Lesson number 3 - "It’s safer than a sofa."
Read the other 9 lessons here
- and who would have thought- there is not a single mention of helmets here - hummm, I wonder why??
All those people in other parts of the world just don't seem to realise how enlightened our governments are in enforcing mandatory helmet legislation - they have yet to experience the sheer joy in cycling on a hot day head firmly encased in its protective shell, or the quiet ride along the park lands trail, the helmet protecting your skull from the sun and adventurous magpie attacks.
As citizens of the helmet culture we need to see a campaign to have helmets introduced into all other aspects of transport - motorist helmets will become the new family fashion accessory, and pedestrian helmets the must have - we all need to be kept safe at all times - just in case - (I even wear a helmet when I am sleeping, just in case I accidentally fall out of bed), who knows what could happen....if everyone wore a helmet life would be so much better!!!
Tags: 10 lessons, commuting, cycling safety, helmets, transport
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Trent on -
How is this or yours a good post? i find it very disheartening that someone would actively promote an unsafe cycling action. "sod the consequences"??? it is statements like that and posts like this that hold the "cycling revolution back"
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Permalink Reply by Alasdair McLellan on -
It's great because it challenges the conventional wisdom that being as safe as possible is the best thing for us.
Since mandatory helmet legislation has basically killed the urban hire-a-bike market in Australia (Adelaide has City Bikes but it's a bit shit compared to some of the automated systems in Europe - see recent developments in Melbourne to understand why a helmet culture doesn't work here) it's hard to argue that advocating voluntary helmet wear is 'holding the cycling revolution back'.
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Permalink Reply by Darren on -
flame bait
As someone who's life is better off as a result of wearing a helmet in an accident, I find your belittlement of the issue appalling. -
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Permalink Reply by Jason Jones on -
+1
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Permalink Reply by Michelle Crick on -
+2
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Permalink Reply by Paul on -
Agree.
I owe my life thrice over to a bike helmet. Been using one ever since sharing the road with motor vehicles at age 10, and they are not the least bit debilitating to the experience in any way.
OK, so I have very little hair for the wind to blow through anyway, but it sure saves my scalp from sunburn and ferocious maggies in the Adelaide hills!
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Permalink Reply by Matt Jones on -
If my sofa was travelling down hill at 70 km/hr on skinny tyres that rapidly deflate when punctured I think I'd probably want to be wearing a helmet.
Maybe we should repeal the laws and let natural selection cull the herd a little.
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Permalink Reply by Alasdair McLellan on
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Yes, yes, yes! I don't think anyone is arguing that wearing a helmet is a bad idea, only that making it mandatory kills the cycling culture for casual, short, low-risk trips.
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Permalink Reply by Tim B (the running man) on -
I saw the helmet of a friend who came of his bike last week, he had only minor injuries but without the helmet it would have been much worse. Helmet craked in 3 places, quite an impact.
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Permalink Reply by Adam Williss on -
But lesson number 3 refers to the "sofa" as a metaphor for inactive people and the subsequent cost to society / the government on health related spending. Nothing to do with helmets....
I enjoyed reading the blog, but find that your comments regarding helmets overshadow the excellent messages within it.
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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Miller on -
Yes, I agree - perhaps my comments on helmets were a little misplaced in this context - the issue about the cost to society of having a general inactive population vs the catastrophic and often life changing injuries that result from acquired brain injury - and the cost of this - is a discussion that is often ignored in the debate and reduced to the personal experience. We need a open discussion of this topic - the question NEEDS to perhaps be - would we see more people engaged in everyday cycling (utility cycling) if there was no compulsory helmet legislation, and would this correspond to a more healthier and active urban population?
Yes, it is an interesting blog post and I would urge all to read it with an open mind as to the possibilities of increasing cycling and analyzing what is holding it back in Australia.
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