. But a) they save more lives than  
they harm and b) if someone isn't wearing one, public sympathy lessens  
greatly even if the belt or helmet wouldn't have mattered in the result.

Sent from my iPhone

On 2 Aug 2009, at 17:21, Turtle <turtle at thewiseturtle.com> wrote:

> Helmets are indeed optional, legally and morally (except for kids and
> young teens on bikes, scooters, skates), and also shown to be
> dangerous in certain circumstances, so it's absolutely reasonable to
> not wear one, regardless of whether you are in a car, waling in the
> road, or biking.
>
> As for going to the pub, most people living below the poverty line
> don't because it's a stupid waste of money.  Though some are addicted,
> and use the alcohol to help them cope with how shitty life is.  And in
> that case, even if they were given a free helmet they might not wear
> one because they are at least slightly suicidal (because really death
> is indeed sometimes preferable to trying to live in this
> overpopulated, fear-mongering, me-first society).
>
> Regardless, the mention of whether or not someone is wearing a helmet
> shows a real bias against normal people who aren't all bike savvy, or
> people who've done some research and found that helmets are sometimes
> dangerous.
>
> And again, I wear one.  But I at least know that it's not perfect, and
> that it's more about a certain kind of image than anything else.  I'm
> a bike geek, so I wear bike geeky clothes.
>
> -Turil
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