Comments on The Urban Country Bicycle Blog: 81-Year-Old Gene Hackman Hit On His Bike

some good points here. makes me think twice about ...

2012-01-30T10:27:37.495-05:00

some good points here. makes me think twice about how i feel about bikes.

Helmets are a danger because they encourage higher...

2012-01-29T21:03:12.423-05:00

Helmets are a danger because they encourage higher risk behavior. There are fewer concussions in rugby than football, for example.

Bike helmets weigh nothing compared to motorcycle helmets, where higher speeds of motorcycles generate even larger rotational forces. On a bicycle the helmet mass is a smaller fraction of skull mass than motorcycle. Between low speeds and low mass, bike helmets don't add risk, users do.

Good point. A recent press release claimed 3,000 o...

2012-01-29T20:56:17.106-05:00

Good point. A recent press release claimed 3,000 odd deaths in the US were caused by drivers distracted by an electronic device. If you divide by the trillions of annual miles driven in the US, you will get killed by one of these drivers if you drive cross-country over 100,000 times. Are you willing to take that risk?

Contrast the coverage to that of a 32-car pile-up ...

2012-01-23T09:33:24.206-05:00

Contrast the coverage to that of a 32-car pile-up that happened 4 days later in Canada:

http://www.sootoday.com/content/news/national/details.asp?c=38119

Blame is placed on "snow and poor visibility", not driving too fast. And nowhere does it speculate about whether people were wearing their seatbelts.

All of the gears are contained inside the rear hub...

2012-01-20T05:51:39.844-05:00

All of the gears are contained inside the rear hub, making shifting smooth and easyHermosa Beach.

bike

I wonder how many consider the fact the Gene was f...

2012-01-19T10:41:42.691-05:00

I wonder how many consider the fact the Gene was fine despite his not wearing a helmet?

If you face injuries due to ignorance of a medical...

2012-01-18T06:50:40.750-05:00

If you face injuries due to ignorance of a medical authorities that is your right to claim for compensation.Also for better guidance you should take advice from the personal injury solicitor.

True, brand name anything almost always cost more,...

2012-01-17T22:28:00.255-05:00

True, brand name anything almost always cost more, whether or not they are any better in quality, function, design, what have you. Sometimes the quality is better and the higher price is more-justified. Identical commodity items are indeed cheaper in Walmart generally as well-it's no secret how well (or not) the company pays and treats its employees.

Some people are willing to spend more for the name. Indeed, the sum (dollar value) is greater than what the parts otherwise call for.

Some of us who actually took a role in driving eve...

2012-01-17T17:20:02.654-05:00

Some of us who actually took a role in driving events found it advantageous to be out of country during the heady period.

Good point John. Here is a portion of a letter I ...

2012-01-17T14:25:29.816-05:00

Good point John. Here is a portion of a letter I sent to Bicycle Times: Automobile accidents account for 61% of all traumatic brain injuries, while cycling accounts for only 3% (braininjury.com). So, why aren't automobile drivers and passengers required to wear helmets?

@kfg - I thought that anyone who remembers the 60s...

2012-01-17T12:22:49.952-05:00

@kfg - I thought that anyone who remembers the 60s wasn't really there. Anyway, yeah, thanks largely to Ralph Nader the carnage per miles traveled has been reduced for those inside vehicles, but sprawl and other subsidy has increased the number of cars traveling, so the annual death toll was stuck at 40,000 for a while.

Even if helmets were proven to save lives at the s...

2012-01-17T10:11:11.399-05:00

Even if helmets were proven to save lives at the same rate as seatbelts (I know, bicycle helmets aren't even designed to save lives in the first place - if they were, they would be as heavy as motorcycle helmets). But even if they were, that shouldn't necessarily make them mandatory. Cars are dangerous killing machines. Bicycles are not.

I could name 5 safety features that would save many many lives of pedestrians. But should they be mandatory? Just because a motorcycle helmet or a body suit could save the life of a pedestrian, should we make it mandatory for pedestrians to wear body armour and motorcycle helmets? No, because walking isn't inherently dangerous, and pedestrians are normally killed as a result of automobiles - so we should get to the root of the problem (automobiles) and focus on prevention rather than a band-aid solution such as outfitting all pedestrians with body armour and motorcycle helmets.

Same goes for bicycling...

I posted something along these lines a while back called "No cars. No Traffic Signals. No Deaths": http://www.theurbancountry.com/2011/06/no-cars-no-traffic-signals-no-deaths.html

Bad comparison. Helmets have been shown to increa...

2012-01-17T08:23:35.328-05:00

Bad comparison. Helmets have been shown to increase the likelihood of an accident/incident/whatever, seatbelts have not. Helmets are possibly actually a contributory cause to brain injuries due to increased rotational acceleration ( due to their greater size than the skull ). All the evidence for helmets is very, very negligible as to whether they increase safety or not ( or possibly even decrease it ). Seatbelts ( and motorcycle helmets ) on the other hand are well proven statistically to have greater benefits than losses.

I remember the 60's.

2012-01-17T01:02:05.826-05:00

I remember the 60's.

The sad fact is that 32,708 is an improvement over...

2012-01-17T00:17:16.487-05:00

The sad fact is that 32,708 is an improvement over the last decade or so, which has average 40,000 car fatalities a year. This isn't due to improved car safety or better motorist behavior, though; it's entirely because there's less driving going on in this depressed economy.

A lawyer argued both pro-helmet and anti-helmet in...

2012-01-17T00:13:10.756-05:00

A lawyer argued both pro-helmet and anti-helmet in a hit-and-run bike/car collision right in front of me. At the hearing, the lawyer for the other side argued that the other bicyclist wasn't wearing a helmet, and thus unconcerned about safety and probably at fault. In the next breath, he said my helmet made me "menacing in appearance" and that the motorists had to flee for their own safety.

(I'm happy to report that the unhelmeted bicyclist won that case.)

"the only real difference would be in the sho...

2012-01-16T17:16:33.811-05:00

"the only real difference would be in the shock-absorption capacity of the foam."

The shock absorption capacity of the foam is essentially fixed by the testing standard. The matter is a simple Newtonian one of time, distance and spring rate to find an a priori result.

However, "pro" helmets tend to be the least protective of all. In certain events racers are allowed to, and do, wear helmets that increase injury risks dramatically compared to not wearing a helmet. Head protection is not the principle concern of these riders. Weight is one of the concerns and a more "shock absorbing" helmet necessarily weighs more. Ventilation is another concern. Less area of foam means more pressure on the head and less structural integrity of the helmet.

Have you even noticed that identical commodity items at Walmart cost less than at other outlets? How do they do that?

Have you ever noticed that a pair of jeans with a "designer's" name stitched onto them costs more than an otherwise identical pair of jeans?

Did you know that you can buy a bicycle frame for a couple hundred or several thousand and you can't tell them apart with an electron microscope because their material structure is identical?

Why do you suppose these things are?

As a result of my humor I have had the English ref...

2012-01-16T15:57:34.302-05:00

As a result of my humor I have had the English refuse to believe I could be American. Comes from growing up on a steady diet of Dickens and Swift I suppose, but decades of dealing with this nonsense certainly serves to bring it out.

I was hoping my second observation would serve as a clue to the uninitiated.

Out of the 32,708 people who were killed in car cr...

2012-01-16T15:15:32.484-05:00

Out of the 32,708 people who were killed in car crashes in the United States in 2010 I wonder how many lives could have been saved if we had mandatory helmet laws for all motorists. Even we can save one life it will be with it ;)

And maybe those over the age of 60, like the pick-...

2012-01-16T14:13:10.098-05:00

And maybe those over the age of 60, like the pick-up truck driver was, need to be road-tested on an annual basis.

And those whose injuries are made worse by the hel...

2012-01-16T13:33:36.051-05:00

And those whose injuries are made worse by the helmet through rotational motion.

Also, there is rarely a mention about crashes where the helmet made no difference.

Mr. Hackman is still alive today, kfg.

2012-01-16T13:31:09.527-05:00

Mr. Hackman is still alive today, kfg.

The sarcasm in kfg's original comment was so s...

2012-01-16T13:26:07.150-05:00

The sarcasm in kfg's original comment was so strong that it was overlooked and mistaken for ignorance ;) I only got it because I know kfg's sense of humour from past comments...

@KFG -- Mr Hackman is alive today, and his only ...

2012-01-16T13:18:34.518-05:00

@KFG -- Mr Hackman *is* alive today, and his only injury was bruising to his arm. Apropos to that, helmet studies that claim to show a benefit for helmet wearers also show helmet wearers suffer fewer limb injuries.

Steve -- I've been told by lawyers that wearin...

2012-01-16T13:15:35.059-05:00

Steve -- I've been told by lawyers that wearing a helmet makes it *much* easier to collect damages in a lawsuit. Doesn't make it right, but it's the reality of how juries and judges see the world. This perception that cycling is a dangerous activity that requires safety equipment a big part of the reason I oppose the view that helmets should be seen as normal for casual cyclists.

Comments on The Urban Country Bicycle Blog: 81-Year-Old Gene Hackman Hit On His Bike

some good points here. makes me think twice about ...

Helmets are a danger because they encourage higher...

Good point. A recent press release claimed 3,000 o...

Contrast the coverage to that of a 32-car pile-up ...

All of the gears are contained inside the rear hub...

I wonder how many consider the fact the Gene was f...

If you face injuries due to ignorance of a medical...

True, brand name anything almost always cost more,...

Some of us who actually took a role in driving eve...

Good point John. Here is a portion of a letter I ...

@kfg - I thought that anyone who remembers the 60s...

Even if helmets were proven to save lives at the s...

Bad comparison. Helmets have been shown to increa...

I remember the 60's.

The sad fact is that 32,708 is an improvement over...

A lawyer argued both pro-helmet and anti-helmet in...

"the only real difference would be in the sho...

As a result of my humor I have had the English ref...

Out of the 32,708 people who were killed in car cr...

And maybe those over the age of 60, like the pick-...

And those whose injuries are made worse by the hel...

Mr. Hackman is still alive today, kfg.

The sarcasm in kfg's original comment was so s...

@KFG -- Mr Hackman *is* alive today, and his only ...

Steve -- I've been told by lawyers that wearin...

@KFG -- Mr Hackman is alive today, and his only ...