On Tue, 7 Sep 2004 16:09:07 +0000 (UTC), "Peter Taylor"
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
<[email hidden]>:
Quoted message said:Sorry to post on this subject again.
The evidence indicates otherwise...
Quoted message said:There seems to be an interesting view that riding without a helmet is
somehow safer than riding with one. And a few people seem to be trying to
put their kids off wearing helmets for some reason.
What on earth gives you that idea? You are falling into the classic
Liddite trap of assuming that anybody who is sceptical is in some way
"anti-helmet". The fact is, the Liddites are the ones promoting their
expensive product using dodgy statistics, they carry the burden of
proof, they are the ones who need to account for the disparity between
their claims and what happens in real life. But they would rather
repeat their claims as if they wer eunchallenged, and when they fail
to fool all of the people any of the time they resort to coercion.
Quoted message said:The other day, a mate of mine had quite a big accident while trying a bit
too hard on a local mountain bike route.
And in what way is this relevant to my child sitting on the middle
seat of a triplet riding along a quiet road? Or to me on my
recumbent? Or to Mrs Miggins on her trusty Raleigh with oilbath
chainguard and wicker basket moving at a leisurely 9mph?
Eric Martlew thinks riding a toy tricycle in the park is so dangerous
it should be an offence to allow a child to do so without a helmet.
Do you agree?
Quoted message said:Result,
broken helmet, mild headache, cuts and brusies, but otherwise fine. He is
in no doubt whatever that the helmet saved him.
So what you are telling us is that your mate is a True Believer who
would rather believe the helmet zealots than the materials scientists
who point out that polystyrene foam absorbs virtually no energy in
brittle failure. Why would we want to know that? In whay way doe a
tale of a failed helmet inform the debate, other than to point out the
simple and obvious fact that polystyrene foam is notoriously weak and
many accidents can exceed the capabilities of a helmet? You'll find
that or a similar form of words on the box, by the way.
Quoted message said:People go to endless lengths to find statistics that "prove" that helmets
are useless, or even unsafe. Anyone who is in any doubt that helmets are a
useful aid may care to try to following experiment.
No, Liddites go to endless lengths to pretend that helmets are some
kind of magic talisman; a small number of dedicated people who
recognise a snow job when they see one have chosen to chjallenge those
figures by comparing them with what happens in the real world. So the
small scale studies (think Philip Morris' studies showing smoking is
not addictive or carcinogenic) say one thing and the whole-population
figures say something else. It is no conicidence that one of the
leading helmet sceptics in the UK is a former consultant
epidemiologist.
Most of us don't actually give a toss whether anybody wears a helmet
or not on any given ride. we choose to wear or not wear a plastic hat
depending on the likelihood we perceive of suffering the kind of
injury a helmet might mitigate (like a glancing blow form a
low-hanging branch when offroading). And when we see the helmet
zealot viewpoint touted as if it were the only rational or defensible
choice, we feel honour bound to point out that it is not - not least
because giving people an exaggerated idea of the effectiveness of
helmets is quite likely part of the reason helmet promotion has never
resulted in measurable reductions in head injuries, due to the
well-understood phenomenon known as risk compensation.
Quoted message said:Put on a bike helmet. Adjust it properly. Then put your head down and run,
slowly, into a wall. This will give you the idea of a low speed accident.
Then repeat without the helmet. This will give you information you can
trust.
Now try leaving the helmet off. Would you hit the wall? Not likely.
You now understand the observed fact that helmeted riders are more
likely to hit their heads.
Do you honestly think that we on this NG, many of whom are cycling
safety campaigners and ride thousands of miles per year, have failed
to think this matter through?
Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk
88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University
