🚴♀ Wear a helmet! 54 ▲ Bits by Bino 61 days ago · Life · hide · 7 comments A scene keeps playing in my head. Over and over again.A man is riding his bicycle. He crosses the street and starts weaving right to left. He hits a pole and falls down. Head first on the street. He isn't moving. I get off my bike and run towards him. Blood is gushing from his head. He's still not moving. I turn him around and talk to him. No response. I gently nudge him. I hear him breathing. While helping him I signal cars passing by. A lady stands next to me, she's calling an ambulance. More people arrive. We're creating shade and try to stop the bleeding. The man starts to ramble. We comfort him and tell him to keep lying down. Police arrive. So does the ambulance, eventually. They patch him up and escort him to the hospital. We all leave the scene.This is not coming from a movie or a dream.This happened yesterday when I returned home from work. Right in front of me, with me being the first to arrive at the scene. It was super scary to see the way he fell and didn't move at all… Log in to reply on the Fediverse. Comments will appear here. Drunkboxer @Drunkboxer@mastodon.social 60 days ago [-] mandatory helmet laws have had large impacts on cycling numbers in Australia over the last 4 decades. So much so that cycling infrastructure did not evolve with city development sending cycling into a downward death spiral. Dan Q @dan@m.danq.me 60 days ago [-] I always wear my helmet, and I'm pretty confident that doing so has saved my life, or at least saved me from serious injury.But I'm opposed to mandatory helmet laws for the reasons @Drunkboxer observes. Australia demonstrates that it reduces cycling uptake, and cycling is a sufficient net-good for health (lower incidence of obesity, lower cholesterol, increased frequency of pedestrians being killed by vehicles etc.) that I'd rather people cycle without a helmet than not cycle at all.But yeah, everybody should wear a helmet. Drunkboxer @Drunkboxer@mastodon.social 60 days ago [-] @bubbles fwiw I also always wear a helmet Alexander @BongoTwisty@social.vivaldi.net 60 days ago [-] First off I acknowledge the trauma that the man and you experienced. Wishing you both well.What you witnessed also raises a question for me.A helmet might have reduced the man's injuries but it wouldn't have kept him upright. The helmet is at the end of the causal chain. Whatever caused the weaving, whether that be medical, mechanical, fatigue or distraction, is the beginning of it. Prevention starts here. The mitigation of the helmet comes at the end. Safety culture, or dare I say it, blame culture, too often sits at the end of that chain. The beginning, what leads to incidents in the first place is where attention is most needed. dustletter @dustletter@woof.tech 60 days ago [-] @bubbles I don't want to be overly negative, but how do you propose addressing those causes? Mechanical failure can't be fully prevented, medical issues are almost entirely out of one's control, convincing people to never bike while tired/drunk/texting is probably even harder than convincing them to wear a helmet.(Personal anecdote: I started wearing a helmet regularly after a close call in which a piece of paper blew under my tire and clung to it, causing me to lose traction. I don't think any intervention could have prevented this.) Alexander @BongoTwisty@social.vivaldi.net 59 days ago [-] @bubbles Can't be fully prevented does not equal nothing can be done. Servicing and pre-ride checks for mechanical issues; many common health issues can be managed. As for cycling while tired/drunk/texting - changing behaviour is difficult but all the more reason to talk about it. Helmets have their place as the last line of defence. However, if their role is overstated it risks overlooking other effective action that could or should be considered and taken. On an individual and/or societal level. nik agarwal @nikagarwal@fosstodon.org 55 days ago [-] @dustletter @bubbles Root cause analysis is valid, but you're applying it where it doesn't fit.The upstream causes you point to are largely unpredictable and uncontrollable. That's exactly why helmets matter. They work because you can't prevent every cause."Risks overlooking other action" is a false trade-off. Nobody puts on a helmet and then skips bike maintenance. They're complementary.Bino watched someone nearly die and said "wear a helmet." That needs no counterargument.
