Helmet risk!

It does not seem logical to me, but I have no contradictary evidence. I am proactive in bike safety and have written a resolution that will be introduced as a bill in Tennessee regarding passing safety.
Will it help? Who knows but it is better to have something than nothing so I will continue my effort.
Education and understanding are the best safety measures.

jhuskey said:

Education and understanding are the best safety measures.

Exactly!

[quote="jhuskey"]It does not seem logical to me,

The research seemed to indicate that motorists were prepared to be more careful about cyclists that seemed less protected. You know that a helmet won't protect you from having your spine crushed of your spleen ruptured but I have heard a motorist say "but he's wearing a helmet" in a way that indicates she thought the helmet made you safe in a collision - of course she was really just excusing herself for putting the cyclist at risk. I suspect my fluorescent rain jacket has the same effect, it probably says "competent, protected" at a subliminal level - after all it's the same stuff that policemen and road repair people wear so it must make you safer. People are not rational when they are not stopping to think, and we rarely stop to think. Road safety is full of counter-intuitive stuff (or just intuitive) like that.

best wishes from Sheffield

Driver's either care or they don't. I don't think it matters what the rider is wearing... Although if I saw a guy with a wig riding down the street I might steer a little further away too... 😄

There's what we think and there's what we know and it's always good to check which we are talking about. Ian Hunter has two things going for him - through his PhD he has a training in separating truth from supposition and he has carried out a careful study of the question, using a bike equipped with a camera and other gadgets to measure the distance of each passing vehicle, making his observations of a great many different drivers so he could work out a general rule.

Whether drivers care or not is not really the main issue. I care deeply, if only because drivers try to kill me on a regular basis, but I've noticed that when I get behind the wheel of a car I perceive things differently and more than once I have been surprised and upset to realise that I've behaved badly towards a cyclist. I try to make a conscious effort to pay attention to cyclists but it's not instinctive (I hope I'm getting better :o). A friend who lived in Cambridge, where cyclists outnumber motorists tells me that motorists there do understand cyclists and treat them well, they have had a chance to learn. Where I live cyclists are rare so motorists, including me, don't get enough practice.

Best wishes from Sheffield
Chris Rust

So wear a helmet underneath a blonde wig.

Actually, if you read this study carefully, you'll realize it's a complete load of garbage.

The difference in passing clearances between helmeted and non-helmeted riders was measured when the cyclist rode in the MIDDLE OF THE LANE! When the rider was within 1 meter of the shoulder, there was virtually no difference in passing clearances, helmet, wig or otherwise.

Who in their right mind rides in the middle of the lane while in traffic? It's not a credible study.

Hi,

I think the point with the research is that it's not a study of cycling behaviour but a study of drivers.

By putting the drivers under pressure and controlling the variables he got them to reveal themselves, in some situations they gave more room than others.

I guess when he rode close to the roadside, drivers were not having to balance the need to avoid the cyclist with the need to avoid oncoming vehicles so it was no big deal to give the cyclist clearance. But the danger to cyclists come exactly when there is a narrowing in the road or a blockage so he was just creating his own version of the actual risk factor.

Mind you the middle of the lane technique does explain why he was knocked off his bike so many times during the research, you have to admire his courage even if you think he's wrong.

best wishes
Chris

jhuskey said:

It does not seem logical to me, but I have no contradictary evidence. I am proactive in bike safety and have written a resolution that will be introduced as a bill in Tennessee regarding passing safety.
Will it help? Who knows but it is better to have something than nothing so I will continue my effort.
Education and understanding are the best safety measures.

20/20 did a report on it recently, i saw it on their website; their discovery was the same as the first post, and the presumed reason was "cyclists with helmets are judged to be more experienced & capable, therefore less of a risk to pass closely." complete B.S. as far as i'm concerned, but there it is.

i'll still wear my helmet, and let drivers know i think they're #1! (you know what i'm sayin'😉