On 11/2/06, David Mann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Nov 2, 2006, at 10:49 AM, Bob W wrote: > > > The best protection for cyclists is to learn how to cycle properly > > in traffic. > > That helps, but you need to bear in mind that drivers have blind > spots, are often inattentive (especially while in a hurry), and in > some cases, as much as I hate to say it, they can be downright > inconsiderate. Just as cyclists sometimes are. > > I haven't been bowled by a car for quite a while despite some close > calls, but the most recent time was when I was hit from the side by a > guy pulling out of a driveway. He was running late and his token > glance for traffic missed the only thing on that stretch of road. > Sometimes shit just happens, and by then it's too late to wonder > whether you're going to hit the concrete hard enough to matter. > > In then end, a helmet won't always save someone's life: the reality > is that in a crash there is a certain amount of impact force applied > to the head. The helmet can absorb a certain amount, and spreads the > rest across that side of the skull. With a big enough impact nothing > will save you, and you can easily be killed by other injuries > anyway. IMO the helmet gives me worthwhile protection of the one > thing that won't heal, without getting in my way while riding. > > As you mentioned, prevention by careful riding is the best cure but > my experience is that this can only reduce the danger - not eliminate > it. Riding offroad is an entirely different kettle of fish as the > terrain is much more "interesting", and because I ride that stuff for > fun, fitness and challenge, crashing is much more likely and in many > places there are pointy rocks to land on. > > The dynamics of any crash are far too variable to be able to make > predictions of the outcome, and personally I'd rather have the helmet > than not have it because I'm slightly on the paranoid side. If > someone wants to take their chances without a helmet that's fine by > me, but I'll still mutter a few opinionated words to myself :) > > - Dave
Hear, hear!! That's a lucid, well-organized, well-presented argument, Dave. (of course, I only say that because I agree 100%) <LOL> cheers, frank -- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
