any news on these two crashes? When I bike commute, I pass both those locations (although never late at night) and I would like to know what happened.<br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Aug 2, 2009 at 6:42 PM, jb fentner <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:symboliceon@hotmail.com">symboliceon@hotmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
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despite the fact that i'd certainly seem like the type to have strong opinions regarding helmets, i really just think it's up to the rider and frankly shall remain horribly unjudgemental. i don't wear one (did for a while.. just seemed like a pain in the ass. ironically i was involved with more accidents when i wore one) and i ride like i have a death wish, but sometimes that's just the safest way to ride. cambridge street, for example, where the i90 on ramp is.. you can't ride cautiously there and you obviously can't hug the side of the road. the safest way to navigate that is to just gun it down the middle of the road. also, some folks obviously think riding a fixie is suicidal.. i'd say that as a result of riding one for a few years i have a better understanding of what's going on around me in traffic and what's going to happen a block or two ahead of time. a couple days ago when some insane woman in an SUV just decided to be totally oblivious to the fact that it was rush hour and that other people exist in general cut left across the intersection of harvard st. and cambridge st. from the right lane everyone freaked out. i was just hangin out in the middle of the road saying "yep, saw that coming. ..and yet i'm still oddly enthralled"<br>
<br>bottom line, i guess, is that helmets are handy in certain situations, but knowing what's going on around you.. what to look for and avoid or confront.. is absolutely the most important thing regarding safety. regarding this particular accident with the cyclist getting cut off and slamming in to the passenger side of the car would not have happened if he'd been paying attention to.. i dunno.. a turn signal, or if there was no turn signal.. the car was most likely showing other signs of turning. if i even remotely suspect that a car's about to cut me off i slow down and ride directly behind it so i can quickly react to whatever the driver ends up doing. i'm not saying i'm perfect, i'm most likely going to eat shit again sooner or later, but perhaps if simple urban cycling advice was as readily available as cheap helmets there'd be a few less ghost bikes chained up around this place. 8\<br>
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